A team of youngsters coached by Blues' community department are celebrating after winning a national tournament at the weekend.

Turves Green under-12s had previously won their way through regional heats of the Kickz Cup to get to the final at the Derby County's Pride Park Stadium on Sunday but managed to go one step further and land the trophy by beating Fulham in the final.

As part of the award-winning national Kickz programme, the event saw young people from towns and cities across the country unite behind a Government anti-knife crime campaign called 'It Doesn't Have to Happen'.

Kickz, backed by the Football Foundation, Premier League and police forces across the country, has raised awareness of the campaign via 137 teams attending 12 high profile regional tournaments.

And Turves Green ultimately triumphed to land the crown and the title of Kickz champions 2009.

Birmingham City community officer Dean Holtham said: "The Kickz tournament is really prestigious and with many teams taking part from across the land it's an incredibly tough challenge to win it.

"However Turves Green have been brilliant throughout the competition and we're really proud that they went all the way and won the trophy as representatives of Birmingham City."

'It Doesn't Have to Happen' was conceived by the Home Office and young people have contributed significantly to its development. It aims to give young people an understanding of the consequences of knife crime, encouraging them to 'say no to knives' and have a positive influence on each other. Peer-to-peer messaging is an important part of the campaign, which has a dedicated website, www.itdoesnthavetohappen.co.uk

The impact of the tournaments has been excellent with thousands of young people taking part, pledging support to the campaign and taking part in hard hitting 'Be Safe' workshops on the dangers of carrying weapons.

Football Foundation CEO Paul Thorogood said: "Football brands and clubs are incredibly persuasive vehicles for connecting with young people. This has been demonstrated by the overwhelming success of Kickz, which has engaged over 24,500 young people and recently picked up a prestigious Sport Industry Award for Best Community Programme.

"The England Team signed up to support the anti-knife crime message, and the Kickz network has further spread the word among challenging communities. The idea is to harness the undoubted power of football to help young people make the right choices and champion this positive message within and beyond their local communities."

The Kickz project is just one of the many successful elements of Blues' community department. For more information on the Education and Development programme work carried out by the community team click here to watch a free video.