Raiders Cup ready to rock ‘n’ roll
This Saturday at the Fairfield Youth & Leisure Centre, SD Raiders and Raiders Futsal FC compete for the first annual Raiders Cup in Futsal, but besides the bragging rights and trophy, the two sides have come together to support a greater cause.
The two sides will raise money for the ninety minutes for a Cancer initiative, with the clubs asking those in attendance to make a gold coin donation.
Last year, Kemps Creek Tigers and Horsley Park Rams raised $20,000 in the first game of the challenge at Marconi Stadium.
The Raiders Cup is decided on an accumulative across the first fixture between the sides in the SELECT Futsal Premier League 2 season. All the results from 12 Boys to Open Mens are tallied up to decide who become the inaugural champions.
SD Raiders are spending their first season in SELECT Futsal Premier League 2, after securing promotion and taking the spoils in the Futsal State League Grand Final, 3-2 over West City Crusaders. They have had a solid start to their debut season, settling in well.
Their opponents, Raiders Futsal Club are an established force in NSW Futsal’s second tier. There is some added spice to the contest, with a few of the Raiders including captain, Goran Ljuboja, who play for the SD Raiders outdoor side as the two sides face each other for the first time.
Warren Gaffney from SD Raiders spoke about the challenge to Football NSW.
“It is some fun between two close teams, taking each other on, and raising some funds for a wonderful charity.
“We had a similar challenge between Horsley Park and Kemps Creek last year. For the futsal side, this is the first intra-club contest between us, and a few of the Raiders Futsal boys play for our outdoor side which adds something to the contest.” he said.
David Taylor from Raiders Futsal was eagerly anticipating the contest.
“We can’t take all the credit. It was the idea of Nick Carle and Goran Ljuboja. The charity was created, and supported in our local football community and it gave us a great overall connection.”
Festivities kick off at 9:30am, with the 12 Boys contest and conclude with the main event between the Open Mens side at 4:20pm.
All games are played at Fairfield Youth & Leisure Centre on Saturday 20th October 2018.
There will be the 90 Minutes for Cancer Charity Shield held at Marconi Stadium on the 18th of November this year.
Check out both sides Facebook pages for further details.
SD Raiders – https://www.facebook.com/sdraidersfc/
Raiders Futsal – https://www.facebook.com/RaidersFutsalClub/
-By Justin Davies
