Manchester and Birmingham teams crowned Juefa Cup champions

More than 150 Jewish students took part in the Juefa Cup football tournament, with Manchester and Birmingham based teams taking the titles this year.

The cup saw 20 teams from all over the UK compete for the top prize last Sunday, including flight vouchers to Europe and the Juefa trophy.

In line with sporting tournaments around the world, the cup began with a minute silence for victims of Friday’s Paris terror attacks – before men’s and women’s teams battled it out.

Eventual winners of the men’s tournament were the Manchester Oak Hill team, who beat the Jewish Campus USA side.

The ‘Brum Girls’ team beat their rivals – Mitzvah Balls – who are also from Birmingham, in their final. In doing so, they successfully defended their women’s Juefa title.

Captain of the Brum Girls team, Gabby Kingsley: “Winning yesterday was unbelievable. We honestly didn’t think we could do it two times in a row, but we did! The level all the girls’ teams stepped up so much from last year. Thank you to UJS and MASA for hosting yet another brilliant JUEFA!

Event organisers, Stacey Abendstern, of MASA UK  and Aya Abrahams, UJS J-Soc Officer said: “It was an amazing opportunity to bring students from all around the country together to connect through playing football in a competitive but fun environment.  In addition, the new, post JUEFA social event was a success in giving students the chance to meet and socialise with other J-Socs.

The partnership between UJS and Masa enabled students to learn about the Masa internships and programmes available in Israel and the upcoming UJS events. Overall, JUEFA 2015 was a memorable and enjoyable day and we look forward to seeing everyone again at next year’s JUEFA!”