The 2nd Annual Heights Futbol festival took place on Saturday November 12. It was organized by the Vineyard Church of Houston as a way of reaching out to the local community in The Heights. There were over 100 soccer players. There was a kids tournament in the morning and an adults tournament in the afternoon. There were both male and female players, and the ages ranged from around 5 to 50. The event took place at Hogg Middle School in The Heights. Players came from local schools, youth groups, the Vineyard Church and the local community. The tournaments were in the style of the World Cup, with group stages and knockout rounds.
Sports Quest helped this event by donating soccer balls and lending us all of the soccer equipment in terms of goals, nets and pitch markers (not to mention the expertise of their goalkeeping coach!). Without this equipment it would not have been possible to host this event. Sports Quest provided similar equipment for the inaugural Heights Futbol Festival in November 2010. This is a growing event and it is already scheduled to take place next year.
In addition to the soccer tournament, the church engaged members of the local community with kids entertainment (moonwalks and face painting), a raffle (the star prize was a laptop), a band playing worship and popular music (including guest musicians from Columbia). There was also a prayer ministry and one of the band members gave their testimony during the lunch interval. Food and drink was provided by the parent teacher organization at the school, and the event ran smoothly thanks to the 60 volunteers from the church.
Report By Allan Leith, Event Coordinator
