Scan Magazine | Experience of the Month | Denmark
Experience of the Month, Denmark
Welcome to the cosiest football youth tournament Vildbjerg Cup is the fourth-biggest youth tournament in Europe, but probably the cosiest one of them all. This year, the tournament is celebrating its 40th anniversary and once again inviting clubs from all over the world to a true football festival. By Nicolai Lisberg | Photos: Vildbjerg Cup
When a few locals 40 years ago came up with the idea of creating a football tournament for youth teams, their ambition was relatively humble. Getting 64 teams to participate was the goal. Not in a million years could they have imagined that Vildbjerg Cup would turn out to be such a big success, which now hosts and welcomes around 750 teams. But that is exactly what happens every year in the beginning of August. Boys and girls come with their teams and their families to spend four memo92 | Issue 110 | March 2018
rable days at Vildbjerg, located between Herning and Holstebro in the western part of Denmark – four days where around 10,000 players and coaches in addition to another 10,000 family members are creating an impressive atmosphere in Vildbjerg. The last day of entering teams for this year’s tournament is in the middle of May, and even though there is still plenty of time for teams to register, the organisers urge teams to enter as soon as possible, as Vildbjerg Cup has a tradition of becoming fully booked.
“We have already received a lot of registrations from both regulars and newcomers, and I expect that we will have to close registration at an earlier date, like we have done in previous years, because we will have reached our maximum number of teams,” says Jørgen Trankjær, daily manager at Vildbjerg Cup. Participants at the tournament have free access to all facilities, such as a swimming pool with a hot-water pool, tennis courts, as well as free fishing in Vildbjerg Søpark. On the Friday and Saturday, there is a free open-air disco and on the Saturday night there are fireworks.
A family holiday But what exactly is it that makes this tournament so special that teams keep