Summer 2012 - UEFA European Football Championship

Celebrating Summer 2012UEFA European Football Championship

UEFA European Football Championships

This four-yearly football tournament always captures the collective English imagination; at least until the England team is knocked out! Sadly, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland rarely qualify for the finals, but this doesn’t stop their countrymen from supporting England’s opponents!

Churches will be able to harness the hope of an England victory and bring the community together not only to enjoy the tournament but also to explore Christianity’s affinity with the themes of love, support, fellowship and devotion; themes that are often associated with a person’s relationship with their chosen football team.

CELEBRATING SUMMER 2012 - UEFA EUROPEAN FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS - PAGE 2

What your church could do:

Football breakfast

Kick-off the day and the tournament with a big breakfast for the football fans and breakfast-lovers in your community. If you have kitchen facilities with all the necessary health and hygiene certificates, this could be a cooked breakfast; if not, don’t worry, fruit and cereal still a breakfast make! Decorate the church in the flags of competing nations and celebrate the world’s most popular game. Ask everyone to donate something (sausages, bacon, cereal, fruit etc.) to make it a real community event. You could also use your football breakfast to launch your Euro 2012 programme of activities, which may include:

Table football

Organise a table football tournament. All you need is a table football set, a bit of space and some players. Brand new, inexpensive mini tabletop football sets are available from Ebay: Tabletop Football, or Amazon: Tabletop Football.

Subbuteo

Many of us remember being rubbish at Subbuteo. Euro 2012 is the perfect excuse to be rubbish at it again! Like table football, once you’ve purchased the game it only really requires a table and some players. Subbuteo sets are often available at reasonable prices on Ebay: Subbuteo Set.

Football Tournament

Now things are getting serious: football tournaments are not for the faint-hearted. But if you have access to a village green or playing field wouldn’t it be fantastic to organise a community football event? Get the local pub, other churches, social groups etc. involved and you’ll be on to a winner. You’ll need a ball, at least two 5-a-side teams, two goals (yes, jumpers do make good goalposts) and a referee—you know the offside rule, right? Oh, and a shiny cup for the winners to hold aloft. Probably best-not use a chalice.

Service for local football teams

Why not organise a service specifically for the football teams in your local area? Use the service resources supplied with this pack.

Show Euro 2012 matches

Purchase a TV Licence and show Euro 2012 matches. Of course, you’ll need a TV or big screen and projector, but you may be able to borrow these if you don’t already have them. It’ll be a challenge, but if you can manage to organise this you’ll be sure to make your community very happy!

European culture events

There are sixteen teams from sixteen different European countries taking part in the Euro 2012 tournament, so it presents the perfect opportunity to celebrate the diversity European culture. It is possible, maybe even likely, that many members of your community each hail from a different participating country; so why not host a Netherlands-themed social evening or an Italian lunch? Or an English football breakfast…Many communities across Lincolnshire will be home to people who once lived in Poland or Ukraine—the host nations of this year’s Euro 2012 Championships. Euro 2012 presents a fantastic opportunity to promote community cohesion by re-doubling our efforts to extend the hand of friendship to those people who bring the particular cultural spirit of this year’s Euro tournament to the UK.

To help you plan your European culture celebration, please find below links to the Wikipedia pages for each Euro 2012 country:

Croatia - http://goo.gl/ulff3Czech Republic - http://goo.gl/fzsMdDenmark - http://goo.gl/T0BylEngland - http://goo.gl/1Ndi9France - http://goo.gl/xLrrIGermany - http://goo.gl/vi431Greece - http://goo.gl/skG8oItaly - http://goo.gl/piu75Netherlands - http://goo.gl/4JFKhPoland - http://goo.gl/hfOOv


Portugal - http://goo.gl/6EP7FRepublic of Ireland - http://goo.gl/vFCRgRussia - http://goo.gl/wRltkSpain - http://goo.gl/aQCA2Sweden - http://goo.gl/2kPOaUkraine - http://goo.gl/fXB6I

FAQs

Q: Do I need a TV Licence to show Euro 2012 matches?A: I’m afraid so. But remember: the licence will be valid for an entire year.

Q: I don’t like football, so why should my church do anything for Euro 2012?A: Because lots of people do like football and you may just enjoy yourself. You never know!

Q: Buying football games and hosting football breakfasts sounds rather expensive. Can my church really afford it?A: It doesn’t have to be expensive. You could always ask your community to chip in to buy Subutteo; or perhaps someone has a set that could be loaned to the church? As for breakfast: ask everyone to bring some sausages, fruit or cereal along with them to share. Simple.

Q: Who’s going to organise all these Euro 2012 events?A: You, the PCC, the vicar, Bob from down the road, Janet from up the hill, the pub, the school, the village events committee, Tony, Sue, anyone who would like to help his/her church put on events inspired by Euro 2012.

Q: What if I organise something but nobody comes?A: Ask your community what they would like to see going on, publicise it and people will come, particularly if you can enlist the help of the community to organise the event.

Q: Will children be interested in my church’s Euro 2012 events?A: Football games? Food? A good time? Yes, children will be interested.

Q: I’d like to arrange a European cultural event inspired by Euro 2012, probably a Polish dinner and dance. Where should I start?A: Well, why don’t you ask members of the local Polish community to help you to organise it? It’ll be authentic, inclusive and great fun!

Q: Who’s going to win Euro 2012?A: Spain?

Q: Where can I get cheap tabletop football and Subutteo sets? A: Amazon, Ebay; or borrow them at no cost from friends.

Q: Have England got a chance of wining Euro 2012?A: Ha, ha, ha!

Resources

Check the Celebrating Summer 2012 section of the Diocesan website for regular updates, including:

Chaplains’ thoughts for the day

Catch up with the latest opinions and thoughts from our Euro 2012 Chaplains. Anglican punditry at its best!

See Diocese website nearer the time of the Euro’s.

Testimonials and stories from professional footballers

Ever wondered what life is like for Christian professional footballers? Now’s your chance to find out!

www.beyondtheultimate.org/athletes/Kaka.aspx

www.faithandfootball.org.uk/index.php

www.thegoal.com/players/soccer/peacock_gavin/peacock_gavin.html

www.rejesus.co.uk/site/module/sport/P5

new.rejesus.co.uk/site/module/sport/P3/

www.thegoal.com

Euro 2012 official website

For all you need to know about Euro 2012:www.uefa.com/uefaeuro

Euro 2012 match schedule: http://goo.gl/g3yvf

Ebaywww.ebay.co.uk

Amazonwww.amazon.co.uk

Tournament templateYou’ve planned your tabletop football tournament, now you have to keep score! Use the tournament template on the back page to help you.



QUARTER-FINAL 2

QUARTER-FINAL 1

LAST 16 LAST 16

QUARTER-FINAL 4

QUARTER-FINAL 3

SEMI-FINAL 1 SEMI-FINAL 2

FINAL

THIRD AND FOURTH PLAYOFF

WINNER

2ND PLACE 3RD PLACE 4TH PLACE

Summer 2012 - UEFA European Football Championship

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