Saturday 18th January saw the 4th annual “One Day, One Goal” Charity football event take place at St. Andrews International School, Green Valley. The day was split into 2 parts with the morning consisting of a football competition between 4 local international schools and the afternoon seeing children from local charities coming in to receive some free gifts and football coaching from our very own United Football coaches.
It was a glorious day for football and with temperatures a little lower than usual. The standard of football was of the highest quality throughout the day. Over 300 children took part in 8 different age/gender groups with children as young as 6 through to 13 showcasing their enthusiasm and ability in the ‘beautiful game’.
While the football took place the school’s Parent Teacher Group (PTG) were busily preparing hot dogs, snacks and beverages for the hungry hordes of children and adults descending upon them. Several other stalls were in attendance including the Pattaya International Ladies Club selling snacks and books, the Rayong Bakery selling delicious baked goods, Mrs. Serre from the school community with her beautifully hand crafted bags and some of our dedicated students who had prepared fun games for the children to compete in. Each stall raised money and awareness for charities of their choice.
From my perspective, the most important part of the day was raising funds and awareness for the fantastic local charities we have here in Pattaya and giving something back to our community with the football coaching in the afternoon. There was still the small matter of the competition, though, and one of the nice things about the final results was that the championships were fairly evenly spread out with each school taking home at least 1 victory banner.
During the afternoon, 45 children from the Father Ray Foundation and the Fountain of Life charity came to receive free football coaching from the school’s United Football coaches. Children were split into 3 groups based on age/ability and each group had a specific coaching plan based upon their ability. Lots of fun, skill-based drills were used and in keeping with the United Football philosophy of one ball per child, each player spent ample time with a ball at their feet improving their basic, intermediate and advanced abilities.
The most satisfying aspect of the session was seeing lots of children from the school join in with the other children and clearly all were reveling in the occasion. The children from both charities left with a Magic Box set, St. Andrews t-shirt, hot food courtesy of the PTG and a huge smile on their faces.
Many thanks must go to our generous sponsors.
Paputsaro at Kaochareon Transport; Pattamaporn At Laemtong Shopping Plaza, Rayong; Parent Teacher Group at St. Andrews; Stephen Longworth at Bangkok Elite Marketing; St. Andrews International School; Rayong Matt Dunn at United Football; Mr. Jimmy Hoskens at Big Banner Company; VP Sports Bangkok; and Hanky Panky Games.
Special thanks must also go to Hanky Panky games who donated over 30,000 baht worth of Magic Box sets that the children were so excited about receiving.
The total money raised and donated exceeded 80,000 baht which made the day all the more special.
Now we start planning for next year!
If you would like to contact any of the charities above, if you are interested in any work of the sponsors or if you are interested in joining the latest round of United Football sessions then please contact me on [email protected].
