Chase Buchanan Cup March 2023 - Ladies Tournament report
What an amazing tournament this was. And to think we almost didn't play!!
When the tournament was first organised we were only a team of 4 women and did not have had enough team members to compete. Mike, our manager, stepped in determined to make it happen, and our friends from Aphrodites Wanderers team rallied around, offering us their spare players to make up the numbers and even organised training sessions with all their players to get us match ready. Six UK teams were heading over for a 2 day tournament to play 3 Cyprus teams which now included the Polis and Latchi Lionesses. Our first official games were now booked!!
Although our team of 4 was very inexperienced we had a great team spirit and positive attitude and we threw ourselves into our training and coaching sessions. The men from the Polis and Latch Lions were behind us every inch of the way and we were slowly seeing our game ( and confidence) improve. As the weeks progressed towards the tournament we were able to recruit 3 more players. Two ladies, Jane and Tricia, had already been involved as supporters of the Mens' team and were now willing and able to don their own football boots to help us out. The 3rd recruit, Vicky, we had been encouraging (pestering?) to come and have a go for a while. She had resisted, thinking it was 'not her thing' but eventually came along just to shut us up!. One session in and she was bitten by the bug like the rest of us. We were now a team of 7!! None of us had played football in our lives before joining the club. Here we were about to play our first tournament. We knew we were the underdogs by a long way but we were as ready as we could have been.
On the first day of the tournament, due to injuries the Aphrodites team had no players spare, but at very short notice three lovely ladies from Paphos United stepped in to help us out. We had our team of 10 and were ready to compete. Thank you Paphos ladies Helen, Cath & Carol.
Our first game was against Braunton who were a very strong team and had been tipped as one of the favourites to win the tournament. We played a very defensive game on the first day and although both Paphos and Braunton scored 4 goals against us, they had to work hard for these goals. The third match we drew 0 - 0 against Steppers (overall winner of the Shield). We were over the moon with our performance The second day was even better with fewer goals passed by us.
The quality of the teams from the UK were very high. They were exceptionally experienced with great individual football skills and most had played together for some time and trained & competed together on at least a weekly basis. They were an inspiration to watch and a privilege to play with.
The atmosphere of the tournament was amazing. It was competitive yet supportive, exhausting and exhilarating but most importantly, celebratory. A lot of the women competing there had been thwarted as young girls and women, disallowed to play the game they loved and were obviously gifted at, during their younger years. At the other extreme, there were other women (like ourselves ) who have never even considered football as part of their life experience until their older years, and had fallen in love with this beautiful game. Football can be anyone's game. It was a celebration of it all!!
Roll on the next one!!
Our Scores
Day 1
Braunton 4 - 0
Paphos 4 - 0
Steppers 0 - 0
Day 2
Cheshunt 1 - 0
Paphos 1 - 0
Steppers 2 - 0
Overall Winners
Chase Buchanan Cup : Cardiff
Chase Buchanan Shield: Steppers
Thanks to Mike Ireson for his dedication and persistence in making sure we were part of it all. Also a big thank you to all the men at Polis and Latchi Lions for your continuous support, advice and encouragement.
Thanks to Micky, Lynne and the Aphrodites ladies - we could not have asked for more.
Thank you to our honorary team members from Paphos United, Carol, Cath and Helen who gave their all on the day. It was great playing with you ladies.
Thank you to all the referees and every person who made it go so smoothly on the day at Fair Games Sports Centre with special thanks to Tony.
And a huge massive thank you to Kate Jones from Paphos United, who worked as tirelessly off the pitch as she does on it to make this happen. A total inspiration to us all, well done you!!
Also a big thank you to the event sponsors Chase Buchanan Wealth Management.
Our Team
Lorna B, Jane, Aurica, Caron, Lorna D, Vicky, Tricia
Report by Lorna Burch
Photos below courtesy of Mark B & John Herbert
