THE LIBERTY TOURNAMENT Organized by the Côte de Nacre Football Association celebrating the 70 th anniversary of D-Day. June 7 th and 8 th 2014 An event unlike any other commemoration. The background: On July 14th 1944 the first international soccer match unfolds in recently liberated France. It is a good natured game between the local soccer club Reveil Saint Germain in the town of Courseulles, in lower Normandy, site of the JUNO BEACH landing just over a month previous, and the Royal regiment of Engineers from England. Winston Churchill very correctly said A people who forget history are condemned to repeat it.
- A sports association: The Côte de Nacre Football Club - 4 towns: Ver-sur-Mer, Courseulles-sur-Mer, Langrune-sur-Mer, Luc-sur-Mer - 2 community groups: Bessin, Seulles and Mer Coeur de Nacre - A project: To organize a soccer tournament for the 70 th anniversary commemoration ceremonies surrounding D-Day Suivez nous sur Facebook : FC Côte de Nacre
THE LIBERTY TOURNAMENT : 1: The Goal: To host a football/soccer match among 4 categories of youngsters between the ages of 7 and 15: under 9 s, under 11 s, under 13 s and under 15 s. 16 teams of 10 players each by category= roughly 640 kids. 2: The Time Frame: immediately following the ceremonies that take place along the invasion beaches on June 6 th, 2014. 3: The Venue: The Côte de Nacre Football Association is a group of 4 clubs founded in 2011, comprised of youth soccer schools in Ver-sur-Mer, Courseulles-sur-Mer, Langrune-sur-Mer, and Luc-sur-Mer. The tournament will take place on all the town s soccer pitches. 4: The guests: Each of the French participating teams will have a link via their home town with the Battle of Normandy. The French participating clubs are: SM Caen, Le Havre, Avranches, St Lô, Falaise, Ouistreham, Hermanville, Colleville, Arromanches, Vire, Lisieux, Ste Mère Eglise, l Aigle, Ranville As an international tournament the twinned town organization from each of the French cities will be asked to invite and host youth teams from their twinned cities in Germany, England, Canada, Italy and the USA. 5: The goal is to commemorate the 70 th anniversary of D-Day using a unique vector conjugating youth, sports, and living memory of the sacrifice of youth for freedom. Sports, Soccer, Youth and History: Remembrance Each player will also benefit from their participation in this once in a lifetime event with a free history entrance pass to the museums along the D-Day beaches in order to associate the game with an important learning experience.
Official Sponsors as of today: The Lower Normandy Football league and the French Federation of Football will have a large role in the project and have promised the venue of a prestigious football star during the proceedings Private Institutions and Partners: -Conseil Régional of Lower Normandy. -Conseil Général with the Communal Grouping -The Municipalities of Ver-Sur-Mer, Courseulles, Langrune and Luc-sur-Mer -The Lower Normandy Football League and French football league -The museums at Juno Beach, Memorial in Caen, Arromanches, Ver sur Mer -The regional Press: la Renaissance du Bessin, Liberté, Ouest France -Private Companies: goal is to reach out to 70 private enterprises to sponsor the 70 th anniversary
Event Schedule: On each of the four pitches, in the surrounding spaces there will be annex activities organized: Youth activity infrastructures such as games etc Museum booths promoting each of the local history museums Partnership booths promoting any of the private enterprises who wish to host a booth A Gala Match will be included in the tournament An official poster will announce the event A drawing competition will take place among the young members of the Football Club Côte de Nacre and will be shown at the Juno Beach center A 32 page souvenir booklet will be printed at a minimum of 3000 copies to be distributed as a souvenir of this event. Each page will have 2 angles: one showing the football club today and another depicting their hometown s implication in the Battle of Normandy
the teams who've confirmed : FC CÔTE DE NACRE Ver, Courseulles, Langrune, Luc Les Clubs confirmés SM CAEN GRPT TERRE ET MER Hermanville, Colleville, Lion, Cresserons AJS OUISTREHAM AS RANVILLE ES COUTANCES CS CARENTAN FC TROARN INTER ODON Evrecy AS PTT CAEN ES PORT EN BESSIN JS VALLEE DU DAN Douvres, Mathieu, Bieville - Beuville FC BAYEUX FC ARGENTAN AF VIROIS FC ST LO MANCHE AG CAEN FC FLERS MALADRERIE OS AJACCIO Fishbourne Romans FC ACADEMIE MOHAMED 6 Rabat - Maroc FC UNTERAFFERBACH
Events surrounding the tournament:
photography exhibit 1939-1945 soccer in Lower Normandy during WWII. Exhibition June 7th and 8th, 2014 «1939 1945 : Le Football en Basse Normandie pendant la seconde guerre Mondiale» Expo événement 7 et 8 juin 2014
key note match TOURNOI INTERNATIONAL DE LA LIBERTE 14 juillet 1944 : 1 er match International de Football dans la France libérée à Courseulles sur mer 70 ANS APRES Les retrouvailles à Courseulles sur mer! Un match de gala sera rejoué 70 ans après entre le Régiment «Royal Engeneers et le RSG COURSEULLES en ouverture du Tournoi! 70 years later... they meet again in Courseulles! A key note match will take place between the Royal Engineers and a team from Courseulles
souvenir booklet