The ESFA U12 SAL team won the inaugural Gamarada Cup on Thursday night, an initiative part of The Big Issue’s Street Football Festival.

Playing on a floating, artificial pitch in Cockle Bay, Darling Harbour, the team participated in this unique event with huge success.

The team held a perfect record of five wins from five, with an average of 8 goals a game. They finishing top of the table with 9 points before going on to win the semi final and final.

The Gamarada Cup, which means comrades or friends in the Gadigal language of the Eora people, included players from both indigenous and refugee background.

Andrew Field, U12 SAL Coach, thanked the organisers for the unique event.

“Thank the organisers of this innovative tournament, that included teams from Alice Springs and local indigenous communities,” he said.

The ESFA SAL teams are sponsored by Jazzright Production Services, who have supported the side through their success during the past two seasons. The representative team competes in the Football NSW Subway Skills Acquisition League in both the U11 and U12 division.

The team members on the day were; Jerry Skotadis, Sholto Bremner, Louie Cosgrove, Thomas Kaldor, Luke Del Vecchio, Gabriel Antoniades, Daniel Blazevski, Jake Besser.

Images courtesy of Bettina Kaldor.