Soccer Match Carnival: Gathering a Thousand People from Three Countries_ [Great News]

April 24, 2016

from Great News

(Reporting from New Taipei City)  People have all become crazy for soccer. Round one of “Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup Qualifier Playoffs” has begun! In order to promote soccer as a sport and to support Taiwanese soccer, elite soccer players from Japan and Korea came to Taiwan for an international exchange match at the Fu Jen Catholic University Stadium, which attracted nearly one thousand people. Last year during the World Cup Asian zone qualifier, Taiwanese offered full support for the event and soccer fever gripped the nation. In order to keep breeding the atmosphere, Christian Gospel Mission Taiwan's Soccer League (CGM Taiwan's SL) organized “Love and Peace Soccer Tournament National Finals,” in which 17 men’s teams and 4 women’s teams participated; one of which was Korean.

There were not only aboriginal dances and honor guard performances, but also creative art performances combined with the soccer. It was like a soccer carnival. Yung-cheng Chen from Chinese Taipei Football Association, ROC (CTFA) had also came to give competition guidance. The event organizer Chun-yen Yang expressed his hopes of demonstrating a healthy and positive exercising atmosphere through the combination of soccer and artistic events, and his hopes of equipping others with good mindsets and attitudes through soccer, so that on or off the soccer field, one can demonstrate the “Love and Peace” soccer culture.

A guest at the event expressed, “The grand scale of this soccer tournament, which bridges three countries (Taiwan, Japan and Korea) is rare to see. The whole soccer carnival is full of vitality. I hope that the power of goodness can help change Taiwan’s soccer environment.”

Soccer is often seen as a fierce sport played for the purpose of winning; however, this “Love and Peace Soccer Tournament” combined soccer with art performances. The opening dance was performed by Amis aborigines to welcome the guests. The dance was choreographed to symbolize the gathering of three countries which were united as one to offer thanksgiving to the Heavens. Korean national representative, player Son Jongchan said, “When we were learning how to play soccer from Pastor Jung Myung Seok, the founder and president of CGM, he taught us that soccer is not a sport which is played by an individual. A soccer game requires all 11 players to have enough energy and to be equipped. The biggest difference between our soccer games and general soccer games is that in our soccer matches, players look after one another and play with joy. It’s a soccer game of ‘love and peace.’”

Aside from excellent art performances, there were soccer exercise games and mini soccer games, which were suitable for everyone to play happily, whether they had played soccer before or not. The organizer of the event, Chun-yen Yang, expressed that since 2002, CGM Taiwan's SL has been diligently promoting soccer games for more than 14 years. Among those who had participated in these events, some started out just as an audience member and later on participated as a player, and some even became an AFC "C" Licensed Coach. Also, some became fathers and led their children to form children’s soccer teams. Along the way, more and more people have become enriched by this sport.

Everyone is invited to join in on the soccer fever. This soccer tournament, combined with diverse art performances, was a refreshing event that added momentum to the Taiwan Soccer movement.

Referenced: from Great News