Learning to win but also learning to lose is what sets the annual junior cup apart from other tournaments, says Armadale Soccer Club junior president Kevin Brophy.
“A lot of these teams will play their regular season but there’s no league table,” he said.
“The difference about the Armadale cup is that you go into a pool and play a semi-final and a final.
“There’s too much emphasis these days on making things an even playing field.
“I think you learn a lot as a child if you’re introduced to winning and losing because that’s what happens in life – these are good experiences.
“But we have ground marshals there as well so teams, players and supporters don’t get carried away.”
Mr Brophy said there were a lot of highlights at this year’s cup.
“For the first time, we’ve acknowledged (the referees’) participation by giving them medals as a small gesture for coming down and providing their time,” he said.
“Without them, it’s not much fun, I must admit.
“The competition has grown significantly over the years and this year; we had 90 teams competing.
“This year we had an under eight girls’ competition for the first time.
“The weather on the Sunday (September 14) was very significant.
“That was very challenging for all involved because it was wet, windy and cold.”
The cherry on top, for Mr Brophy, was the under 12 boys winning their competition.
“It’s not often that an Armadale team wins because the competition is so good,” he said.
“But our under 12 boys won.”
Teams from both north and south of the river come down to compete, Mr Brophy said.
“It’s not just a localised competition.
“Teams from Rockingham, Mandurah, but then also teams from Joondalup and Yanchep were competing this year.
“That fills us with an awful lot of pride – we’ve got something that appeals right across the state.”
Mr Brophy credited the ongoing success of the event to the efforts of the junior committee.
“We put on a good experience for all those teams competing that clubs and teams want to come back year after year,” he said.
“It’s not easy putting something like that on.
“There’s an awful lot of planning that has to go into that and other clubs have tried to replicate it or do something similar and it’s been a one-off because they realise how difficult it is.
“It’s a very, very long week.”
Mr Brophy said the club hopes to grow its girls and ladies’ section to meet the growing demand.
“I think four years ago, we had two teams.
“Now we’ve got eight with potentially 10 next year.
“There’s more demand for girls playing and year on year, you see the ability getting better and better.”
In terms of the club, Mr Brophy said he wants to continue to improve the experience for all.
“If they have a good experience, they’ll want to come back,” he said.
“One of the big things for us is that Armadale doesn’t get a good name.
“But we love the idea that we’re changing the perception of Armadale through our competition.”
