During this Pentecost weekend, the ICG tournament at FC Uitgeest was able to continue again after years of absence due to corona. The roof comes off in the marquee and the various youth teams from European clubs play against each other for the tournament win.
Multi-day football tournament in Uitgeest during Pentecost – NH Nieuws
“It went perfectly. We didn’t have any hassle and that is always very important to me. We also had a good turnover, so as far as we are concerned it was a success.” Tournament chairman Gerrit Idema is happy that the tournament can now take place again.
Football is the foundation
It’s about more than just the partying, of course. “The basis is always football. The party tent and the party, that has grown. That also ensures that we have sufficient financial resources to organize this.”
Idema knows all too well that the tournament would not be a tournament without volunteers. A lot of people participate in the multi-day festival.
“I think there are three hundred. Without volunteers we would not be able to do anything. It is also the people we don’t see, who empty the garbage cans in the morning and fill the holes in the fields. All in all it makes it so beautiful for us as an organization but also for the village, I think.”
Some of those volunteers have been around for decades. ‘Aunt Annie’ and Ben are living proof of that. “My son used to play football here. Then I joined the club and started running canteen services. Then this Whitsun tournament started and I also got involved in it.”
87-year-old Annie really wants to continue in the coming years. “Happy and proud, right up to the end. That’s what we aim for!”