Wow!! What an event it was this year on June 25th 2022 at Total Sports Novi (East), MI. VT Seva Detroit organized a boarded indoor fundraising soccer tournament yet again this year to benefit the blind and visually challenged children in India.
Like past years we had 3 different groups:
- Group 1: 6 to 9 years’ old
- Group 2: 10 to 13 years’ old
- Group 3: 14 and above
This year’s turnout was unprecedented with 33 games in the 3 age Groups with a total of 93 players.
During the run-up to the event, VT Seva Detroit Team members were ‘all guns blazing’ in all departments as usual.
To list a few:
· Promotions – Our Youth & Adult Volunteers did an amazing job in promoting the event. Apart from reaching out to the past participants via email, phone and voicemails and new participants via distribution list and MIindia, we had several outreach sessions at Total Sports Novi/Wixom, India Grocers and also pasted Flyers at different important locations throughout.
Vijitha ji of Vani Foods came forward to Sponsor after listening to the great cause this event was being conducted for. She also graciously offered us her Storefront Parking Lot for any future VT Seva Events. Thank you so much Vidhya ji!
· Venue - Total Sports – It would be injustice if we don’t mention Michelle Reitz, Total Sports Facilities Manager and her associate Jimmy. They were simply amazing and without their help and support, it would not have been possible. Right from when we decided to go for Soccer Tournament yet again this year, Michelle and her team were so appreciative of the cause and promised to go all the way to help us organize this. They not only subsidized the Venue fees for us but went above & beyond to help us so easily organize the logistics.
It would not have been possible to conduct such a successful event without our AMAZING and ENTHUSIASTIC volunteers:
All these youth volunteers did a terrific job in all these areas:
The event would not have been a successful one without the tireless help and support in the following areas:
This year we were bolstered by the one and only Alvin (of the OHWTF Soccer Club). He was so gracious to help us out with refereeing the Group 3 games right from the beginning to the end. Special thanks to all the three amazing Referees who ensured the games were played fairly!
· Teams & Winners – We had an amazing Game Roster and Schedule this year with several first-time youth players, 2 High School Teams, and 4 Adult League Teams from Saginaw, Utica/Rochester areas and 2 more teams from Hella.
Group 1 (6 to 9 years’ old): Had 10 players that were placed in 2 different teams Yellow & Blue to verse against each other in Three 10 min. games. The kids had super fun time playing and scoring against each other in a friendly competitive kids Soccer game. The final standings say it all as to how competitive both teams were. Both the teams received the winning Trophies!!
Group 2 (10 to 13 years’ old): Fourteen players were matched up against each other depending on their different skill levels in Orange vs Green teams. Superb demonstration of soccer skills amongst the players made up for an interesting three 15 min. sections of the game. Here’s the final standing after the games:
The winning players of Group 2 received Trophies and the runner up received Medals for their fantastic performance on the field.
Group 3 (14 and above): While the Group 1 & Group 2 games were going on, parallelly the Group 3 games also began simultaneously in the other Field. 8 teams were put in 2 different groups. We had 12 league round-robin games. Every game was high energy and highly competitive with a friendly tussle between the teams as expected.
Here’s the league standing:
The Semis were Super-charged with Seed 1 playing Seed 4 and Seed 2 playing Seed 3. The final standings were:
THE GRAND FINALE:
The final was between Saginaw FC and Dark Falcon Utd. It was an electrifying Final game with both teams equally challenging each other with their dribbling, passing and team coordination. In the end, Saginaw FC who were participating in this tournament for the first time came out clear winners beating the Dark Falcons Utd - 3:1. Here’s the final score:
All in all, 97 players playing in 3 different age group with some exhilarating and captivating games in the Tournament was a treat to the viewers who thoroughly enjoyed it and stayed till the end. Every pass, every nutmeg and every goal scored was for the noble cause of providing support to the visually challenged children of Nethra Vidyalaya and Tribal School children.
We were able to raise a total of $2,113.00
Game & Volunteer Coordinators like every year, met at regular intervals during the run-up to the event, burnt the mid-night oil, extreme planning and execution till the end utilizing the Game Schedule and Scoring software for the first time in VT Seva Detroit Soccer Tournament. In the end, it turned out to be a fruitful success for the hours of preparation that was put in.
CONSOLIDATED PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE EVENT ARE AVAILABLE AT:
Facebook Link
https://www.facebook.com/vtseva.detroit/posts/pfbid02H1h68CTznDc5WXvKzGF7ySgiAhQ7kMsUNxj3kQk1bX4cuQNAm1pY3jxx2URVwQpRl
Blog Written By: Suresh Rajan
Blog Published By: Nandini Cheemalamarri
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