THE INAUGURAL Adam Saad Schools Cup was held at La Trobe University on Wednesday, where five multicultural schools in the Carlton zone came together to compete in a round robin football tournament. 

A feature of the Adam Saad Pathways, the program's namesake played a crucial role in facilitating the event, helping the coaches with tips and tricks as well as showing the children a thing or two about football. 

“It’s very very exciting: it’s been years in the making,” Saad said. 

“Hopefully we can keep building on this and make it a tradition every year.” 

With the aim to bring together multicultural footballers and allow them to flourish, Saad hopes that the participants of the Adam Saad Schools Cup all went away learning something new and - more importantly - having fun. 

Always having the community front of mind, Saad is humbled that he can provide this experience to schools, especially after the few years of Covid isolation. 

“It’s exciting to have them here after two or three years of Covid, where the inter-school sports weren’t allowed to compete against other teams,” he said. 

“As long as they have fun and enjoy themselves, there’s nothing better than playing a team sport and playing with your mates and enjoying yourself.”

The turnout exceeded Saad’s expectations for the very first Schools Cup, with five teams facilitated by AFL Victoria turning up to compete, with many students participating who don’t play football outside of school. 

Representing the Adam Saad Schools Cup were Al Siraat, Australian International Academy (AIA), East Preston Islamic, Sacred Heart and Thomastown Meadows, with AIA taking home the first ever trophy.

Saad hoped that they will always remember the experience that the day provided, as well as having opportunity to take the next step into playing football and growing the game. 

“We’re really pumped, really excited to be here on such a beautiful day at La Trobe Bundoora: to promote our game, to promote the Carlton Football Club and just to go out there and be active,” he said. 

“I’m really grateful to be in this position to give back to the community and to see so many kids in only our first year, hopefully we can keep building that and growing that.”