Last week was a monumental week for Football South. It included an official opening of the new Logan Park Artificial Turf with special guest Juan Pablo Angel, a charity black tie dinner for the Hardship Fund and a festival for 80 kids!
Colombia and Aston Villa legend Juan Pablo Angel is one of many players who are a part of the FIFA Legends Programme. Football South CEO Chris Wright got in contact with the programme which helps support and promotes community football and any significant progressions in it across the world.
With the building of the Logan Park Turf, Wright and the Football South staff believe it is going to play a huge role in helping increase the number of participants locally alongside offering a more enjoyable experience as less games will be cancelled due to pitch flooding and other extreme weather conditions.
FIFA thought the same and in turn sent Juan Pablo Angel to Dunedin to help in the celebration and opening of the turf!
With Angel in Dunedin for a few days, he agreed to also help us raise money for the Football South Hardship Fund which focuses on ensuring that no player will miss out on being in talent programmes due to financial hardship.
After much consideration we decided to do a black-tie dinner where people could buy tickets to the event to show their support.
Below is a little run down of everything that happened during Juan Pablo Angel’s visit in a little more detail.
Black tie dinner:
Friday 1 November saw us host the black-tie dinner with special guests including Juan Pablo Angel, Andy Boyens, Michele Cox, Mike McGarry and more!
Through the selling of tickets to the general public we had around 100 people attend the dinner, we used it as a great way to raise money for the Hardship Fund.
During the night we had two Q&A sessions, one hosted by Football South Media Officer Holly Percival with Angel and Boyens, and the other hosted by Football South Chairman Graham Marshall with Cox and McGarry. They spoke about various parts of their lives in football and it was all extremely insightful!
At the dinner we also had a silent auction which included pieces such as retro Aston Villa shirts, All Whites shirts donated by McGarry and Boyen, Ferns shirts from 2018 and 2019 and FIFA Legends shirts, all with some amazing signatures, including Jose Mourinho and more.
From the auction, we raised an amazing $2,000! A huge thank you to everyone who donated!
Hardship Fund:
The Football South Hardship Fund has been providing financial aid to help ensure that no player will miss out on being in talent programmes due to financial hardship.
Businessman James Emmanuel, the owner of the Amigos restaurant chain, believes that the Hardship Fund is a great initiative by Football South and has shown his support by pledging to donate $5,000 a year.
While at the black tie dinner, Emmanuel said: “I think it is a great way to give back to the community and be inclusive for everyone and I think every business and person should try and provide support to the fund if possible.”
Turf opening:
Saturday 2 November at 12:30pm, alongside some of the funders of the turf and the newly elected Mayor Aaron Hawkins, we held an official opening ceremony for the Logan Park Turf. It was great to hear from Angel and New Zealand Football CEO Andrew Pragnell talking about how the venue is such an asset to Dunedin.
Hawkins and Angel then cut a ribbon as the people of Dunedin celebrated the opening.
Football Festival:
As part of the sponsorship between Southern United and Night ‘n Day, Southern United and Football South staff have run and will continue to run football festivals throughout the Football South region.
Last weekend, with the opening of the turf, Football South thought it would be good to run a festival so kids who have not yet played on the turf could get the chance to do so. Approximately 80 children from ages 6-10 attended and played fun five/six-a-side games for an hour.
It was also a great time for some of the kids in the community to get to know some of the Southern United Youth and Futsal players who volunteered their time to help run the festival.
On behalf of all the Football South and Southern United staff, we would like to say a huge thank you to all the funders, sponsors, volunteers and the community for being a part of such a historic event in football for Football South.
Here’s to more exciting advancements in football!
Article added: Thursday 07 November 2019
