Gwangju Plays: The Gwangju Inter Football Club
On May 3-4, Gwangju Inter Football Club, along with 15 other soccer teams, entered the 2014 Ulsan Cup held in Ulsan, South Korea. While the teams in the Ulsan Cup come from all over Korea—Osan, Daejeon, Daegu, Jeju, Suwon, Seoul, Ulsan, Gwangju, Busan and Gunsan—the players themselves come from all over the planet.
For the seventh consecutive year, foreign residents from all over Korea partook in this annual competition. Although all the competing teams are comprised predominantly of foreigners, some teams have Korean players as well. This helps promote the international integration and outdoor exercise that the Ulsan Cup hopes to achieve.
The tournament consists of 46 games, spanning Saturday and Sunday, in which the 16 teams play in four groups. The top two teams from each group advance to the Cup, while the bottom eight teams move to the Plate. On Sunday, first round losers automatically move to the bottom – the Wooden Spoon division. Winners for each division are chosen based on a win-loss record from there.
After two days of sweltering heat, several serious injuries requiring ambulance assistance, some no-shows, nicks, bruises and everything in between, the champions emerged.
Bringing up the rear in the Wooden Spoon Division, Daegu F.C. came out victorious. For the Plate championship, Gwangju Inter F.C. and Seoul Inter Soccer Club hashed it out for the second time in the tournament, and for the second time Gwangju Inter F.C. came out on top. Gwangju has yet to win the Cup, but it was their third time winning the Plate, as they have done so previously in 2009 and 2012. Finally, in the Cup Championship, defending champs Inter Suwon F.C. took the trophy for the second year in a row; making Ulsan Cup history as the first-ever back-to-back champions.
The 2014 Ulsan Cup was a true test of mental and physical toughness. With a maximum of six 50-minute games in two days, some athletes played every minute of every game, for a total of 300 minutes of playing time. That is five hours of soccer in less than 36 hours! Rest assured, many players spent the rest of the long weekend licking their wounds, taking long bus rides back to their respective cities, or spending some hard-earned prize money in Ulsan or Busan.
If the Ulsan Cup is meant to promote international integration between local residents and foreigners in Korea, then it delivers on that front. During the opening ceremony, spectators and players alike observed a moment of silence for those who lost their lives in the Sewol ferry disaster. Although it is Koreans who are affected most by this tragedy, everyone there undoubtedly felt a sense of sadness and unity as they bowed their heads; reflecting on the things that make us all human and finding a connection there as well as in football.
Currently, Gwangju Inter FC is training every Thursday from 8-10 p.m. and we play every Sunday from 3-5 p.m. You can check us out on Facebook at “Gwangju Inter FC” or send us an email at gwangju_soccer@yahoo.com.