BIFC Invitational Cup 2026
- BIFC Marketing
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
On Saturday August 22nd we hosted our Second Annual Bowen Island FC Summer Invitational, a 6 v 6, over 35s tournament for teams from Bowen Island and the mainland. This year we had two BIFC teams joined by a team of Liverpool fans, Beaver FC and two teams from Unicorns FC who ended up contesting the final.
Despite a forecast of rain the day played out in great weather and we got to enjoy some great soccer as well as putting on an amazing show as hosts, with our team of volunteers, led by Anita our General Manager doing a phenomenal job of making the day extra special for the players. The organization on show was fabulous with games running on schedule throughout, hot dogs for anybody who needed to take on extra calories and refereeing from BIFC’s own Will and Justin that was a higher standard than what we see in the Premier League most weeks.
On the field there were plenty of stand out performances, with all the teams taking points off each other in the initial group stage, the reward for finishing 1st and 2nd definitely paid off for Unicorns though as they got a bye to the semi final, and got to avoid an extra gruelling game in the heat that really tested players fitness to the limit. Both Bowen teams were unlucky to go out at the quarter final stage on penalties despite giving it their all, unable to follow up on last year’s Tournament win for BIFC Black.
The final ultimately ended with Unicorns A vs Unicorns B, after they beat Liverpool FC and Beaver FC respectively, and it was a deserving final for what proved to be the two strongest teams in this year’s competition, a point that was further illustrated by the standard of one of the goals in the final, an amazing chest control leading to a bicycle kick into the top corner, that wouldn’t have looked out of place in last month’s World Cup Final!
Cue huge celebrations as the winning Unicorns players made sure that their counterparts knew just who had come out on top!
The day finished, just as it did last year with a great after party at Bowen Island Pub as we took over the place for a couple of hours and mixed with players from all the teams. All in all a great tournament, and a fantastic way of using soccer to bring people together. We’re already looking forward to next year!
Huge thanks to everybody who made the journey to Bowen Island, to Anita and our volunteers Gillian, Lauren, Tara and Rebecca, to our referees Will and Justin, and to everybody that made the day the success that it was. Next year will be our 3rd Tournament, and it will coincide with BIFC’s 20th Anniversary, so we’ll be looking to go even bigger. Watch this space!
More photos to follow...
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