9th Annual Yeti Cup Football Tournament

London, 25th July 2004

by SANDEP UPADHYA

FROM ISSUE # 124 (April 2006) | IN THIS ISSUE
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SANDEP UPADHYA

The event:

Yeti Cup is an annual all Nepali football tournament organized in the UK. It was started in 1996 but due its popularity, an overwhelming number of teams apply and at least 10-15 teams are denied every year. The organizers hope to make it a 2 day affair from next year. This year the event was held in Brentside playing field in Greenford, London. Wales, Scotland, Cattrick (Newcastle) and London (Greenwich, Wembley, Plumstead, Woolwich and Acton) are some of the places from which Nepalis came down for the Yeti Cup.

The Day:

The day had been marked well ahead on our calendars since I live almost five hours away from my friends; over the years Yeti Cup has grown to become one of the most important Nepali gatherings for Nepalis living here in the UK.

It was a hot sunny day, unlike the usual wet British weather, so we took no time in getting into our gears. Admittedly, looking around the setting, I was impressed by the considerable amount of hard work noticeable amongst the players and organizers. The event was undoubtedly well planned- the association members were seated on separate tents; four marked out seven-a-side pitches were set; cars parked all around the boundaries; wash room facilities; ice-cream vans; team tents; and a huge stall selling drinks, snacks and people's favourite, "Momo."

By 11.00 the games had started and the spectators, almost all Nepali, arrived in small groups, slowly occupying the entire field. There were families who had come to watch their owns play; wives to watch their husbands, girlfriends to watch their boyfriends and some to just meet relatives and others generally to enjoy a day out. Upon closer investigation you would also find some with the motive to meet their blind dates, long lost friends and even show off their new basketball jerseys and JLo hats. One image that summed up this phenomenon was a friend of mine dressed up in the trendiest Ralph Lauren and Von Dutch outfit. He had travelled all the way down from Scotland to meet his- here we are- blind date. I would imagine some people more than others are thankful to the Yeti Cup Football. So, without further questions, I wished him luck and made my way towards our designated pitch for warm up.

I play for the Gurkha Hill team from Folkestone. We won our first game. But by the start of the second game the strain kicked in, we knew this was inevitable. It was only the night before that somewhere around midnight the five of us, some of them our team members, were impatiently queuing up outside one of London's liveliest night clubs- all part of our own way of making an entertaining Yeti Cup weekend. We didn't stop dancing, and everyone was convinced it had been an amazing night despite our lack of success in chatting up the ladies. It wasn't until five in the morning that we went to bed in our hotel. We knew we had taken a risk. It was bound to be an exhausting day of football. Yeti cup was initially, after all, meant to be all about football.

SANDEP UPADHYA

The majority of teams that got through were the Ghurkha teams whose fitness level, even the SAS commandoes admit this, was expectedly high. One team by far the most attention seeking in ways beyond football was from London; kitted up with the legendary Chelsea Jerseys and speaking nothing but "angrazey". Who says it is unlikely behaviour to speak in English in a Nepali gathering? I like to think it was the fact that they spoke in English that got them so far. Once again I am making excuses. Nevertheless the others with their "oye yeta yeta" and the "la haldey haldey" weren't any less talented.

It was getting late and I surfed through the pitches in my bid to figure out the real "Ronaldo" of the tournament. I wasn't easily going to rule myself out but there definitely were players who caught my eye. It really is one of my dreams to hear about a Nepali star grabbing headlines in the world of football.

I took time off to meet with a few friends who had plenty to say about the attractive and fashionable ladies that had come looking their best. I said my goodbyes to those who were staying behind to watch the final, assuring them that this time we would keep in touch more often.

Sandeep is a regular WAVE reader. He is currently a final year student studying Hons. In Civil Engineering, University Of WALES, Swansea, UK