Kick-off in the 2014 International Ayia Napa Youth Soccer Festival

A record 249 teams from Cyprus and abroad will compete in the region’s largest annual youth football tournament

 

The tourist resort of Ayia Napa on the south-eastern tip of the island of Cyprus  will host this week (12-15 April) the International Ayia Napa Youth Soccer Festival for a 14th year running. A record 249 teams from 67 different football academies from Cyprus and abroad will compete in the largest youth tournament of the region.

More than three thousand young footballers, aged 7 to 16, will showcase their talents in front of an army of scouts and coaches that traditionally visit the Ayia Napa Youth Soccer Festival for the purposes to watch the nation’s top young players all together in one area. Throughout the years Ayia Napa Youth Soccer Festival has featured players that went on to represent Cyprus in the highest level.

Sixteen full sized pitches in Ayia Napa will host the 249 teams that will compete in the ten different age groups. The oldest players that will take place in the 2014 edition where born in 1998 and the youngest in 2007.

Major sponsors of the 2014 International Ayia Napa Youth Soccer Festival are the Cyprus Tourism Organization (CTO), UCLan University Cyprus and Pascal Education, while the event is supported by the Municipality of Ayia Napa and the local football club of Ayia Napa (which just a few days ago won promotion into Cyprus’ top division). SoccerWorldCyprus are the organizers of the tournament.

Due to the huge size of the tournament, thousands of people will flock to Ayia Napa, a fact that offers a massive boost to the local economy. The three thousand footballers will stay in various hotels in town, the same time that thousands of parents, relatives of the athletes, coaches, scouts, referees, media, organizers and volunteers will all be present in the region the days of the event.

 

The schedule

Kick-off is set for the morning of Saturday April 12th with the group stage continuing into Sunday the 13th. The knock-out matches all the way until the semifinal round will take place on Monday the 14th and the morning of Tuesday the 15th. The ten finals of the respective age categories are scheduled for the afternoon of Tuesday April 15th. Ayia Napa Youth Soccer Festival will come to an end with the closing ceremony in the afternoon of Tuesday at the Municipal stadium in the presence of thousands of fans.

Besides the scouts from Cyprus and abroad who will attend the tournament, the players that will stand out during the event will be called to participate in the Cyprus Elite Players Camp in the weekend of May 31st – June 1st

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