Taking part were 20 Under-12 teams from around the country playing in a World Cup-style group stage and knockout tournament over the course of Saturday and Sunday. The teams were playing for the chance to represent Australia at the Volkswagen World Junior Masters to be held in Poland in May next year where they will compete against the winners from the Volkswagen Junior Masters tournaments that run around the world.

There was some sparkling football played in great spirit over the weekend by all sides, who were being watched by a strong crowd of around 1,000 braving wet and windy conditions on Sunday as the knockout stages took place.

In the end it came down to two teams, ECU Joondalup and Adelaide City Juniors who fought out a tense 1-1 draw over the two 15 minute halves. The sides could not be separated after 10 minutes of extra time and so it progressed to the dreaded penalty shoot-out in which ECU Joondalup prevailed 4-2 and were worthy winners winning every game on their way to the title.

The winners were presented with the trophy by tournament ambassador and Sydney FC assistant coach Steve Corica and Volkswagen Australia’s Managing Director Anke Koeckler who, in presenting the award, confirmed that the global bi-annual tournament will become a permanent fixture on the Australian football calendar and that Volkswagen were looking to increase its support of grassroots football in Australia.