Charlton Athletic Community Trust (CACT) and the Charlton Upbeats were proud to host the Down’s Syndrome Football Festival at Ballerz, Bluewater, on Sunday, with the Upbeats crowned champions following a dramatic final victory over Everton.
The event saw clubs from across the country come to Kent to compete to be crowned as the Football Festival champions. Albion in the Community representing Brighton & Hove Albion, Everton in the Community, Fulham Badgers, Queens Park Rangers Tiger Cubs, Norwich City and North London United representing Arsenal took part in the proceedings alongside the Charlton Upbeats’ Addicks and Valiants teams.
Following a group phase which saw each team play eight matches, two closely contested semi-finals took place between the Upbeats Valiants and Everton, as well as the Upbeats Addicks and North London United. Everton and Upbeats Addicks ran out as the semi-final winners and played in the final, which ended 4-2 to the Upbeats.
Alongside participating in seven-a-side, eight-minute matches which took place throughout the day, players and their families were able to enjoy the high-tech football skills games inside the state-of-the-art Ballerz Air Dome.
The festival was hosted thanks to the sponsorship of long-term partners of CACT, ITRM, while Bluewater supported the event by providing goody bags for every participant on the day, while the Down's Syndrome Association also supported the event.
Dave White, ITRM Managing Director, said: "It's been an amazing day, I'm smiling from ear to ear with all the fun and celebrations!
"It's what football is all about. You can see the joy in their eyes and it fills my heart. It's amazing how the Community Trust puts events like these together.
"These events are what life is all about and I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has worked hard to make it happen."
Charlie Macdonald, Director of Youth and Inclusion for CACT, said: "We're all about giving people with disabilities equal opportunities to enjoy football, enjoy the camaraderie and get a buzz out of it just as any other team does.
"We've seen participants, staff and families from community programmes across the country show dedication to make the journey here to be part of this and give their young people an opportunity so we'd like to thank them for that. Without that dedication of everyone pulling together, these events can't happen.
"What I would say to anybody if they came and saw a tournament like this, I guarantee they would enjoy it - it's a fun tournament, you get involved in the thrills and spills and see great players who work hard just like any other tournament and it's been such a great day.
"We've got plans already to expand this competition. We want to make it more national and look at a venue in the middle of the country so more teams can travel, so we've got big plans to make it bigger and better because we've seen that the results and the impact for the families of those involved today has been huge."