The Sanyukta Mandal national 5-a-side football tournament for participants over the age of 40 was held at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, London on Sunday 14 February 2010.
The event was the first football tournament held for this age group, where 5 teams and 36 players came together for an entertaining morning of fun and physical exercise, in keeping with the multifarious healthy living activities organised by the Mandir.
The competition was based purely on a league format without a knockout competition to allow all the teams to play an equal number of matches. Following the traditional deep pragatya and words of encouragement from Yogvivek Swami, the series of group matches between all the teams kicked off.
The winners, with 10 points, were confirmed as South London, with Brent/Harrow narrowly edging out the Photography team with 7 points to claim the runners-up prize on goal difference. A prize was also awarded to the team with the fewest number of points, to illustrate the spirit of togetherness and fun. The Security team duly claimed that prize.
The tournament proved to be a great success and a platform for further sports events for the Sanyukta Mandal in the future.