The Eze Invitational

Mission Statement

The Eze invitational is a grassroots football tournament founded by Ebere Eze and his family, hosted at John Roan playing fields - the pitches he grew up playing on 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. Shining a light in his community and opening the door of possibility to those who are need of it.

Event Overview

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.

Year 1: A Great Start

In our inaugural year, The Eze Invitational welcomed 280 participants aged U7 to U10. The event was a resounding success, with hundreds of attendees enjoying the day, getting their pictures taken in new kits, and interacting with local football players.

CAA had 50 volunteers on the day and in the build-up to the event. The John Roan (Ebere’s secondary school) had 16 sixth form students come down for work experience

Year 2: Doubling the Impact

Our second invitational on May 29th saw a significant increase in participants, with 450 young footballers aged U7 to U12, including two girls' teams. This year, we were fortunate to host the event at the Crystal Palace training facility, showcasing the growth and impact of the tournament.

Event Partners

We are grateful for the support of various brands and local businesses that contributed to making the event special:

• New Balance: Provided kits for every player.

• McDonald's: Offered a ball dispenser that reacted to player celebrations.

• Pro Direct: Supplied free football boots and facilitated exchanges of old boots.

• Sun Valley Jerk: Served delicious Caribbean food to attendees.

• JB Ices: Distributed free ice cream to players and families.

• Wing Stop: Sent packages of food for attendees and staff.

• Munich 72: Crafted the trophies and medals for the event.

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Quotes & Testimonials 

Ebere Eze: 

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. 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. 

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 giveback to the community that I was born and raised in. South East London has given so much to me in life, I hope I can repay even a fraction of that through this non-profit initiative. 

Instagram | Yaf Downes, Athlete Partnerships Manager 

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. 

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 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!

Power The Fight | Ben Lindsey OBE, CEO.

To be the chosen charity for the inaugural Eze Invitational Grassroots Football Tournament is an incredible honour. 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. Well done Ebere Eze!

Launched in 2019, Power the Fight is an award-winning charity which tackles violence affecting young people creating long-term solutions for sustainable change and act as a link between the community and policy makers

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Brands we partnered with

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