Aboriginal youth sets sights on World Youth Cup

An Aboriginal soccer team in Saskatoon is doing everything they can to scrape together almost $100,000 in order to attend an international soccer tournament in Europe.

Charity golf tournaments, coin drives and sponsor requests are all on the agenda for ‘Native Sons First Nations United’ soccer team, as they work towards their goal of raising $90,000 to attend The World Youth Cup in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Corey Bugler, coach of the all male team of youths from the ages of 16 to 19-years-old, is determined to rally as much support as possible in order to give his team the opportunity to show their skills while representing Canada.

“These guys are elite players,” said Bugler, who added that nine of his players have been invited to try out for the University of Saskatchewan soccer team.

“We have five or six players that are so good, that they might get spotted there and might not come back with us,” he added.

The World Youth Cup, also known as Gothia Cup, takes place from July 18 to 24. This year, 1600 teams are expected to participate.

Aside from several rounds of competitive soccer played by youths between 11 and 19, the World Youth Cup is the perfect excuse to explore a different continent and just have fun.

“During the Gothia Cup week the participants can visit the Gothia Disco every night,” said World Youth Cup tournament secretary Jorge Gomez through email. “In addition to that, the city of Gothenburg offers a great number of touristy activities.”

As of April 26, Bugler’s team had fundraised $50,000, enough to book the flights for the entire team.

With the help of a supportive coaching staff, the ‘Native Sons First Nations United’ is in the process of garnering support from large organizations around Saskatchewan. In order to create opportunities for additional sponsorships, the team pitched themselves as a soccer team with other skills.

“We’re a dance troupe as well,” said Bugler, who explained that his team has also been given the honour to represent Canada in the opening ceremonies of The World Youth Cup.

The Gothia Cup Opening Ceremony has been compared with an Olympic Games ceremony, with a show of dancers, singers, music and fire works,” explained Gomez.

In 2009, almost 52,000 spectators were counted at the opening ceremonies.

Teams interested in representing their country must be chosen from an application process. Gomez confirmed that many of the selected teams choose to wear traditional attire and perform choreographed routines.
With a majority of the team never having the opportunity to travel overseas, ‘Native Sons First Nations United’ is excited to show the world what they have to offer.

The World Youth Cup began in 1975 as a joint project between Swedish and Gothenburg-based football clubs
Throughout the years, 800,000 youths from over 127 different countries have participated in the tournament.