Anguish, elation, lost teeth and happy birthdays defined a chaotic grand final day at the Kanga Cup as hundreds of families descended on Southwell Park, with all participants hoping to wear a champions medal around their neck.
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After a week of competition which saw more than 350 teams from across the country play against each other on grounds from Harrison to Kambah, grand final day had arrived. Some finished as division champions, others left empty handed.
And one of those tense matches was between the Northern Tasmania Junior Soccer Association and APIA Leichhardt where Tasmanian player Georgie Bakker described the match as "very, very, very terrifying."
Coaches screamed, the two other Northern Tasmanian boys teams cheered from he sideline and one mum even even live streamed the game back to the families in Launceston and Bridport.
But not everything was smooth sailing. One of the Northern Tasmania players vomited on the plane ride to Canberra. Luckily for the team, when it came down to the moments that mattered, it was 11-year-old Clem Gee who slammed the ball from outside the box into the back of the net to seal a 1-0 win.
As the final minutes ticked away, balls ricocheted off girls shins, goalkeepers spilled the ball out of their hands before rescuing it, and on field 7B a child had just lost her tooth mid-match.
There was mayhem everywhere, which was music to the ears of Capital Football boss Sam Farrow, who was taking charge of the Kanga Cup for the first time.
"It's my first time I've attended a Kanga Cup and honestly, it's absolutely amazing. There are kids from under nine to under 18," Farrow said. "With juniors both boys and girls, we've had an increase from 295 teams this year to 357.
"We also saw two rounds of penalty shootouts earlier today, and we've had some very tense games."
The Northern Tasmania girls also had the Matildas on their mind. Grace Marley channelled the speed of Haley Raso as she moved swiftly beyond the defensive lines of APIA, or Bakker who was booting balls out of her final third like Ellie Carpenter.
"I like Katrina Gorry because she has such a strong boot and she's called mini G. My last name is G and my nickname is mini-G so we have that in common," explained the goal-scorer Gee.
"I was running up and then I was like I'm just gonna go for it because I'd been told take long shots and I took it and it went through and I was like, oh my gosh. I didn't realise what happened?
Bakker added: "We had versed these girls earlier in the competition, and we knew we had lost to them. We were really scared at the start, but once we got on the field, it got easier because we love soccer."
Despite the sheer chaos unfolding out on field 7A, on the other fields, teams from Canberra such as the under-15s Gungahlin boys team or the under-16s Majura FC girls team played their divisional finals.
Farrow said that especially for Canberran sides, the tournament was extremely beneficial as local teams were able to play against quality competition from beyond the region.
"For our local athletes and clubs, they get to play Sydney, Kiwi, Tasmania and Adelaide clubs," Farrow said.
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"They really get to play some football against people they really wouldn't get an opportunity to. So, you know, from a football perspective, there's that broadening of horizons.
"But for the local economy, there were 5000 participants all up here with their families. So you know they're out having dinner and staying in accommodation, which is really great to see."
And having dinner is something the under-12s Northern Tasmania team will enjoy tonight after Marley explained that they are going to eat some McDonalds to celebrate the win. Is there any other way to finish the Kanga Cup experience?
