Day 1 | Kick off!
The soggy ground is holding up and so is the weather.
Day one of the Joey’s Mini World Cup saw all teams in the draw get through their games despite the tournament losing one field due to Sunday’s downpours.
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On Saturday, all the fields looked good and promising but the heavy showers on Sunday meant one of the fields was ruled out of contention on Monday.
Teams warmed up at the sports complex on the Tingha Road, as games got underway.
The mini world cup is in its sixth year after Mr Heussler found a way to up-skill regional Australia and tap into the world cup vibe.
The cup will identify the best 15 year old, 17 year old, woman, and goal keeper. Read the full report here.
Meanwhile, on stage:
Everything you need to know about the Mini World Cup
The first cup, the then 2010 Inaugural McDonald’s Joeys Mini World Cup delivered a result beyond the wildest imagination and within the last five years the Joeys Mini World Cup has grown to be one of the best tournaments for junior players in Australia, attracting teams from around the world.
Earlier: The cup returns in 2016, better than ever
Celebrated as the global game which brings people together, football will dominate the Inverell sporting scene next week when 48 teams of at least 11 players each arrive to play in the sixth annual Joeys’ Mini World Cup.
Cup founder and Joeys FC president Heinrich Haussler said they have teams coming from towns across the country, including Kingaroy, South Burnett, Toowoomba, Morriset, Dubbo, Grafton, Bundaberg, Barambah, Lismore, Hervey Bay, Gunnedah, Armidale and Tamworth.
There are four special needs teams competing from Connections, Brighter Access and Glen Industries, and every under 9s team in inclusive, with one special needs child.
The international players are returning with the still-undefeated open women’s team from New Zealand, and the gunning-to-win boys’ under 15 team from Frankfort, Germany.
The Cup has grown, now in its sixth year.
“It’s basically a concept that was born six years ago to try and create opportunity for youth development in football skills in regional Australia,” co-organiser Kylie Hawkins said.
“It was really a showcase opportunity, and just to embrace the concept of the World Cup initiative. It was really Heinrich’s vision for people to come together, enjoy a week-long session of football.”
Travel the world, play football
Louise Rolph travelled to Germany after a stellar performance in the Mini World Cup. The international trip is what all the players are chasing:
How it all began
The idea was actually born in 2006 on a trip to Germany, when Heinrich took the first Joeys team across to the country where people fill in the days between football matches.
He said they raised the money by hand-painting 40 kilometers of piping with oil-based paint for the Guyra tomato farm, but the relentless and dizzying job spawned the opportunity for the sprawling event for the beautiful game in Inverell.
“At that time, the German Football Federation had a thing which they called the Mini World Cup. It was for kids from all over Germany to play and actually, at the end, have a final, but they didn’t get anything,” Heinrich said.
It was really Heinrich’s vision for people to come together, enjoy a week-long session of football.
- Kylie Hawkins
“But I looked at this, and I said, ‘This is what I want to do in Australia’ and I developed the idea and I thought, ‘For the next world Cup in 2010, we have a Joeys’ Mini World Cup, and that’s what we did.”
Rather than trophies alone, Heinrich organised for the top four players from the Cup to have fully-paid trips to Germany to train with top-level leagues, and subsidise up to 30 players to achieve the same goal.
The latest addition is the second annual World Music Concert at the Inverell Town Hall, where music and dance performances entertain the players next week, with the concert Saturday, October 1 open to the Inverell public. The Mini World Cup begins at 10am Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at the Inverell Sporting Complex. Admission for spectators is free. A canteen operates all day.