Bigger and better in 2012 as Sari Soccerfest takes over Phoenix Park
Sport Against Racism Ireland (Sari) has announced that its annual Soccerfest will be held in Phoenix Park – near Dublin Zoo – on the weekend of 8-9 September.
This will be the 16th year for the not-for-profit organisation to host the event that promotes cross-cultural interaction through soccer, music and family activities.
According to Sari executive chairman Perry Ogden, the Soccerfest is the “largest intercultural seven-a-side tournament in Europe”.
This year’s Soccerfest, supported by title sponsor Tesco Mobile, will feature 40 seven-a-side men’s teams, eight women’s sides and a number of squads for children under 13.
“It just keeps getting bigger and bigger,” said Ken McCue, Sari’s international and education officer. “We’ve gotten so popular that the only logical place to have Soccerfest is at Phoenix Park. It really is the largest multicultural event on this isle.”
According to McCue, the festival attracts soccer teams from all across Ireland and as far afield as Ghana. Other countries have even begun to copy the event, he said,
“It’s really fantastic just how far this thing has come. We have all these communities, organisations and cultures coming together in a celebration of football and diversity. It’s just fantastic.”
Soccerfest also brings together a variety of musicians from many cultures to create what McCue calls a “musical fusion”.
Combined with food from around the world and many other fun activities, it makes for a day the whole family can enjoy together.
Sari was started in 1997 in response to an escalation of violence targeting minority groups in Ireland.
Soccerfest has been the flagship programme for Sari’s mission of integration through sport and has attracted more than 4,000 participants and spectators in past years.
