Kerem girls claim schools football win

Kerem showed the community’s other schools what they were made of as they took the title at Maccabi GB’s latest School Sports Tournament.

The feat was even more impressive as the Year’s 5 & 6 Girls competition was the largest primary school girls football event MGB has ever hosted.

More than 200 young footballers took part and, in total, 11 schools attended bringing 23 teams. The teams were split into four groups in a round-robin format, with the top two teams from each group progressing into the quarter-finals.

The group stages produced some exciting games, enhanced by many of the players receiving coaching by MGB Sports Coordinators since they began their school careers. It also helped that the girls were well supported by the many teachers and parents who had come to cheer on the young players.

With the quarter-finals a formality, it was the semi-final games which saw Kerem take on HJPS and Independent face MMK. MMK always looked dominant in their game and it was no surprise they ran out as winners to book their place in the final. However, the game between Kerem and HJPS was a much closer affair and it took a penalty shootout to determine a winner.

MMK started the final in confident mood and created some good chances, but Kerem saw off the early pressure and worked their way into the game. Kerem kept pushing for a winning goal, but it was MMK who managed to work a clear opening and slot the ball home to take the lead. Not long after conceding, Kerem took a long shot which squeezed through the legs of the helpless MMK goalkeeper. Two minutes of extra-time still could not split the sides, so penalties were needed to determine the winning school. Confidence grew after each kick or save and it was Kerem who held their nerve to take the title.

The afternoon finished off with a medals presentation to the finalists and the winning Kerem team lifted the trophy high.

Speaking about the tournament, MB Sports Coordinator Alex Elf said, “We are so happy with how today went. To have more girls participate than ever before shows that these events are creating a real interest within the Community, which is positive for everyone. We want to get even more girls involved in sports and plan to host a number of other sporting events in the future to accommodate them as well as boys teams. I am also happy for Kerem as it was some achievement to win a Maccabi GB Girls Football Tournament with so many teams standing in your way. It just shows how much talent they have and I hope they continue playing for a long time.”