What started out as a fundraising exercise turned into a record-breaking endurance event for Clayton Taylor, owner of the Trellidor Fourways franchise and colleague Tyrone de Villiers. One local newspaper called it ‘The greatest soccer match ever’ and for participants, it was certainly an event of marathon proportions!
Here is the story in Clayton’s own words:
Tyrone and I play soccer for the men’s social side at ETS (Education Through Soccer), a non-profit organisation dedicated to the development of young players and grass roots coaching. We wanted to raise funds for a facility that would serve as both a fitness centre and classrooms for the kids to do their homework in after training.
So the idea we came up with was to break the world record for the longest indoor football match in the world. The existing record was 30 hours 10 minutes, set by Healthy Hearts in Alberta in Canada in 2010. We initially thought we’d be able to play for 60 hours but didn’t reckon on the weather.
Our event took place during the massive heat wave we had recently in Gauteng and as a result, there was no way we could play for 60 hours. The ice baths provided for the event became our best friend and were full all the time!
Each player rotated on an hourly basis from start to finish. The early morning hours were the most difficult due to lack of sleep and exhaustion from the sun, but we managed to push through and break the record in 32 hours and 10 minutes.
The successful record breaking attempt received some excellent coverage including an episode on e-TV in South Africa and BBC in Scotland. It was also covered in local newspapers.
This was an awesome experience and we were so grateful to have been part of it.
In total the two sides scored about 900 goals and raised over R130 000. Ty and I now know what it feels like to be Usain Bolt a record breaker!
Well done to Clayton and Tyrone from the Trellidor Marketing Team! You live the Trellidor franchise philosophy of getting involved with the community in which you live and work, and assisting children wherever we can.
