February 20, 2018
South Burnett soccer players and fans are getting ready for a big weekend but a local businesses should be smiling, too.
Kingaroy Senior Soccer Club’s annual Soccer Sevens Football Carnival will be running across five fields at Tom Alford Oval in Kingaroy this Saturday and Sunday.
The carnival wasn’t held last year due to a dispute with the code’s governing body about fees.
But that dispute has now been settled, and the popular event will be returning for its 35th season.
This year, 40 teams will be taking part – each with seven players, plus reserves and accompanied by supporters.
Admittedly, a few of the teams are from the South Burnett but even so there will be a strong demand for local accommodation, with many players arriving on Friday from the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, Hervey Bay, Bundaberg, Toowoomba and the Darling Downs.
Final set-ups will take place on Friday, and matches will start at 10:00am on Saturday and run through to 5:00pm in the afternoon.
On Sunday, games will get underway at 8:00am and run to about noon.
After this the finals of the women’s and U35s sides will be played at 2:30pm and the Grand Final at 3:00pm, followed by presentations at about 3:30pm.
Two South Burnett teams will be defending their titles from the 2017 Carnival this year: the Fossils (Over 35s) and the Merry Men (Men’s).
Carnival co-coordinator Mick North said organisers were looking forward to a jam-packed weekend of action, but spectators were more than welcome.
“We’ll have a canteen running both days and there’ll be lots of tents spread around the ground,” he said.
“This is one of the largest carnivals of its kind in Australia and it’s notoriously hot, so we advise everyone to wear hats, splash on the sunscreen and stay in the shade.”
