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The Kanga Cup is a week-long international youth association football tournament held annually in Canberra, Australia during July. The tournament is run as an open cup consisting of both male and female competitors with teams from diverse backgrounds including clubs, schools, associations and community groups coming together to compete in age groups ranging from U9s to U18s. The Cup is hosted by Capital Football and is sanctioned by Football Federation of Australia (FFA) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Since 2015 the tournament has been known as the NSR Kanga Cup for sponsorship reasons. The Kanga Cup is regarded as the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere and is the most coveted prize in youth football in Australia.〔 ==History== The Kanga Cup was founded in 1991 and held in Sydney, Australia with 35 participants. The cup moved to Canberra in 1993 and has been played in the Australian Capital ever since. In 2012, the Kanga Cup welcomed the first representative team from South America in the tournament's twenty two year history as 16 players of Estrella Solitaria club from the small working-class town of Batuco, Chile made the long trip over to Canberra. Chilean Ambassador to Australia, Pedro Pablo Diaz, described the opportunity for these teenagers as an unbelievable trip of a lifetime and a chance for these kids to experience a different culture for the first time. He went on to say most of these kids were very poor and this was probably the first and last time they will get to travel internationally. 2013 saw funding cuts for the tournament from the ACT Tourism budget, with only $30,000 available compared to the previous year's budget of $60,000. However, despite the funding cut backs the Kanga Cup still recorded record numbers of participants and teams with 150 interstate teams and six international teams joining 92 local ACT sides. It was considered a particularly good year for local teams with fourteen making grand finals and six walking away with trophies. One of the biggest surprises of the 2013 Kanga Cup was the grand final win for the visiting U18 Philippine national team, the Teen Azkals. Team manager, Alvin Carranza, brought the team to the Kanga Cup under the banner of Carranz FC to get the next generation of the Philippine national team international experience. The win gave the U18's their first championship title and was used a preparation for the team's participation in the ASEAN Football Federation championship in Indonesia in 2014. 2014 saw a shift in focus for the tournament with a new marketing strategy adopted to ensure the tournament grew from previous years. The 2014 edition of the Kanga Cup saw it coincide with the middle of the FIFA World Cup being held in Brazil. Previously this might have hurt numbers attending the Kanga Cup but the organizers broadcast the World Cup during the Kanga Cup to give the whole event a festival feel.〔 Capital Football CEO Heather Reid, announced the 2014 edition of the cup as "the best ever", with a total of 274 teams having competed along with 144 referees, with 813 matches being played, and concluding with 29 grand finals played at Lyneham on the final day. The Kanga Cup celebrated 25 years of existence in 2015 with record entries of teams, officials, volunteers and participants. More than 340 teams turned out between 3 and 8 July from as far away as South Korea, as the event drew 7,000 players and a total of over 10,000 people to the ACT. 2015 Kanga Cup tournament director Michael Kelly declared the tournament a success, with fine weather gracing the week-long tournament until grand final day when rain set in. The 2015 opening ceremony of the Kanga Cup caused controversy with one of the sponsors organising cheerleaders for the event. The use of overly sexualised cheerleaders drew criticism from the public, with one witness writing to the editor of The Canberra Times to shame Capital Football for allowing such a performance to occur at a family event, likening the cheerleaders to those employed at National Rugby League (NRL) matches. ACT Minister for Sport and Recreation Shane Rattenbury followed up and echoed the views of the public by condemning the use of cheerleaders at an event of this nature. He suggested the use of freestyle footballers demonstrating tricks with a football would be a better fit and more enjoyable for the Kanga Cup audience of juniors and their families. Capital Football released a media statement apologising to those involved at the opening ceremony. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kanga Cup」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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