Enfield Rovers FC are a football team from the Inner West of Sydney. Rovers were established in 1961 and are driven by their determined volunteers.
Enfield’s welcoming characteristics has seen ex-players enrol their children to play several years later which signifies how family orientated Enfield are.
The Rovers are part of the Canterbury District Soccer Football Association and over the years the club has been around they have achieved much success and grown as a club.
The U16 team representing the club in the KEEPUP Kanga Cup Tournament are currently playing in the State Cup competition and are in the final.
Rovers U16 Assistant Coach Tony Santangelo states he wants his players to soak up the tournament and create new bonds and friendships with teams from different states.
“We’re happy to be down here, we’ve come here pretty much every year,” Santangelo revealed. “We’ve been coming here for the previous 10 years with various teams; we enjoy it and keep coming back.”
Santangelo believes the Kanga Cup Tournament creates a great experience for the young boys in his squad and hopes that the boys take something out of the experience.
A bonding session allows the boys to have some fun outside of their usual winter competition and creates a bit of rivalry with some of the boys from clubs from Orange and other states.
“We’re excited to just be here. The KEEPUP Kanga Cup organising committee is brilliant every year. We look forward to coming down and having a getaway, it’s our little mid-year getaway for the boys,” Santangelo commented.
The KEEPUP Kanga Cup being played during winter holidays enables teams to play for a bit of fun without the added pressure on them to win the games.
“Bonding and friendships are the main thing we hope to get out of the tournament. Not even with our own group, we made a few rivalries with Orange and Kellyville that were in our groups in previous years. We’ve gotten some pre-season games out of them which is perfect,” Santangelo said.
Enfield are set to go all the way in the 2023 KEEPUP Kanga Cup Tournament with strong opening games against Tuggeranong United and Tigers FC.
With teams around the country and a few teams from overseas, it creates rivalries between clubs when they return to KEEPUP Kanga Cup each year and can lead to pre-season games for the clubs.
“You establish some friendly rivalry between the clubs which is what we look forward to. The bonding between the team and making friendships with other clubs is what we hope to see the boys establish in the tournament,” Santangelo expressed.
Words: Shania McCormack