Club Doncaster chief executive Gavin Baldwin says the Get Doncaster Moving Festival of Sport, held at the Keepmoat Stadium over the Bank Holiday weekend, was another sign of the growth of the organisation.
The four days saw an extravaganza of sport, with a number of events taking place on the main pitch and inside the stadium starting with the first Club Doncaster Foundation Awards on Friday night and concluding with a three-a-side tournament on Bank Holiday Monday.
Gavin said: “It was a really busy weekend for everyone at Club Doncaster, and I must praise the efforts of our staff who spent so much time pulling everything together.
“You can see just how exceptional a weekend we managed to put on by the fact Benfica brought their youngsters across to play in the tournament - it must have been some experience for our local players from Bessacarr or Tickhill playing against some of the best players from Portugal, and will only help in their development.”
As well as the Foundation Awards on Friday night, the Doncaster Business for the Community Cup took place under the floodlights at the Keepmoat Stadiun.
The Commercial Legends ran out 3-2 winners over the Business All Stars thanks to a stoppage-time strike in a match which was streamed live with commentary via Facebook.
Saturday and Sunday saw teams ageing from U8s through to U12s compete in the Kids Cup, with local outfits taking on the might of Benfica, Leicester City, Manchester City and Manchester United. The tournament was also streamed live on Rovers’ YouTube channel.
The weekend was rounded off on Monday with a 3v3 tournament with more than 100 teams competing to be crowned champions of their age group.
Gavin added: “We had more than 1,200 children get to play on the Keepmoat Stadium pitch over the three days of competition, and more than 4,000 people through our doors in total throughout the Festival.
“We have had some brilliant feedback from those who took part in all the weekend’s activities, and we look forward to seeing what we can add to the event for next year.”
2018/19 Silver Memberships are available from the Club Doncaster Box Office, get yours now by either visiting in-store, calling on 01302 762576, or online at tickets.clubdoncaster.co.uk.
Participants from the weekend who wish to order copies of photos will be able to do so via clients.magicmomentseventphotos.co.uk.