Panna Knock Out

This past Sunday saw the National Dutch Finals of Panna Knock Out 2010 take place at the Bazaar in Beverwijk, the Netherlands. In this massive event, several thousand people crowded in to see various Panna Kings compete for the prize of National Panna King 2010. The line-up included several well known Dutch Panna footballers, but also the World Champion freestyler Sean Garnier and the British Panna Champion of 2009, Mr Chace O'Neill. Mohammed Boutaka, winner in 2006 and runner-up in '07 and '08, regained his title in 2010. Coincidently, Mo Boutaka is also one of the main freestylers to come to Britain every year, and was part of the team that introduced Panna to the Tottenham Foundation earlier this month. The Dutch PAnna Finals is more than football alone; it features several performances by famous Dutch hip hop stars, a range of side activities and funding drives for several community and sports charities, as well as freestyle shows and celebrity matches.

ARSENAL

Arsenal in the Community and the Dutch embassy in London launched a pilot exchange project, where a number of youngsters from Arsenal's Kickz programme travelled to Holland accompanied by Arsenal in the Community coaches, to take part in a work experience with the organisation of the Dutch Panna Finals. The visitors from London got to work with the team in the Netherlands during the tournament by refereeing both preliminaries and final rounds. An Arsenal in the Community participant co-refereed in every centre court game, including the final. It was also an opportunity for the Londoners to see a community cohesion programme in a different environment from their own and work closely with colleagues from the Netherlands. The pilot project envisages a return visit from a number of Dutch community cohesion and sports project participants and practitioners. The project is jointly funded by Arsenal in the Community and the Dutch Embassy.