The Rovers hosted their second Tournament in successive years on what was the hottest weekend of 2023. 96 teams from all over the country entertained the masses, failing to disappoint.
Yes, you read that correctly, 96 teams took part in this Tournament. The largest Grassroots Tournament in Bromsgrove. Hopwood Recreation Ground was the destination where months of careful planning and organising had taken place to set the scene. The sun was out, the hottest weekend on record for 2023, seeing temperatures hit 30 degrees on both days.
DAY 1: Saturday 10th June, teams arrived in their masses, along with Parents and relatives, carrying gazebos, chairs, blankets, plenty of sun cream. Many onlookers resembled Shane Warne with streaks of sun cream all over their faces, soon turning to ice cream throughout the day!
Playing on the Saturday were teams from U7’s, U9’s, U11’s and U12. There was plenty of things for players and onlookers to do apart from football too; bacon baps served to hungry mouths early on followed by burgers, hot dogs washed down with hot or cold drinks and the odd ice cream!
There was a fabulous beat the goalie inflatable where many got very competitive on and a very well populated Tombola ran by Club Ambassador, Jason Sola and his family.
It was a sea of colours with so many teams taking part, arriving, setting up “camp”, playing and observing many other games.
The outcome of winners on Saturday were as follows:
U7s MELT Trophy – Studley Juniors
U9s MELT Trophy – Stourbridge FC
U11s TreeFix Trophy – Oldbury Park Tigers
U12s H2O Restoration Trophy – Alvechurch
Congratulations to all teams who won Trophies. A massive thank you to ALL teams that took part and supported this amazing event.
A selection of photos from the weekend can be found below:
DAY 2: Sunday 11th June. Teams, like Saturday ascended on Hopwood in swarms. A joy to behold. There clearly seemed to be a greater amount of people converge early on. The smell of Bacon cooking at 08:30am filled the air, boys warming up, stretching ready to take to the pitch.
This time it was U8’s, U10’s, U13’s and U14’s who were competing throughout the day for the honours.
The outcome of winners on Sunday were as follows:
U8s MELT Trophy – Kidderminster Ath
U10s Bromsgrove Logistics Trophy – Bromsgrove Rovers AFC
U13s BikeSafe Trophy – West Hagley East A
U14s MELT Trophy – Bromsgrove Sporting
Congratulations to all teams who won Trophies. A massive thank you to ALL teams that took part and supported this amazing event.
Once again, a huge thank you goes to all Volunteers who gave up their time in preparing the ground in the sweltering heat, in the days leading up to the Tournament and also during the course of the weekend itself. A special mention must goes to our Club Secretary, Mark Whitehouse for his organisation of everything and everyone. The Club cannot thank these people enough.
It was estimated that around 3,000 people visited over the weekend, a truly magnificant figure which reflects just how far Bromsgrove Rovers AFC have come in just 12 months.
Chairman, Bryn Davies commented, “We have been praised so much for this event by opposition and visiting teams, this is only down to the devotion and time of our Club members and Volunteers. I would like to personally thank all of our Trophy sponsors; MELT, Bromsgrove Logistics, Treefix, H2O Restoration, BikeSafe along with Bromsgrove Commercial Waste Services and Hotlobster Design Limited for their support with Waste Management and Photography/Drone Footage respectively.”
Mark Whitehouse added, “This has been our second Tournament in as many years, we really pushed it this year, doubling the amount of teams competiting. It’s been a hell of a lot of work but as a Community Grassroots Football Club, it’s all about bringing teams together and putting football on the map; seeing the looks on all of the players faces when they have taken part and have a sense of achievement makes it all worthwhile.”
So there you have it. 96 teams. 48 hours. Sunburn. Tears of joy. Tears of disappointment. Until the next time….
