Category Archives: Tournaments

Engage 2015 – Rugby World Cup

Engage_options_3

Engage 2015 is a cross denominational campaign set up to help UK churches  serve  the rugby community during the World Cup event in October 2015. We have no official status within Rugby World Cup 2015.

Our aim is to help UK’s churches demonstrate God’s love by serving the World Cup 2015, and the rugby community during it, to the fullest possible extent.

Our approach is that Engage 2015 should be centrally resourced and locally delivered. Thus, our role is to;

Provide churches with inspiration, information and resources

To build relationships between the church & the rugby community

The World Cup – the third largest international sports event – comes to the UK during September/October 2015.

It will involve:

  • 20 national squads from across the globe – including all the home nations
  • 48 games and 50 training centres spread – from Newcastle to Exeter, and Cardiff to Brighton
  • 400,000 visitors from over 100 nations
  • Wall to wall media coverage

This presents every church with another great opportunity to serve the event and share God’s love.

It happened during the London 2012 Olympics and the Queen’s Jubilee.

Now we can do it again

Offering during the world cup:

  • chaplaincy to teams
  • youth and children’s events
  • festivals
  • family hosting
  • guest events
  • sports quizes
  • games pastors
  • volunteering

For more information, please email info@engage2015.co.uk

Website: www.engage2015.co.uk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Engage2015

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Engage2015

 

Football – Screenings

Football – Screenings
Watching big football matches presents churches with an opportunity to reach out to the local community and particularly to men.

If you plan to have a big screen event at church then these are the key
things you need to know.

• The church needs a TV licence
• No admission charge is allowed however you can ask for donations
for food etc.
If this is all too much and you are not aiming at a big crowd here are a
couple of alternatives.
• Invite some men to your home to watch the match and share
refreshments!
• Team up with a local pub which will be showing the match and provide
free food or snacks.

London Churches Football Tournament

The London Churches Football Tournament has just celebrated it’s 10th year and this year it has grown into a 2 day tournament.

It’s a football tournament designed for Church Based teams to come and have fun, play football and hear the Gospel message.

It is a 6-s-side tournament played on 3G astroturf indoors at the amazing London Soccerdome facility by the O2 in Greenwich.

Youths U10, U12, U14, U16 played on Saturday 3rd May, 2014

and the Men & Women played on Bank Holiday Monday 5th May, 2014

To obtain details about the 2015 competition contact Steve Read from Ambassadors Football via sread@ambassadorsfootball.org

 

Talk Dan 2Ladies Final lineup 2013Winners Emmanuel

Golf – The National Church Cup

The 17th National Church Golf Cup is launched

In 2015 Christian Vision for Men (CVM) are joining with the Christian Golf Society (CGS) again to encourage more Churches than ever before to stage outreach Golf days in 2015.

The incentive for the winner of each Church’s Golf day is to represent them at a grand finals day to battle it out for the prestigious title of National Church Golf Champions. The final will be in August but Churches must register asap to reserve a place for their winners. Visit www.christiangolfsociety.org.uk to register online or print off a form.

Cup Co-ordinator Mark Blythe says: “Golf is a great sport for outreach, it’s a simple way to spend quality time with not-yet-believing  friends. Church Golf Days could be just a four-ball or a big event with a meal and speaker, we are called to do something and it doesn’t matter how large or small.”

Tips for first time organisers are available and Churches who already stage events can just register and send their winners to the grand final. Contact Mark Blythe if you have any questions on mark@mccfc.org.uk

Who will follow Walsall Community Church the 2014 Winners.

Banners Gate Community Church from the West Midlands (below) were the 2013 Champions

Presentation

Medals & Trophies

Medals & Trophies – Brilliant to make your events that extra bit special and remain in the memory every time the winners see their medals and trophies. For tournaments, festivals and fun events.

The items below were created for the 2012 games with unique centres. The same can be created for your event.

Medals

Special Gold, Silver & Bronze Medals with the More Than Gold logo in the centre and matching Gold, Silver & Bronze lanyards with the medals.

Trophies


Any questions do contact by email Mark Blythe mark@mccfc.org.uk

By post to: Mark Blythe, 1 Merton Way, West Molesey, Surrey KT8 1PG

Sportsforce international – serving Churches through sport

www.sportsforceinternational.org

Tournaments – Guideline

Outreach Tournaments – A guideline

What? A sport or leisure tournament designed to be part of a church’s outreach strategy.

Why? To reach the local community for Christ by staging well organised fun events.

Where? The type of activity will often determine where the event will take place. Events like cards evenings, quizzes etc can be held on Church premises or in secular locations. Sometimes secular locations can be less threatening to non-believers.

When? Before approaching your chosen site owner for permission make two checks:

a) Make sure all your key personnel are available on your chosen date, there’s no point booking a date to then find that half your organising team are away on holiday!

b) Check that the date doesn’t clash with another major event. You may struggle to attract people to a sports quiz on the same night as an England International or if the local team is playing at home.

How? What we all want to know, how do we stage an outreach tournament? Firstly by setting up a team, we call them a Community Sports Team (CST). To prevent burn out and disaster we recommend joining forces with other people and other Churches – the success of the event is far more important than who is in charge! Checkout www.worldsportministries.org to see how to set up a CST and for further details about event management.

Evangelism? That word that excites some and strikes fear into others! Decide at the outset what the aims of your event are. Options include:

  • Bronze: introducing your Church/Churches to the community by staging a fun event but with no Gospel message at all, aims are to develop awareness and friendships
  • Silver: have Christian literature available and reference to other Church activities
  • Gold: have a speaker with a Christian message

Evangelism Tips: Don’t go Gold without letting people know what they are coming to, ie warn them that there will be a Christian talk. Do the message before the end, create a break during the event otherwise folks will go home and not hear the Good News. Don’t make the message too long. Encourage the Speaker to participate in the activity so people get to know them before the talk.

Health & Safety – boring but essential! Ask around to see who is First Aid qualified at their work then invite them to be your 1st Aider at the event. For larger sporting events you may wish to book St Johns, the Red Cross or other First Aid businesses to be present – they usually need plenty of notice, ie over 6 months. Check age categories relevant to the activity ie Children should not play football against others 2 or more years older than them.

Scheduling: Ensure you finish at or before the published time. Build some gaps/catch up times into the schedule. Start the set up earlier than you think you need to and invite more helpers than you think you need. It’s good to be relaxed and ready when people turn up and they often arrive early!

Food: If appropriate including food in an event can break down barriers and create great opportunities to chat with people.

Support: The UK Sports Ministry organisations stage large and small tournaments all the time and they are available to support you. Check out www.uksportsministries.org and contact the sports ministry of your choice.

Actions: Define your reason for staging a tournament

Invite members of your and other local churches to form a Community Sports Team (CST) to arrange the event. Email cst@worldsportministries.org for info

Empower the team to run with an event of their choice

Ask the team to produce a budget straight away

Ensure the team and the event is covered with prayer support.

Contact Mark Blythe on mark@mccfc.org.uk with specific questions

Events

The National Christian Football Festival (www.ambassadorsfootball.org)
This is a fabulous football  festival for church based teams from all over the UK. Teams enter from Sunderland to Stockport, from Essex to Birmingham and from Bristol to Surrey, a great mix of sides playing with great spirit and skill.
The 2014 event will again be held in Loughborough after previous stagings in Manchester, Derby and Bristol.

Contact Ambassadors Football on 0845 071 4390 or email Festival Co-ordinator Steve Read on sread@ambassadorsfootball.org for further information.

NCFF form 2014 – Print entry form here

The London Churches Football Tournament

2014 will be the 11th year of this expanding tournament that provides a well organised event for London based Churches. The Soccerdome at Greenwich by the O2 is used and it has proved to be a superb venue with it’s 8 5-a-side pitches on 3G astroturf undercover.

Youths: U10s, U12s, U14s, U16s have their own day this year on Sat 3rd May.

Men & Women play on Bank Holiday Monday 5th May.

This event is provided by Ambassadors Football with partnerships over the years with Kick London, Christians in Sport, All Souls Church, Trinity Church Islington, Sportsforce and Founders ‘Church on the Corner’.

All teams must represent a Church and entry is on a first come first served basis so make contact soon.

Contact Steve Read on sread@ambassadorsfootball.org for 2014 Tournament information. Or download an entry form here:

LCFT Entry Form 2014

Dave Oakley Ambassadors CEO sharing a message in 2012
Winners Emmanuel London