On Saturday, Dec. 14, 84 youth and adult soccer teams will participate in the 22nd annual Father Christmas Cup (FXCup), an annual event that supports families of fallen military, first responders, and the Atlanta soccer community.
“We are an all-volunteer organization with over 90% of the funds raised going to beneficiaries,” said Stephen O’Hare, FXCup founder and president.
The 2023 FXCup at Silverbacks Park in DeKalb County boasted 81 teams and raised nearly $100,000. In addition to helping families, the FXCup Rick’s Ref Scholarship Fund awards 20 local referees funds for recertification and equipment costs. The scholarship is named after Rick Johnson, a longtime soccer player and supporter.
“Rick played with intensity and was known to have a word or two with referees when he didn’t agree with their calls,” Madelaine Johnson said of her late husband. “After his unexpected death [in 2021], establishing Rick’s Refs seemed so appropriate as he always wanted fair representation in the game.”
At each event, youth teams play in the morning and adults in the afternoon with a pause in the middle to remember those who died. Atlanta Pipe Band bagpipers and drummers open the midday memorial gathering, Yvonne Miller plays taps on her trumpet, and Silverbacks Park is filled with the singing of “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
Though a day of remembrance, it is also filled with joy.
“The spirit of Christmas is palpable,” O’Hare said, “The players turn up in Santa hats and elf socks. There are raffles, hot chocolate and cold beverages, and reminders everywhere that it’s a time for giving and helping people.”
That message has resonated for more than 20 years.
“All good stories start in the pub, don’t they? “ O’Hare said. “I was having a few beers with friends [in 2003] and we were counting our blessings …while people were on the frontlines in Iraq.”
The conversation drifted to the 1914 World War I Christmas truce, during which German and British soldiers played a soccer match in no-man’s land. That was the spark for FXCup.
That December, two teams played and collected a bucket of cash for a soldier’s family. From the start, Tom Daly at AppVault sponsored the player t-shirts that came to memorialize the fallen. The next year, FXCup asked the beneficiary family to participate. The number of teams and beneficiaries organically grew from there.
“When we lost someone in the soccer community,” said Jeb Smith FXCup secretary and treasurer. “We would invite their teams to play.”
In 2006, Vintage Genesis player Matt Williams collapsed from a heart attack on the field at Silverbacks Park and could not be revived. The park owner, Boris Jerkunica, was so moved that he hosted the FXCup from that year forward. The park provided eight “pitches” for small sided games and more teams.
After becoming a nonprofit in 2009, FXCup began securing grants and sponsorships. In 2015, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation started supporting FXCup, the first year the event raised more than $50,000.
As the event grew, the nonprofit never lost sight of its core mission.
In 2021, Erica Rountree’s family was in a tragic car accident that claimed the lives of her husband, Chris, and 17-year-old daughter Libby, an avid soccer player.
“My husband and I spent lots of time at the soccer fields,” Rountree said. “Chris was a soccer referee at the time of his death. He and Libby often did that together – he was center referee and she was on the sidelines.”
Rountree was approached by a fellow soccer mom about Libby’s team playing in the 2021 FXCup.
“When I received an incredibly generous check from the tournament afterward, I was blown away by the care and kindness of everyone involved,” Rountree said.
“When something devastating like this happens, you can feel incredibly alone and question whether it’s possible to get through it or to be happy again,” Rountree added.
FXCup gave Libby’s teammates and parents an opportunity to honor Chris and Libby and show they would not be forgotten.
“My husband and I always used to say that soccer people are the best kind of people,” Rountree said. “All those hours spent together cheering our kids through the wins and losses, bonds you for life. It’s a tight, family-oriented community, and this event showcases that.”
“Everybody is welcome,” O’Hare emphasized. “Even if you don’t play soccer you can still come watch the matches, buy a raffle ticket or make a donation.”
To make a tax-deductible donation and for more information, visit fxcup.org.
