Junior showdown back again

Douglas Villa's popular junior football tournament will continue in a similar format next year.

That's the word from Dave Wright, organiser of last weekend's event which attracted a record 138 teams covering age grades 7 to 13 from the lower North Island.

All teams were guaranteed at least four games.

Wright concedes the many hours of administrative work involved in planning a tournament of such magnitude made him wonder whether he was prepared to go through the same routine next year.

But the enthusiasm and passion of the youngsters taking part didn't take long to convince him that the event was worthwhile.

"You can't help but be blown away by the obvious enjoyment the kids are getting out of playing football, they absolutely love it," he said.

"You could double the time they are given for each game and they'd still ask for more."

It wasn't only the enthusiasm of the youngsters which impressed Wright. It was also the standard of play, which he says gets better every year.

"You have to take your hats off to the coaches ... there's a hell of a lot of good work being done in that area of the game," he said.

"I know it's easy to say there were probably some budding All Whites out there but in actual fact there probably was."

Wright praised senior members of the Douglas Villa club who assisted with the running of the event

"It really is a case of all hands on deck, nobody is spared," he said.