Hurlyvale Primary football tournament goes viral over teacher red card

With the FIFA World Cup in full swing, football fever and passion are at an all-time high at Hurlyvale Primary School as learners clash in a friendly tournament.

The tournament has instilled a sense of passion and excitement among learners and teachers as the school’s classes from Grade One to Grade Seven battle it out on the field, representing their countries and teams.

Some of that passion was recently caught on camera when Grade Three teacher Kirsten De Beer was given a red card from referee Tristan Ribnic for celebrating the class’s success.

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Caught on video, the moment has been shared far and wide, generating laughs, smiles and friendly banter.

“All of the school’s learners are participating in a friendly World Cup tournament,” said de Beer.

She said the events caught on camera were her class’s second match of the tournament.

De Beer’s class is representing Ecuador in the school’s World Cup. She said that the class has its own war cry.

“During the first match, I think I was just as passionate, but it just wasn’t filmed.”
De Beer said during the first half of the second match her class hadn’t scored any goals, which made her a little nervous.

“After we scored, I got very excited, I think I was running up and down the side-line, where I shouldn’t have been running, and that is where our head official, in charge of referees, Jordan Coetzee, was.”

She said seeing her class score the goal was an exciting moment.

“With all of the games my class has been playing, I have been quite confident; so for my class to have scored it was nice to be able to back that up,” said de Beer.

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The duo explained that everything had just been for fun.

“None of this is serious,” said De Beer.

“It’s all in good spirit, and we didn’t expect the red card to get as much attention as this,” said Coetzee.

He said the appeals process started as a joke and subsequently got put on social media, which has given everyone a good laugh.

Coetzee explained that the tournament was the brainchild of the school’s deputy principal, Kubeshini Reddy.

“With five classes per grade, each class from Grade One to Grade Seven did a random draw and selected a country playing in the World Cup. With exams over, the tournament is something fun for the children.”

Coetzee said each grade has an internal competition with each team playing two games and the leading point scorers facing off in the finals at the end of the tournament.

De Beer’s class, Ecuador, will face off against Germany in the finals.

Although De Beer said Germany will be her class’s toughest match.

As the joint head of sports for the school alongside Coetzee, De Beer has a strong passion for sports.
She said sports have always been her blood.

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“From a very young age, my family would always be involved in sports events, involved and supporting.”

De Beer, a former Hurlyvale Primary School learner herself, used to play hockey, netball and enjoy swimming.

“I’ve always enjoyed being part of a team and having that camaraderie. Being able to celebrate the highs and lows, the wins and losses together,” said De Beer.

“A lot of credit has to be given to our ground staff,” said Coetzee. He said the effort and work that they have put into ensuring the games run smoothly during such short breaks must be commended.