Used Shirts from Dana Cup Sponsor Bring Joy to Guatemalan Team

Used Shirts from Dana Cup Sponsor Bring Joy to Guatemalan Team

It is not always considered exciting to wear someone else’s old clothes. However, a set of used company football shirts from Fynbo Foods in Vrå has brought great joy to a football team from Guatemala taking part in the Dana Cup.

Jan Christensen, who lives in Hjørring and works as warehouse manager at Fynbo Foods in Vrå – one of Dana Cup’s sponsors – has donated the company’s former football shirts to the players from La Academia FC in Guatemala, who are participating in this year’s Dana Cup.

"The shirts date back to the time when employees at Fynbo Foods played company football. Rather than letting them sit unused, I decided to pass them on to a team that could benefit from them," says Jan Christensen, who first met La Academia FC from Guatemala when he was coach of his son’s football team from Skibsby-Højene and took part in the Dana Cup.

"La Academia is a very likeable team. The players are kind, and with team leader Byron Maldonado at the helm, they simply made a very positive impression. We have kept in touch, and as Guatemala is not a wealthy country, I thought the shirts could bring some joy to La Academia. Fortunately, both the players and the staff were very happy," says Jan Christensen with a smile.

For Jan Christensen, the donation is about giving equipment that is no longer being used a new purpose and allowing others to benefit from it. At the same time, the gesture reflects the sense of

community and the international friendships that the Dana Cup has helped create over many decades.

This small donation is therefore an example of how the Dana Cup is about much more than the matches on the pitch. It is also about the encounters and relationships that develop between people across national borders.

There are 11 years between the two pictures.