For the first time in the 34 years of the event's existence, 麻豆社国产Soccerfest has been cancelled.
麻豆社国产Soccer Association (SSA) representative Cecil Van Sickle told The Chief that the Easter long weekend occurring at the same time as Soccerfest killed interest in the event.
The event was scheduled to run at the Brennan Park fields on April 18, 19 and 20 but Van Sickle said conflicts with youth tournaments led to Soccerfest's cancellation for 2014.
It's a total disappointment and very sad but having it on the Easter long weekend doesn't work, he said. There are a lot of youth tournaments in the city that weekend and that's probably why we only had 29 teams sign up you can't run a tournament with that few teams.
Last year saw the biggest turnout in the history of the event, with 78 teams participating. A record 42 women's teams hit the pitch and Van Sickle noted that only three women's teams had registered for 2014. The SSA made the decision to cancel the tournament at a meeting on March 20.
Two years ago a total of 72 teams competed in Soccerfest, with 69 taking part in 2011. Van Sickle said the last time the event landed on the Easter long weekend the SSA was able to work with youth soccer and move the event up a week but the timing doesn't work for this year.
Despite the setback of cancelling this year, Van Sickle said the event will return in 2015 and he hopes it will be better than ever.
We're going to revitalize it and get it going again next year, he said.
Soccerfest is regarded as the biggest event of the season for the SSA and is the group's biggest money maker of the year. Van Sickle said there will be a friendly tournament played in place of Soccerfest on the Easter long weekend with all players 18 and up invited to participate.
For more details on that event, contact the SSA's Jose Oreamuno at [email protected] or Dave Harrison at [email protected].
