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11 Jul 08Beach Soccer Stars Bring Football Into FOCUS
More than 300 young people from across Poole and Bournemouth will be rubbing shoulders with players from England's beach soccer team as Sandbanks hosts a special Football FOCUS 
tournament.
Teams of youngsters, aged between 12 and 19, will be taking part in the beach soccer event on Sunday, July 13, between 10am and 4pm.
Football FOCUS is a multi-agency project and it has been hugely successful in steering young people away from crime and encouraging them to focus their energies on sport.
England Beach Soccer is supporting the tournament and two international first team players will be joining the young people to teach them more about the sport.
It is first time the project, which is run by Borough of Poole, Dorset Police and NACRO , has staged a beach tournament.
The teams will get the added thrill of playing in an 800-seat arena, which will have staged Europe's first-ever beach polo event on the previous two days. Borough of Poole made an agreement with the organisers of beach polo to use the temporary arena for the Football FOCUS tournament.
Cllr Peter Adams, Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture, Borough of Poole, said: "Football FOCUS uses sport as a tool to break down barriers between the police, young people and the communities in which they live. By staging this event at Sandbanks, we can give young people from across Poole and Bournemouth a real treat and the chance to show off their football skills in an excellent arena."
Launched in 2005, Football FOCUS highlights the benefits of working with partners and the community in providing solutions to local problems, making policing neighbourhoods easier and more effective.
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