A JUNIOR football tournament took on extra poignancy at the weekend as teams played in memory of a boy who died in the River Wear and learnt how to prevent a repeat of the tragedy.

Crook Town AFC Youth, in County Durham, created The Cameron Cup as a tribute to Cameron Gosling.

The 14-year-old died of cold water shock when he went swimming in the river at Witton Park, near Bishop Auckland, a year ago.

Cameron’s brother Cyle, 11, plays for Under 12s side, Crook Town Wolves, and the club felt the memorial cups would show it supports his family and their ongoing water safety campaigns.

Club secretary Angela Lonsdale said: “What happened was awful.

“We felt as a club we needed to pull together to support the Goslings, to show Cyle and his family they are in our thoughts and that we wholeheartedly back their campaigning.”

Cameron’s mother, Fiona, has spoken about the tragedy in an educational film, at pool sessions and in school assemblies as part of the Safe Durham Partnership’s Dying to be Cool campaign.

It aims to raise awareness of cold water shock, the body’s reaction to sudden immersion in cold water which can be fatal.

Crook Town AFC Youth was launched last summer and just a year later it has six boys teams playing in the Russell Foster Youth League and is developing girls and tots teams.

Many of the original members had played together at Willington from the age of five but wanted to be based in their home town of Crook.

Mrs Lonsdale said: “We’ve had a great first year and want to use that success to spread the word about staying safe near water.

“We’ve got a lot of children from Crook involved but teams also came from Bishop Auckland, Sunderland, Newcastle and Teesside Leagues for the tournament so we were handing out leaflets and talking to them about the risks of drowning and cold water shock.

“Our club moto is ‘there are no strangers, just friends not yet made’ and we feel the club is about friendship, health, fun and putting a smile on their faces.

“If we can use events like this to get an important message across, all the better.”

The tournament, at Peases West, was won by Consett Knights (Under 12s) and Crook Town Lions (Under 11s).