AWS enlists Amazon IVS to broaden support for The Prince’s Trust youth charity

The 2023 AWS Cloud Cup charity football tournament reaches beyond in-stadium spectators with live streaming to a worldwide virtual audience

Amazon Web Services (AWS) held its third annual charity football tournament on May 18, 2023, at the Cherry Red Records Stadium in Wimbledon, located in Southwest London, England. The event had an ambitious fundraising target of £100,000 to support The Prince’s Trust, a UK-local nonprofit that serves those from disadvantaged communities and those facing great adversity.

This funding allows The Prince’s Trust to build and implement programs that fulfill the organization’s mission: to transform lives and build sustainable communities worldwide, with a particular focus on supporting young people into education, employment, and enterprise. The tournament commenced with 16 teams competing in football matches across three pitches in the iconic London stadium, with teams comprising both AWS employees and partners, who joined forces to showcase their football skills for a good cause.

Building upon the success of previous years, where £7,665 was raised in 2021 and £51,364 in 2022, the tournament sought to make an even greater impact by supporting the charitable cause and their work in the community. This year’s event has surpassed its goal of £100,000, raising £101,971 as of May 24, 2023.

“It’s fantastic to see how much the Cloud Cup has grown over the last few years. Raising over £100,000 to support disadvantaged young people through the event is such an amazing achievement and we are so grateful to AWS for their continued support,” expressed Lynda McCullagh, Head of Corporate Partnerships at The Prince’s Trust. “At The Prince’s Trust we know, from experience, how transformational the right support can be to a young person in need of help. The incredible total raised by the Cloud Cup will allow us to equip many more young people with the confidence, support, training and employment opportunities they deserve.”

The morning of the tournament was dedicated to group stage football matches, generating an atmosphere of healthy competition and camaraderie. As the afternoon approached, the tournament intensified with the quarterfinals, determining which teams would advance to the semifinals and have a chance to secure a spot in the in the championship.

The climactic finale, which determined the recipient of the 2023 trophy, unfolded between DynamoDB FC and Cog United. After an exhilarating match, the scores remained tied at full time, leading to a nerve-wracking penalty shootout. Amidst a flurry of spectacular goals and heart-wrenching misses, DynamoDB FC emerged victorious as the ultimate champions of the tournament.

While the Cherry Red Records Stadium welcomed on-site spectators to witness the enthralling matches firsthand, a live stream powered by Amazon Interactive Video Service (Amazon IVS) created an inclusive experience for those unable to attend in person. Amazon IVS, a fully managed live streaming solution offered by AWS, empowers developers to incorporate interactive, low-latency live video streaming capabilities into their applications and websites.

During the tournament, AWS operators used three cameras positioned in the media section of the stadium. These cameras captured every moment of the matches. Streaming software from the IVS.rocks website ran on Wi-Fi-connected laptops, processing each camera feed. The feeds were then transmitted to the cloud, where Amazon IVS handled video encoding, transcoding, and storage. The Amazon IVS service ensured that the live video streams could be distributed globally with 2–5 second latency, reaching viewers from various corners of the world in real time. Notably, the www.awscloudcup.com website recorded 7,061 requests over the course of the event. Using Amazon IVS’s record to Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) functionality, a total of 7.5 hours of captivating content from each camera was stored for future use.

The Prince’s Trust, a UK charity, believes that every young person should have the chance to succeed, no matter their background or the challenges they face. It helps those from disadvantaged communities and those facing great adversity by supporting them in building the confidence and skills to live, learn, and earn.

For more information about the Prince’s Trust, visit: https://www.princes-trust.org.uk/. For more information about streaming live video with Amazon IVS, visit: https://aws.amazon.com/ivs/