Football Fiesta
Saturday 19 & Sunday 20 July 2008
Tonbridge Junior Football Club are holding their 15th Football Fiesta over the weekend of 19 and 20 July 2008, and invite your Club to take part. We are again using the excellent playing surface at The Racecourse Sportsground, Tonbridge - just 5 minutes walk from the High Street, Tonbridge Castle, the Swimming Pool and River Walk for those that might not want to watch football all day.
Invitations are being sent to Clubs in 8 counties, giving you the opportunity of competing against new teams and forming new friendships. All children are admitted free. Adults will be charged an admission fee of £1.50, including a programme (our first increase in 15 years), although we have again held our team entry fee at £25.
Due to a lack of usage in 2007, we have decided not to continue our Park & Ride service, although we are trying to negotiate a reduction in car parking charges with the local council. Please re-visit this site nearer the time for more information. All parking is free in the town’s car parks on Sunday.
Structure of the Tournament:
Age-groups are Under 7s - 11s (mixed), Under 12s – 15s (Boys), Under 12s – 15s (Girls), Ladies and Over 35s, each run on a league basis, sub-divided into groups depending on the number of entrants. Each team will play at least six games on sensibly sized pitches, with minimal free periods between each game.
The Fiesta fully complies with the Laws of Mini Soccer, other than minor changes approved by the KCFA which we believe improve the overall competition.
Age qualification for each age-group will be the same as your League registration for the (current) 2007/2008 season. Players need not be registered with your Club since managers, with next season in mind, may wish to try out new players. You can enter more than one team in each age-group, but any individual player may only play for one team during the tournament. All teams will play 6-a-side. There is no maximum number of players in each team – but each team will require a minimum of 8 players in the Under 7 – Under 11 age-groups to qualify for the Superleague / Quarter Finals.
Play for each age-group (other than the Under 7’s) will be restricted to half a day and, to obtain the best overall fit, the timings for each age-group will be notified via our Website (www.tjfc.org.uk) at the end of May. If you have a preferred day, please note on the entry form, and we will try to accommodate it.
Last Entry Date:
The Fiesta has been the world’s largest mini soccer tournament played over a single weekend ever since mini soccer was introduced by the FA, with more than 300 teams playing over a 1,000 matches at the 2007 Fiesta. It has certainly been noticed, with Scouts from 4 Premier League Clubs and lots of 1st / 2nd Division Clubs attending in the last few years. Clubs will appreciate that the smooth running of fixtures is fundamental to its success and, to enable us to fully plan these fixtures………………….
WE ARE AGAIN SETTING THE CLOSING DATE FOR ENTRIES AT 30 APRIL, 2008.
Despite its size, dozens of teams have to be excluded every year due to over demand. We will not increase the number of pitches but, to improve the overall competition, we will again give priority to all first teams from all clubs where applications are received by 30 April - and then admit second teams on a first come first served basis. With so many entries, your early submission may avoid disappointment.
Entry Fee:
Our entry fee is again being held at £25 per team (of which 10% is donated to St. John Ambulance and our resident doctor / paramedic), and this should be sent when returning entry forms to cover the cost of the awards and the running of the event. As we strongly recommend that you submit your entry forms early, we will not bank any cheques received until the closing date of 30 April 2008.
Entry Confirmation:
All information in 2008 will be made available on our Website (www.tjfc.org.uk) from the end of May - including participating teams, Rules of Play, age-group timings, and a map. Once available, please use the Email image on the home page of our website to confirm you know when your team(s) will be playing (or that they are held on the reserve list) quoting the reference number(s) which will be shown against each entry received.
Awards:
The winners of each age-group will receive a Cup, and 8 players medals will be presented to the winners and runners-up. The manager of each winning team receives a special boxed award, as we believe that any team with enough skill and stamina to win this competition should applaud its manager. The winning goalkeeper also receives the football used in the final as a keepsake. All Under 7 players will receive a medal for taking part, and the top 4 Under 7 teams will qualify for a ‘superleague’ to determine the overall winners and runners-up.
We will be pleased to order additional medals, if required, subject to the requesting club meeting the additional cost.
All 2007 winning teams are invited to defend the Cup. In the last 14 years, 18 out of 178 winning teams have been given the Cup to keep after successfully defending it – only one succeeding last year.
All winner’s Cups for 2007 should be returned to me by 30 April 2008 to enable them to be engraved ready for July.
Referees:
We hope, as in the past 14 years, to have qualified referees officiating all matches. Qualified referees very definitely improve the overall competition and, although many very experienced referees attend, we welcome newly qualified referees as we think the Fiesta provides them with excellent experience in a very friendly environment.
Entertainment:
Apart from the football itself, we will be welcoming back other forms of entertainment so that we can make the fiesta a day out for the whole family. Tonbridge Town is only 5 minutes walk away, for those who want a break from football during the day. We also hope to have the original FA Cup and the Community Shield on site during the weekend, as in 2007.
Sportsmanship:
We hope that all players, parents, club representatives and spectators enjoy either playing or watching the football and we would again like to place the emphasis on sportsmanship rather than winning. The Premier League might think it impossible, but the standard of play at the Fiesta has resulted in only 15 red cards in nearly 13,000 matches (including 1 last year), and we genuinely hope that none occur in 2008.
If you have any queries regarding the Fiesta please call Reg Spicer, our Fiesta Co-ordinator, on 01732 353048.
We look forward to your club taking part in our Football Fiesta on 19/20 July 2008.
Yours sincerely
Brian Tippett
Club Secretary
ENTRY FORMS SHOULD BE RECEIVED BY 30 APRIL 2008