That Regis Spirit shone brightly in a corner of Coventry when family and friends came together to pay tribute to tragic young footballer Hamza Alrimi.
The 13-year-old died suddenly last December, bringing deep sadness and shock to his family and an entire community around the Sidney Stringer School, where he was a popular pupil.
They came together to organise a tribute football match which provided the finale to a fund-raising effort which raised more than £1,000 for a headstone and potentially a memorial to Hamza at school.
Before his passing, Hamza had signed up for our Strike A Change programme and was relishing the inspiration it provides to youngsters.
It was fitting then that our chair Julia Regis and our Trust ambassador and Cyrille’s former team Coventry City mate Dave Bennett, were on hand to present the trophy.
At the end of a wonderful match between Hamza’s Sidney Stringer teammates and Coundon Court, which finished 2-2, the visitors became the inaugural holders of the Hamza Alrimi trophy after a penalty shoot-out.
But that only tells a fraction of the story of a moving tribute to a young man and his family in which so many have come together to provide support at such a traumatic time – all things Cyrille himself would have recognised.
Hamza had only been on the Trust’s programme for a short time, but Julia said: “The feedback we got from the foundation team was incredible. They said how lovely Hamza was. The coach who worked closest with him even said, ‘We’ve got our ambassador sorted for this year’ – that’s how highly he was thought of.
“It must be so comforting for Hamza’s family to see his son remembered this way. For him to have left this legacy of kindness is powerful.”
Dave, a Trust ambassador and member of the Coventry City Former Players Association, said: “It was very sad to hear about Hamza but also a pleasure to see what they are doing here in his memory. As a promising young player, you never know how far Hamza might have gone in the game.
“It‘s nice to see the schools come together for this game in what is a worthy tribute.”
