By Weronika Lecka, French and Spanish, First Year
On Saturday 2nd of November, the University of Bristol organised their final for the Black History Month indoor football tournament. The event was hosted at the Indoor Sports Centre on campus following the 1st round of matches that was played a week prior.
I was asked to officiate this by Joe Leaver, the Sport and Inclusion Development Officer at the University of Bristol, who informed me about this opportunity and told me about the rules that were to be used during these matches. Due to my availability, I only officiated the final on the 2nd November, but both rounds were successful and had good attendance. Throughout the tournament, there was a range of rules enforced in order to adapt to both the indoor setting and fewer players players. These included:
- Goalkeeper not allowed out of area
- No outfield players can touch ball in penalty area (The D)
- If players goes in without touching ball is ok, Ball can not be played over chest height
- No offside, No throw ins or corners
- 1 step run up for penalties
- Players must be 1.5m away from ball for free kick
- Keeper must distribute ball from kicking or underarm throw
These rules made sure that although this was a friendly tournament, the matches could be played in a safe, fair and enjoyable manner.
'A big success, and went really well, even though we had a few drop outs, we still had a good number of students and a good spread from different groups and societies from across the University.'
The first round of the tournament was on the 26th October from 18:30-20.00, and it had 4 teams taking part: Emery's Army, Sonic, UOB 2 and Barca FC. They all played 2 matches each with Emery's Army at the top of the table with 4 points, and a +3 goal difference creating distance between them and second placed Sondico. I wasn't present at this first round, however Joe Leaver said that the tournament had been successful and was looking forward to the second round.
The second/final round of the tournament from 19:00-20:00 was well attended, however not enough players were available for 4 teams to be created, so instead we split the group into 2 teams and played a longer final. The sports hall was split in half, and the players played 5-aside using the small goals so that the game could be quicker and adaptable to the smaller group. It took a while to get everything set up and create teams, so we began at 19:12pm and played for 25 minutes. We were originally meant to have a 2-minute break in between but I played 25 minutes straight, which allowed the players to play a longer final. Afterwards, we had a 2 minute break with a 10 minute half afterwards. The prizes up for grabs for the winners, were vouchers that could be used at the Source cafés in Bristol.
There were a lot of goals from both teams which made for an entertaining final, with the spectators and Leaver himself enjoying the match from the stands upstairs. The officials Yassine Bengourram and myself had some calls to make, such as players touching the ball in their own penalty box or playing the ball over chest height, which resulted in penalties and free-kicks respectively. However, the players played safely and fairly, so we didn't have to give any free kicks for foul play such as tripping up or pushing. Leaver also helped us out with the rules, sometimes telling us from the stands what should be given and whether we should just continue with play. This reduced player confusion and arguing, which maintained the tournament being friendly rather than competitive. There were also some University of Bristol Activators taking part, with one of them playing in the match and another keeping score, which was very helpful, as the match finished 14-10 to blue bibs.
After the final whistle, the winning team took a group photo to celebrate their victory, then we all took a collective photo to celebrate the final of the event. We then went upstairs, where Leaver had set out some Papa John's pizzas for us to eat with different toppings to suit everyone's tastes. Additionally, Leaver took the time to speak to us, referees, about opportunities available at the University of Bristol such as Gamechangers, who fund qualifications for students in sports refereeing or coaching. I also made myself available for any other refereeing opportunities like this one, so it is important to keep a look out for them! It was very nice to see the celebration of Black History Month at Bristol and see how sporting events can bring together and unite students of different backgrounds, celebrating diversity.
Of course, there will be other sporting and general cultural events happening at the university that celebrate different cultures. A good place to look would be at the Global Lounge, where there are different celebrations coming up in the next few weeks such as Latin American Cultural Celebration, Thai Culture Day, Kenyan Cultural Day and the weekly Language Café. If some of these events interest you, don't hesitate to sign up!
If you want to get in touch with Joe Leaver about sports opportunities like this one, you can email him at joe.leaver@bristol.ac.uk
If you want to get in touch with gamechangers to help you with your qualification, you can email them at seh-gamechangers@bristol.ac.uk
Also, keep a look out on the University of Bristol Sport Instagram page or Student Union website, as they often post about events like this one.
Featured image: Joe Leaver
