The Novo Nordisk School Challenge Cup is an alternative, fun football tournament: the legs have to do the work on the pitch, but ‘tattoos’ on the children’s arms determine the make-up of the teams.

Everyone gets to play against everyone else, and everyone gets to play with everyone else during the course of the tournament. Furthermore, all the children are on the pitch all the time, so there is no waiting around.

The teams change as follows: determined by a combination of letters ‘tattooed’ (written) on their arm, the children get new teammates in each round. The changing make-up of the teams means that there is not one team that beats all the others, and all the players get to know each other during the course of the tournament.

Read more about how the teams are formed and the tournament structure in the Football Tournament step-by-step guide (PDF).

The activity lasts at least 2 hours, and between 12 and 50 children can take part in the tournament. If you have more children, you can run two parallel tournaments.

Tools

• Football Tournament step-by-step guide
• Team allocation and results table
• Pull-on tabards
• Letter signs for the goals
• Marker pen
• Footballs
• Goals and football pitches

Educational goals
The purpose of the activity is to teach pupils the importance of daily exercise and to form healthy habits with the help of a fun and healthy activity, namely football.

The tournament aspect of the activity enhances the children’s interpersonal skills and teamwork. Hopefully the School Challenge Cup will inspire children to play more football and possibly join a local club.

References

www.ccpa.dk The tournament format was originally developed as part of the peace process in the Balkans. Read more about CCPA’s Fun Football Schools in the Balkans, the Caucasus region and the Middle East, and see how 23,000 children took part in the Novo Nordisk School Challenge Cup on World Diabetes Day 2005.