By Alan Moen, year 12
Recently, the LGB Champions League held their final game between Olympique Lyonnais and Wexham, with Wexham claiming the title. The tournament lasted 5 months, with participation from 20 different teams, with 120 participants in total, and games being held during morning breaks. Overall, the tournament has received a very positive reception, with a consistently large group of spectators coming to watch the games, as well as positive feedback from the players.
According to one of the coordinators, Lucas Menes, a student in year 12, he was originally approached by his friend Bijan Shambayati, a year 13 student, with the idea of a football tournament, which they both agreed to organise. “The organisation was the big part of the project,” said Lucas, who detailed that although it received very positive feedback and strong viewership, the tournament was quite difficult to organise and may be difficult to repeat.
About the tournament, students have said that it was a good team experience, as it’s “a good experience playing with your friends regardless of if they know how to play or not”. Louis Bausch, a student in year 12 who participated on the second-place team, stated that although his team, Olympique Lyonnais, was disappointed about their finals loss, they felt their efforts were hard-fought, and that “the team was satisfied with how we performed throughout the entirety of the tournament”. Overall, he, and many others, felt that the value of this tournament was not in how they placed, but in the camaraderie and experience of competing with friends. Perla Lepage, another student in year 12 and a member of the only all-girls team, said that her team, although not placing very high, had an enjoyable time during the tournament, and felt welcomed by others, possibly a good sign moving forward for female participation in upcoming tournaments.
In addition, despite the lack of direct teacher participation, students have found the tournament to be a good “bonding experience” between students and teachers as one student has said, due to teachers participating in other aspects of the tournament apart from directly competing.
A second football tournament has been announced by the LGB World Cup Instagram account, although no specific dates have been mentioned yet, and attendance may not end up being as high as the UEFA Champions league, judging from the followers and likes on the accounts. In addition, the World Cup may find it more difficult to attract students from year 12 as exams approach, and do not have any students from year 13; two years which made up a large amount of the participation of the UEFA tournament.
Rumours have also circulated of a possible basketball tournament being organised by students in year 12, but no direct confirmation has been made. In short, the feedback and sentiment surrounding the LGB Champions League football tournament have been overwhelmingly positive, and participation numbers high, but whether or not this is indicative of the success of future tournaments or will only be a one-time event remains unclear at this stage.
