Real Madrid Foundation Copa Alma 2025
In June 2025, we were invited by the Real Madrid Foundation o Madrid to participate in the Copa Alma 2025. We took a very lucky and excited group of Year 7 boys from Harris City Academy Crystal Palace to Spain to participate in a tournament which combined sport, education and inclusion with young people from all over Europe participating.
On day 1, we arrived at the hotel and the students participated in a group bonding exercise where they created a team flag representing their values through images and words. All student led, they agreed on creating a flag with the Harris City Academy Crystal Palace, Kinetic and adidas logos. The words that students selected which represented their combined values were culture, bravery and community. Then it was time to visit Real Madrid Sports City for the official launch of the Copa Alma 2025 tournament. Our Kinetic HCACP Year 7's representing the United Kingdom took on other socio-sports school teams from Ukraine, Portugal, Poland and Hungary, with the day’s value focus being 'respect'. The students were very complimentary of the organisers and have competed extremely well. The communication has been good, some great individual play on show.
On day 2, we spent the day at the Real Madrid Sports City. The morning saw us play 3 games against socio-sports school teams from Spain, Italy and Bulgaria. After lunch, we took part in a 'Got Talent' show, where the Kinetic boys showcased their singing! The day finished off with an integration tournament, where all players were assigned new teams, mixed together from other countries, which embodied the values of day 2 of the tournament - Team Spirit.
We started day 3 in Juan Carlos I Park, where our boys along with other young people from socio-sports school teams were challenged to complete a series of football skills challenges, testing them in keepie ups, dribbling, position, accuracy and agility. The competitive morning was followed by a tour of Madrid city centre, where we got to see the Las Ventas Bullring and visit the Royal Palace of Madrid with beautiful views of the city. In the afternoon, we played our last three games of the tournament coming up against Ukraine Yellow, Romania and Ukraine Blue, which focused on highlighting the “equality” value. In the evening, we packed our bags, sad it’s our last night but excited for what was to come on the last day.
The last day of Copa Alma treated us to an unforgettable experience... a tour of the iconic Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, offering an opportunity to learn about the history of the club, sit in the stands and get some souvenirs, of course. We then went back to Real Madrid City one last time for a closing ceremony, where the boys representing the UK won the “Autonomy” award for showing the most growth in characters and learning to embrace and embody its values. After the awards ceremony, all participants were treated to a closing party, with music from all the countries and a chance to swap and sign shirts and make sure they had contact details of their new international friends!
At the Kinetic Foundation, we’re proud to partner with the Real Madrid Foundation to deliver the Social Sports School in Croydon, a life-changing programme launched in 2017 to empower young people in vulnerable situations. Supported by Abbott and UPS, we combine football training with education to instil the seven values of the RMF methodology: respect, team spirit, self-esteem, health, autonomy, motivation, and equality.