BJK Beijing Cup 2019

The very first edition of the “BJK Beijing Cup” was held at the British School of Beijing in Shunyi over the weekend of the 1st and 2nd of June. Young and passionate footballers from clubs of Beijing and Shanghai went head to head and displayed quality football from the U8 to the U14 divisions in an attempt to lead their teams to victory and take the “BJK Beijing Cup” home with them.
Since Beijing Kickers F.C. has been founded in 2013, we frequently attended international tournaments in other Chinese and Asian cities to give our most talented players the opportunity to compete on a high level.
Our aim with this event was to create an annual youth football event in Beijing for teams from Beijing, China and abroad. For our first edition, we intentionally kept the playing field small and send out invitations to only a few selected clubs.
35 teams in 5 age groups took part in the “BJK Beijing Cup 2019”. We would like to thank all Clubs and Schools (Baxy United, Rendafuxiao, Guoan Jinguan, Guoao Yueye, Ubest, Taijihu, HISB, Hope F.C., Huixin) who participated and assured the high level of play we were aiming for. A special thank you we would like to send out to AKSIL (Shanghai), the only club from outside of Beijing accepting our invitation.
Beautifully sunny skies in Beijing over the weekend meant that the temperatures on Saturday and Sunday during the matches peaked in the mid 30s, making the games even more physically and mentally demanding for the players.

The final standings for the U8, U9, U10, U12 and U14:

BJK U8 played a great tournament with six wins, one tie and only one loss. After losing the AKS Shanghai Cup 2019 final decisively against Ubest in March, they challenged their “old” Nemesis once again and managed to tie them once. It was not enough to win the cup, but lifting the trophy for 2nd place felt like a win for our youngest team. Ubest finished once again on top. Congratulations!

The BJK U9 team was victorious at the end of the weekend, fending off Baxy United in the final, bringing home a trophy for the Club. After winning “CUKI Bangkok Cup” and finishing second place in the “AKS Shanghai Cup” they once again proved that they are one of the best BJK teams and can compete on the highest level.

Congratulations to the AKSIL Puxi and Pudong teams from Shanghai who dominated the U10 division and finished the tournament in 1st and 2nd place respectively. Our Beijing Kickers team had been close to reaching the final but a last-minute equalizer in their semi-final and a defeat in the following penalty shoot-out smashed their hope of challenging the strongest team of the tournament in the final.

The U12 division was probably the most competitive age group. Hope FC and Huixin were the teams to look out for during the matches played on both days of the tournament. They met in the last game of the championship round on Sunday and battled for a draw, which saw Hope finish on top of Huixin, the current 2007 age group Beidu Cup champion, and take the title. The Beijing Kickers U12 team came in a respectable 3rd place.

A very compact yet balanced group of teams battled against each other in U14 division, playing a home and away match against each other over the weekend. It came down to the very last matches and goal difference to decide the final results. A final match saw the two Kickers team take on each other in a breathtaking 1-1 last minute tie. Well done both teams.

A special mention and a thank you to all parent volunteers, who were able to lend a hand during the weekend. With their help and support, we were able to organize additional activities like a target wall or a speed meter giving all the players the chance to compete against each other and show their individual skills and strengths.

Next year for the second edition we will add more age groups and playing levels to give more teams and players the opportunity to join and enjoy the environment of playing a tournament. We hope to attract more Clubs from outside Beijing and China and give it a truly international character.