West Auckland will have another go at bringing together multiple cultures and ethnicities through sport in the second Ethkick West 7-a-side Football Tournament to be held in the first week of March.
This year, two Indian teams, NZ Indian from Shri Ram Temple, Henderson and Fiji Indian, have registered to compete in the tournament. Other teams playing the in the tournament are Zo, NZ Kurdish Community, Croatia, NZ, Tuvalu, China, Nepal, Burundi, United Nations, Myanmar, Ethiopia (Ethio Lions), Britain, Tamil/Sir Lankan, South Africa, Afghanistan, Samoa, Kelston Youth Muslim FC, Rwanda, and Japan.
The tournament will be held on Saturday, March 3 at Fred Taylor Park, and kick off at 8 a.m. and the finals at 4 p.m. on the same day.
Community Waitakere organises Ethkick West, partnered and supported by the Northern Football Federation, Waitakere City Football Club, Auckland Council, NZ Police, the Waitakere Ethnic Board, Sports Waitakere, the Human Rights Commission, West Auckland Local Boards and The Trusts Community Foundation.
The organisers have encouraged the community to come forward and support their team with flags, colours, and songs etc. This tournament is a free community event and can be a good day out for the whole family.
The organisers have arranged food of different cuisines to be available at the venue and games for the children, families and supporters etc.
Kelston Muslim FC team (Picture: Supplied)
The first Ethkick West Football tournament was held in September 2016 with twenty men’s team and five women’s team participating, and the event was also graced by Race Relations Commissioner Dame Susan Devoy.
Afghanistan won the first tournament in the men’s category defeating team Nepal while Tuvalu won the competition in the women’s category beating New Zealand.
“The goal of the tournament is to celebrate cultural diversity between different ethnic groups,” said Maj De Pooter, one of the organisers of the tournament.