Sportmanship and altruism

Uniting sport and philanthropy, young athletes from the International Cup « Children play for children » will play until September 23, day of the tournament closing ceremony.

Since 2006, the International Cup « children play for children » raised $140,000. For this seventh edition, M. Gabbay, the president and funding member, hopes to raise $40,000,the same amount as last year. In this non-profit organization, no one is paid, « not even the referees, » says the founding member. They are not payed in order to « collect as much as possible. »

« Those children play hoping that young patients can recover and come out of their hospital beds to return to the game. That’s why we say that children are playing for children, » says the organizer.

Players will compete representing different countries, as do the professional players in major tournaments. When he was a child in Morocco, Sam Gabbay played soccer with his friends while pretending to be a professional player representing a country. It was his dream. Now he is pleased to give the children an additional month of soccer in their already short season. « It made my dream a reality », said the man who is delighted to see children and teenagers learn about different countries.

Like professionals!

Like the professional players, young athletes will represent different nations. The theme of this year tournament is the Euro Cup 2012. « It adds a sense of professionalism, » believes M. Gabbay. The Club de soccer de Saint-Laurent is representing Poland who was co-host of the Euro Cup 2012. Young players in the borough of Pierrefonds-Roxboro are competing under the banner of the Ukraine, the second host of the Euro Cup 2012.

This event, organized in collaboration with the boroughs of Saint-Laurent and Pierrefonds-Roxboro and the embassies of Poland and the Republic of Ukraine, is local, as it is organized solely for players in the Lac Saint-Louis.

« It is a local tournament and the committee wants it to be local so the local teams have a tournament. When it was founded in 2006, I wanted our local teams have a tournament that can call their own, « says Mr. Gabbay.

Approximately 1500 people were a part of the 1st September opening ceremony in the Marcel-Laurin Park. After the ceremony, they enjoyed the cocktail party offered by the mayor of Saint-Laurent, Alan DeSousa.

For more information on the match, you can visit the http://www.tsisports.ca/soccer/tournoi/index.htm. Those who would like to make a donating to this organization can visit http://www.kidsinternationalcup.org/ to do online.