Crystal Palace attacker Eberechi Eze launches his first grassroots sports event

Crystal Palace footballer Ebere Eze launched his first grassroots sports event on Sunday 16th July at the place where his footballing journey began, John Roan playing fields in South London. 

The mission of #TheEzeInvitational is purely to celebrate and inspire young footballers in London, especially the local area he was born and raised in. There are zero costs for entrants to participate, with gifts and prizes such as football equipment, T-shirts, medals and trophies and football boots given out throughout the day. 

 “To be able to put on an event for young footballers in London, on the same pitches I grew up playing on at John Roan, is something I am incredibly proud of,” said Ebere Eze. “I was once in exactly the same shoes as these kids, so celebrating grassroots football with them, with no costs to any players or teams, was a special feeling. There were amazing players taking part, the level of competition was really a top level.” 

 Ebere Eze goes on to say “We had 280 kids playing, with age groups u7, u8, u9 and u10s. My goal is to build out The Eze Invitational in the future, one step at a time, and continue to inspire and give back to the community that I was born and raised in. Southeast London has given so much to me in life, I hope I can repay even a fraction of that through this non-profit initiative.”

The event was supported by CAA Sports, Instagram, Power the Fight UK and New Balance. Yaf Downes, the Athlete Partnerships Manager from Instagram, said “We have worked with Ebere for a while now and as well as being an amazing individual with his own inspirational story, it’s clear to see just how much his community means to him.

The idea for the Eze Invitational came directly from him and it was an honour to partner with him on such an incredible project.” Yaf reiterated “empowering athletes and helping them to tell their stories is at the heart of what we do here at Instagram. Our support came as part of an Instagram programme which was created to elevate black athletes and give them a platform to share their stories, own their narrative, and inspire their communities. Full credit to Ebere and the team for hosting such a successful day – it was an amazing show of community, spirit and some unbelievable football on display from all the teams too! Same again next year!”

CEO of the award-winning charity Power the Fight, Ben Lindsey OBE, is “incredibly honoured to be the chosen charity for the inaugural Eze Invitational Grassroots Football Tournament. It was amazing to see so many young people playing football and having fun. This is so important since we know violence between young people increases during the summer. A brilliant initiative.”