WSDCS Football Tournament 2019

18 August 2019

This year, we were again delighted to be involved in supporting the annual football tournament for nursery & primary school pupils which is organised by Kenny Fraser & the Sensory Service for Ayrshire & the Scottish Football Association. The event took place at Ayrshire College and consisted of fun coaching and small sided games on the college's full size artificial pitch. The aim of these events is to provide deaf children, from across the West of Scotland, with the opportunity to meet up with each other for a day of football, fun and friendship and is supported by SFA professional coaches and members of the SFA's VIP programme (which a number of the College's Sport & Fitness students are involved in) Kenny Fraser of Ayrshire Hearing Impairment Service said "The football festival for deaf children was a fantastic success, with over 100 children taking part from all across Scotland. It was a day of football, fun and friendship and all of the children had a ball!"

The Annual West Scotland Deaf Children's Society's Inter School football tournament, for secondary pupils was held at Pro Soccer in Rouken Glen Park. As ever, this tournament was organised by WSDCS and Derek Todd with support from George McGowan, Robert McCourt and Kenny Fraser and refereed by George McGowan, Fraser McCulloch, Philip John Dolan, Gareth Nzelwa, Kevin Cummings, Steven Gardiner & Jordan McNicol. We have such an amazing team of volunteers and supporters for this tournament and WSDCS are extremely grateful to each and every one of them. We couldn't do it without you!

This year we had 9 teams vying for the trophy and were joined by many supporters who encouraged and cheered them on including current and former deaf students, teachers and family members. Congratulations go to RenAyr who ultimately triumphed for the 3rd year in a row and will retain the trophy for another year. They were also awarded a commemorative plate to add to their growing collection! Other awards were presented for Player of the Tournament, Top Goal Scorer, and for the first time, Goalkeeper of the Tournament along with, as always, medals for everyone who participated. We have some amazingly talented players and the games are always highly competitive, but for us the reward is in seeing our young people coming together, having fun and enjoying each other's company where they can share in something they love with their deaf peers. These events are such a fantastic opportunity for everyone to socialise in an environment where they are welcomed, supported and valued.

This year's tournament received a 'Magic Little Grant' of £500.00 from Localgiving towards the cost of the tournament. This funding was gratefully received & helped us to meet the cost of the tournaments. We sincerely appreciate this generous grant and hope it's an event they will continue to support. Again, we were delighted to receive donations of water from Campsie Springs who have been a fantastic, longstanding supporter of this event for which we are extremely grateful and also for a donation of fruit and Haribo from Tesco Milngavie, another amazing supporter of our charity and to whom we are indebted. We all look forward to the 19th Annual Tournament which has already been booked for Friday, 5th June 2020.

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