WORLD CUP COMES TO JAMBEROO

GEORGES River have taken out the 2007 Johnny Warren Memorial Cup held at Jamberoo last Saturday, after defeating Lane Cove 2-1.

Formerly the Jamberoo 7s " the event celebrated it's 10th anniversary this year and honours the life of Australian football great Johnny Warren.

The over 35s tournament regularly attracts hundreds of people to the local region, with the 2007 event taking on extra significance and similarities to the FIFA World Cup, as event organiser Jamie Warren explains.

"It was a special year being the tenth event and because of that we wanted to make it bigger and run it like the actual FIFA World Cup with 32 teams and the same draw structure," he said.

"It was brilliant " a wonderful weekend that was well attended and played in the right spirit," added Mr Warren.

Fifteen teams that competed last year returned once again and were joined by teams from Newcastle, the Blue Mountains, Canberra and other areas of Sydney. A tremendous social occasion also takes on added significance. The event serves as a fundraiser for the Johnny Warren Football Foundation.

"The Johnny Warren Memorial Cup provides an opportunity for over 35s to get together on a social level and importantly honour the memory of Johnny Warren and what he did for the game.

"Importantly it is also about raising money for the Johnny Warren Football Foundation. This year raised just over five thousand dollars, which enables us to achieve Johnny's vision for the game " of ensuring high quality coaching is available to any aspiring young player regardless of where they live or their financial situation,' he added.

The Johnny Warren Football Academy is free to participants and currently consists of 200 players made up of under 13-14 boys and under 15-17 girls. Local Jamberoo football player Campbell Burke is part of the current squad who will attend a training camp at Soccer NSW head quarters in Sydney in April.

Squad members have access to national team coaches and undergo rigorous testing to monitor their improvements in the past few months.

While Warren sees the vision of his late Uncle John achieved with every session the academy runs, he said the challenge now is for the program to go national.

"We are achieving things all the time but want to be able to do a lot more. We want to take the program national so that all children from the under 10s to under 15s have that opportunity. This will help provide that important athletic pathway that talented junior footballers can follow and one day go onto elite level competition," he added.

Warren was also pleased with the amount of local support the event received, particularly from the newly promoted " to the Premier League Division of the Illawarra Football Association " Kiama Football Club.

"One thing I was really happy with was the young referees from Kiama being involved as it was a good opportunity to help encourage and develop them.

"The weekend attracted 300 players and 500 to the region " so it is a good little injection into the local community.

"Kiama Football Club were a huge help with the catering side and I look forward to their help again next year," he said.

Among the 32 teams that contested the event were 1974 Socceroo Ernie Campbell, Fox Sports football boss Murray Shaw and commentators Mike Cokerill and Andy Harper.