Sometimes, stuff happens. On Saturday we got a text from our friends @projectelpida telling us a German NGO needed to host a football tournament, pronto. Three days later, on Wednesday, March 8 , CHEERing FC held a full scale tournament at Goal Soccer Club in Athens, for over 100 refugee footballers, thanks to Stelp, an international aid organization that supports people in acute need, and the vFb Stuttgart Football team from Germany’s Bundesliga. Stelp filmed the tournament for their short movie that will feature street football and tournaments in Germany, Lebanon, Nepal…and us, CHEERing FC in Greece!

Stelp also gave us some very valuable donations of football gear, vitamins, energy bars, and equipment for our NGO and the tournament. Not to mention, 50 pizzas for the players!

The single-elimination tournament comprised 12 teams (four U10, four U12, and four men’s teams) and nine games, ending with a hard-fought match between two skilled and determined men’s teams. Each age group had a winning team bringing home a gold trophy, but all players received football gear, snacks, and medals.

STELP founder Serkan Eren distributed trophies and medals……and performed a few impromptu magic tricks for the kids!

We are immensely grateful to our funders, dedicated CHEERing team, players, families, and friends for allowing us to put on such a fun and special event (in just a few days!). We can’t wait for future CHEERing FC Tournaments.