The fourth annual Kickz Cup was held at Barnet Powerleague with young people coming from all over England - including the Blades - to represent their local clubs in the competition that promotes greater community harmony.
There were three sets of winners: Crystal Palace Kickz won the U18 Boys category, while Watford was crowned champions of the U16 Boys, and Newcastle United Kickz won the girls' U18 tournament.
The Kickz Cup is one of the annual highlights of this award-winning community cohesion programme, while Kickz itself is one of the cornerstones of the Premier League's Creating Chances programme. Kickz uses the power of football to build safer, stronger, more respectful communities through the development of young people's potential.
After launching six years ago with three London-based programmes, there are now 44 professional football clubs from the Premier League and Football League, including the Blades, delivering over 100 projects in partnership with the Police and local authorities across the country, with projects contributing to drops in anti-social behaviour of up to 60%.
The Kickz Cup was created in 2008 to give the Kickz football programmes across the country the chance to represent their club and compete against each other. Over 4,000 participants have taken part since its launch, including over 700 this year alone.
The 2012 tournament was supported by Nike and began with clubs playing local qualifiers in order to select teams to represent their Kickz projects as a collective. All 44 Kickz Clubs entered teams in the Under 18s and Under 16s age groups and five clubs submitted girls teams for the Under 18s girls' finals. Four regional qualifiers in Manchester, Sheffield, North London and South London produced 17 boys' teams qualifying for the national finals in London.
Sheffield United Kickz was at Barnet to compete in the finals for Under 16's. Lloyd Samuels from SUFC Kickz was full of praise for the event: "The Kickz Cup gives youngsters the opportunity to meet people of their own age from other areas and break down barriers in a positive environment."
The Blades were up against teams from West Ham, Queens Park Rangers, Newcastle, Arsenal, Bolton Wanderers, Manchester City, Oldham Athletic and Watford, who eventually went on to win the U16 competition.
The team of Djamal Otmani, Parise Dixon, Mohamed Yusef, Kalem Williams, Mogtaba Ahmmad, Mushraf Rauf and Osma Jama played well with winning performances against Oldham and Bolton. Djamal Otmani was the top scorer on the day for the Blades.
One of the unique aspects of the Kickz project is the number of young people that come through the project and then return to the scheme to volunteer and coach. Mohamed Otmani, from Sheffield United Kickz, one of the volunteers who coached the U16s at the finals and the regional qualifier, said: "The lads did well and I am proud to have been their coach. Kickz really does offer fantastic opportunities to come together, play football and learn."