THE Orient Woodford Premier 7s is fast becoming a launchpad for young soccer talent, with 104 teams taking part in this year’s tournament at George Campbell School of Technology.

The two-day competition, hosted by Orient Islamic School and sponsored by Woodford Car Hire, brought together young players from schools, clubs and communities across the country. Local organiser Zain Kara said the tournament is creating a national platform for competition, development and talent exposure from U7s to U17s.

“We have scouts that attend the tournament and at last year’s we had two players signed by PSL teams which is exciting and attributes to the success of the tournament. Opportunities like these can change a child’s life,” said Kara.

This was echoed by football agent and scout Mike Makaab, who attended the tournament. He revealed that a player he identified at last year’s event is now set to join the Orlando Pirates junior/pro development structure.

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With over 3000 people attending the event Essa Ebrahim Suleman, CEO of The Woodford Group, said supporting the tournament was about creating opportunities for young people. He said soccer plays an important role in developing qualities that extend beyond the football field.

“I believe that sport, soccer in particular, is one of the greatest platforms for developing character, discipline, teamwork and resilience. We’re proud to play a small role in bringing this opportunity to young soccer players from around the country.”

Only in its second year, the tournament is growing in leaps and bounds. The number of teams participating this year had more than doubled.

Teams Liaison Nadeem Agjee said managing 104 teams required strong communication and coordination. “Every team has different needs and questions, and our role was to make sure they felt supported from the time they registered until the tournament was completed. Seeing so many teams come together was incredibly rewarding.”

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His excitement was shared by Muhammed Seedat, who was involved with the parents committee and oversaw aspects of the tournament’s operations.

“An event of this size doesn’t happen because of one person. It takes parents, volunteers, staff, coaches and everyone working together behind the scenes. When you see 104 teams competing and enjoying themselves, you realise that all the hard work was worth it,” said Seedat.

The tournament was also praised by coaches who took part. Coach Enzo Coppola congratulated the event organisers.

He said “Well done to everyone involved. It was very well organised, and it was a privilege to take part. You could see the amount of work that went into putting a tournament of this size together.”

Tournament winners were Marzar Soccer Academy – U17, Glide – U15, KP5 Soccer Academy – U13, and Super Strike – U11.

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