YOUNG football fanatics are going for goal at a tournament raising vital cash for sick children.

A total of 19 teams of boys will battle it out during the seventh Play2Give charity football tournament, which raises much-needed money for the Oxford Children’s Hospital.

The teams of seven youngsters, in under-10s and under-11s, will face each other on the 3G pitches at Oxford City Football Club’s community area on Sunday. Last year’s tournament raised £7,209 for the hospital and their families, and organisers hope to keep the ball rolling this time around.

Dale Harris’s 13-year-old daughter Mya has been in and out of hospital since she was diagnosed with spina bifida in the womb.

Now Mr Harris, of Normandy Crescent, Cowley, helps founder Andrew Baker run the event and said people’s memories of the hospital and the appeal of the sport keeps supporters coming back.

He added: “Kids and families love to give back in that way and everyone seems to enjoy football.

“The main goal is to have fun but at the same time raise money for the children’s hospital, which would be a great result.”

Mr Baker began his charity work when he was 14 after receiving treatment for a brain injury sustained at birth.

The St Birinus School pupil, from Didcot, had major brain surgery at the age of 12 and in 2003 started raising cash for the charity before beginning Play2Give four years later.

Now part of a quartet of organisers, Mr Baker – along with Mr Harris, Teresa Strike and Elaine Childs – is hoping to raise more than £6,000 from this year’s event.

Since it began, the charity has raised £38,000 – with more than £29,000 of it going to the children’s hospital.

The tournament is scheduled to kick off at 9.15am on Sunday.