The Corey Cup was held recently for the second year in a row down at Beith Astro.

The Corey Cup was held recently for the second year in a row down at Beith Astro.

The Corey Cup was organized by Beith Astro to celebrate the life of Corey Hamilton, who was an avid Beith Juniors supporter and keen player for the Beith 2004s, writes Jonathan Carruthers.

Some of his team mates were playing in the competition for the Beith PS teams.

A Champion League style tournament was held with seven Garnock Valley primary schools competing and around 80 to100 children made it a busy and exciting Astro, bursting at the seams with enthusiastic young folk and their teachers. There was such a fantastic atmosphere with music playing and the sun shining and importantly everyone was having a good time.

Corey would have loved it!

I had the pleasure of speaking with Ms Guidi, a teacher from Beith Primary School who organizes weekly football training for the children every Thursday.

She was down to support the kids competing on behalf of the two Beith Primary School teams.

I asked her what kind of benefits children receive from taking part in events like this out of the classroom. Ms Guidi explained that this gives the children a different learning experience from the classroom, for example outdoor learning helps children learn sportsmanship, respect for each other and team building skills.

I was surprised to find out that for the two Beith teams each had a captain who organised the strips for their team and managed the team for the day, showing excellent leadership qualities at such a young age.

An intense tournament with amazing play from all of the teams involved, led to a penalty shootout for the semi-final game between Beith and St Bridget’s. St Bridget’s won the penalty shootout knocking Beith out of the cup and advancing to face last year’s champions Dalry.

An almost evenly skilled match between St Bridget’s and Dalry ended with a score of 0-0 meaning it would be decided on penalties again! St Bridget’s were off to a good start with the first goal and with Dalry missing their first two shots. It looked like it was St Bridget’s to take the cup until Dalry answered with three goals in succession taking the victory for the second year in a row! Well done, Dalry!

Everyone I spoke to who came down had an amazing time and I can’t wait for it happen all over again next year! You can check out all the photos from the events over on our Facebook pages BeithAstro and BeithCommunityDevelopmentTrust.