January 29, 2019 – On Saturday 26th January, at 14.30, the referee blew the whistle to signal the start of the ‘WinRAR Humanitarian Futsal Tournament’ in Split. Four teams battled it out to win the mini-league, as participants came from local non-profit ‘Udruga MOST’, Children’s Homes Maestral and Brda, and a range of sponsors. Having floated the idea of the football tournament to the young lads before Christmas, the overwhelmingly positive response meant that just two months later it became a reality.
With the average age of both MOST/Maestral and Brda teams at around 16 and the sponsored teams around 40, the competition focussed more on having a good time than the competition. That said, boys will be boys, no matter what age, and the competition was finally won on goal difference by Team WinRAR after a tantalising 1-1 draw in their final game with Team Računala NOAH.
Each sponsor paid a minimum of 200kn to play in the tournament, which in turn meant one of the players from MOST and Maestral could play for free. Needless to say, this also included the most critical part of the day – lunch – a traditional meat platter, plenty of bread, a ‘healthy’ portion of chips and enough soft drinks to rehydrate all the teams!
There were a few bumps, bruises and sore legs at the end of the day, but all players ended with a smile on their face. Each participant from MOST and Maestral was given a sports pack sponsored by WinRAR. Two MVPs also received a prize – an Atletico shirt signed by Kalinić or an AEK shirt signed by Livaja, both sourced by Leo from Računala NOAH. The bravest goalkeeper also received a nautical bracelet from Break Time.
A special thanks to lilcodelab for sponsoring and providing the photographer on the day. Alongside Jessica Canboy, they caught a few action shots. Also, check out Nick from 45 Degrees Sailing who vlogged about the day too!
Finally, a huge thanks to our biggest Samaritan:
The sponsored players included:
Greg Donlic – Villa Varos
Michael Freer – ensoco
Nick Hathaway – 45 Degrees Sailing Vlog
Ionut Copoiu – Break Time
Burak Canboy – win.rar GmbH
Miro Bandalo – Bandalo Kiropraktika
Marko Tolic – Hervis
Steve Balaban – Mink Capital
Mario Ćubelić – Cezar
Djani Erceg – Cro Pro Basketball Agency
Tomislav Bezmalinović – VRODO
Zeljen Popadic – Fjaka Tours
Nedjeljko Lešina – Barber Shop Ritual
Zoran Pivčević – Mungos Tim
If you’re interested in being part of the next one, either as a player, a sponsor or both – contact us at [email protected]
To read more about Split, follow TCN’s dedicated page.
