PSV Walking Football Tournament brought joy to everyone

On May 16, the PSV Foundation organised a PSV Walking Football tournament at the Philips Stadium for people over 60 years of age. The participating teams of PSV OldStars and 15 other Walking Football teams, including a great number of EFDN members, travelled from the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium, to Eindhoven for an inspiring Walking Football Tournament. The event proved again that it is never too late to stay healthy and play football.

Opening ceremony, the PSV GoldStars and Walking Football

The PSV Walking Football tournament kicked off with a speech from Toon Gerbrands, the Director of PSV Eindhoven. He warmly welcomed everyone to the Philips Stadium, mentioned how impressed he is each time he visits a training session of the PSV OldStars and encourages the participants to stay active and have fun playing Walking Football. The opening ceremony closed with the introduction of a special PSV Walking Football team – the PSV GoldStars – which included former PSV players such as Ernie Brandts, Jan Poortvliet, Harry Lubse and Eef Mulders. The PSV GoldStars brought the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League trophies with them to the tournament, won by the club in 1988 and 1978 . The trophies attracted much attention and were really inspiring for all the participants.

The football pitch was divided into four smaller 20 x 40 meters fields, allowing four matches to happen at the same time. A Walking Football match is different from a normal football match, with rules modified to minimise the injuries and fit the age group of the participants better. The biggest difference comes from the name itself – walking. The players are not allowed to run with or without the ball, and must always have one foot touching the ground. Furthermore, the ball is not allowed to play higher than the waist of the players. Because the line between walking and running is quite thin, the players sometimes had discussions about this, because the teams are quite fanatical and competitive, but in the end, it all worked out.

Everybody is a winner

The events focused on getting fit and having fun, and not about winning the tournament. As the motto of the tournament stated; ”Win more than a match!”, the main goal is to help older people, both men and women, getting fit and staying healthy. No winners were announced, but there was a cup for the fair-play team, which was won by Club Brugge Legends. As Harm Oppers, the organiser of the tournament said: ”Everybody is a winner.”

Harry Lubse was satisfied with the tournament. The PSV legend and former Dutch International said:

”The tournament is definitely fun because I could play football again with my teammates and especially at this age, you can’t play football like before anymore.

”Walking football is good and useful for older people over 60 because they can be healthier, participate in sport more and they can get the satisfaction of playing as a team.”

The video below (in Dutch) provides a sneak-peek into this tournament:

Het was een mooie dag voor de PSV Foundation en de PSV OldStars! 🏟

Meer over dit project: https://t.co/SC8142z7Sk pic.twitter.com/8SDKjDb8Ns

— PSV (@PSV) May 16, 2018

Other activities

The PSV Foundation also organised other interesting activities throughout the tournament. Luc van Agt, the Performance Manager of PSV Eindhoven, and his colleagues gave a ”Seniors on the move” Masterclass on how to help older people to get fit with daily practicable exercises, taken from the PSV OldStars’ training routine. The seminar was attended by experts and volunteers who actively work to improve the health of the elderly. PSV are planning to promote these exercises in Eindhoven first and the South Holland region later on this year.

Children participating in the ”Playing for Success” project were also given a chance to be on the pitch with Phoxy, the PSV club mascot, who brought the league title trophy with him, that PSV has won this season. The kids also made a video blog (vlog) about the tournament, asking players how they felt about playing Walking Football.

The volunteers from the PSV Community Hub worked closely with the organisers of the tournament to maintain a fun and safe environment for all Walking Football participants.

Walking Football and EFDN

EFDN members PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord Rotterdam, Vitesse, NAC Breda, N.E.C Nijmegen, Club Brugge, Schalke 04 and Bayer 04 Leverkusen participated in the PSV Walking Football tournament. A great number of other EFDN members have started their own Walking Football teams. Walking Football reaches people of 50 years and older that until recently were out of reach for grassroots sports clubs and sport based community organisations. Through the European Legends Programme, EFDN supports clubs with the development of their own Walking Football teams by providing training materials and best practice examples. More information can also be found on the European Legends website.