THE European Championships may be six weeks away, but a local soccer club have come up with a way for young players to get their kicks a little earlier than the rest. Freshford Town have launched their Mini Euro 12 tournament. The competition, which is open to under-11 teams, will see sides go up against each other to become champions in their own right. Limited to 16 teams, each side will be put into a hat and drawn out as one of the countries who will be playing in Poland and Ukraine this Summer. The teams will follow the draw of the European Championships, so whichever side is drawn as Ireland will compete against teams flying the Spanish, Croatian and Italian flags. Teams will be drawn into groups of four with games being played on Freshford’s club pitch, which will be split into three for the event. Run over the coming weeks, the semi-finals and final will be played on Sunday, May 27 at the Freshford Town Field Day, where a perpetual cup, trophies and medals will be presented. The deadline for entry is Monday. Entry fee is E50 for a squad of 10 players. Further information on the tournament and application forms are available from Alan Franey, tel 087-6208205. |