MORE than 1,500 young footballers braved the rain and took part in the Flybe Community Cup at Heartsease High School.

The event was organised and run by Norwich City's Football in the Community team in conjunction with the Norwich Evening News and was a huge success, despite the damp weather.

Tournament organiser Steve Eastaugh said: "I was delighted with the success of the tournament. The matches were played in such a great spirit as well as remaining highly competitive. I would like to thank all the FITC staff for their hard work over the weekend, our sponsors Flybe and Evening News and Heartsease High School who accomodated the tournament in a very positive and supportive way."

FITC Director, Ian Thornton, said: "Overall, we are all very pleased with how the tournament went. The staff at FITC, together with some volunteer support, worked very hard organising and delivering the Flybe Community Cup.

"In turn - we were rewarded by many of the 1500 players on show. The standard shown from both players and coaches was good for everyone to see We look forward to seeing many of these children on our Summer Soccer Schools together with attending next years tournament."

More than 185 teams competed at Boys U7, U8, U9, U10, U11, U12, U13, U14 level and girls U12, U14 and U16 level competed in the tournament with the overall winners below:

U7 Winners - Gorleston Rangers

U7 Runners Up - Oulton Mariners

U8 Winners - Waveney Tigers

U8 Runners Up - Old Catton

U9 Winners - Lakeford Rangers B

U9 Runners Up - Sprowston Hawks

U10 Winners - Sprowston Lads

U10 Runners Up - Gorleston Rangers Hammers

U11 Winners - Dereham Town Whites

U11 Runners up - Dereham Town Reds

U12 Winners - Sprowston A

U12 Runners Up - Gorleston Rangers

U13 Winners - Thorpe Rovers

U13 Runners up - Old Catton

U14 Winners - Jex Tigers

U14 Runners Up - Sprowston Lions

Girls U12 Winners - Norwich City Canaries Greens

Girls U12 Runners Up - Firside Foxes

Girls U14 Winners - Norwich City Canaries Greens

Girls U14 Runners Up - Martham Belles

Girls U16 Winners - Norwich City Canaries Greens

Girls U16 Runners Up - Norwich City Canaries Yellows

All of the above have won an exclusive team coaching session at FITC's Carrow Park facility by one of the FITC coaching team, together with tickets to see Norwich City FC in action against fellow Flybe sponsored club - Southampton FC at Carrow Road.

Part of the celebration for the winning teams will see each player and their manager parade around the pitch in front of 25,000 fans with their winning trophy on the day.