North Shore soccer fans are invited to take in some high-level action while showing support for children in need at an upcoming fundraising tournament.
The sixth Razi Network & Shaheen FC Indoor Soccer Tournament is being held Sunday, Dec. 22 from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at North Vancouver's Windsor Bubble. While team registration has closed, the result of a strong degree of community interest, tournament organizer and Shaheen FC player Farshad Hosseini says the event will offer much for spectators. "We will be selling food and there will be music at the event. There will also be some soccer shows by soccer freestylers," says Hosseini, 20, a Sentinel secondary grad who is currently studying sciences at the University of British Columbia. "We do have some former professional players, some current UBC players, SFU players and they're all varsity players, that are participating in the tournament so it is a pretty competitive tournament as well," he adds.
Partial proceeds will support the North Shorebased club, founded in 1991 by a group of Iranian-Canadian immigrants brought together by a shared passion for the game. Their home fields are at Windsor and Sutherland secondaries. Mainly an adult club with an open team and an over 35 team, Shaheen FC is part of the Vancouver Metro Soccer League. Community outreach is an important pillar of Shaheen FC. The club hosts an annual summer Friendship Tournament, which began as a joint initiative with the North Vancouver RCMP, and is intended to bring local youth together and give them an opportunity to network with community leaders. The tournament has continued to expand and now sees teams take to the field from throughout the Lower Mainland.
Proceeds will also support the Razi Network for Children with Disability, a Vancouver-based nonprofit organization that works in partnership with the Nemooneh Care Center in Tehran, Iran. The centre provides care, rehabilitation and education for children and youths with developmental disabilities, ages four to 25. The cause is close to Hosseini's heart as he hopes to eventually go to medical school and currently serves as a network director.
Hosseini is pleased with the growth of the Razi Network & Shaheen FC Indoor Soccer Tournament. The inaugural event had a mere eight teams participate. This year's edition will see 27 teams divided into a coed division and a separate men's division. "It's just been growing every year," he says.
"Our main goal with doing all these tournaments is to basically help develop cross-cultural relationships. We do have Canadian teams, Italian teams, German teams. We have teams from all ethnicities competing in the tournament. It's not really the competition side that's important to us, it's basically to bring all these communities together," he adds. shaheenfc.com facebook.com/razinetwork. org
