Text and image Edwien Bodjie
PARAMARIBO — “We notice the growth within the foundation, but also the Saamaka Copa. People are coming together and that group is getting bigger every year.” This is what chairman Hendrik Amoida of the Saamaka Copa Foundation said on the second day of the fifth edition of the football event. This year, 32 Saramaka villages are participating in the tournament, which will be held Friday to Saturday in the André Kamperveen Stadium. The teams compete for the challenge trophy and a cash prize. Well-known football villages such as Pikin Slee, Botopasi and Nieuw Aurora are among the participants.
The organization expects between seven hundred and eight hundred visitors every day. In addition to people from various villages in the interior, players and visitors from French Guiana also come to Paramaribo. In recent years, the Copa has become a meeting point, especially for the Saamaka community.
“A special part of the fifth edition is a women’s competition on the last day”
More than football
Although football forms the basis of the Saamaka Copa, the foundation also wants to make a broader contribution to the community with the event. Part of the proceeds is therefore used to support school children with school packages.
“Not every parent is able to buy school supplies, so we step in for these needy children,” says Amoida. The packages include school bags and school supplies. The foundation wants to relieve the financial pressure on families at the start of the new school year. “We promote sports, but education is just as important for children,” says the chairman.
On the way to more independence
The Saamaka Copa is currently organized partly with our own resources and partly with the support of sponsors. Amoida says that the foundation wants to be less dependent on external financing in the future.
“Sponsors are always welcome, but it should not be a necessity,” he says. The aim is to ultimately be able to stand completely on your own two feet.
The organization also wants to expand the sports offering. Athletics and other sports must eventually become part of the program. The financial strength of the foundation is a point of attention for the time being.
At the same time, the organization is conducting discussions with villages and village leaders about ways to make participating football clubs financially stronger. Participation in the tournament entails various costs for the villages, including the purchase of shirts, pants and football boots. Food and drinks must also be arranged for players and accommodation is sometimes required for participants from the interior and French Guiana. The foundation therefore wants to set up projects itself that will give villages more financial space to allow their teams to participate in the Copa.
Women in action too
A special part of the fifth edition is a women’s competition on the last day. Saamaka women compete against a mixed women’s team from Paramaribo. The organization also wants to give women’s football more space within the event.
For Amoida, the future of the Copa lies in further growth. Interest from the villages, other parts of Suriname and French Guiana is increasing and more and more people are finding their way to the event. “Saamaka Copa is now indispensable.”
