Soccerfest has been a 麻豆社国产institution for more than 35 years.
Last weekend, local and visiting teams took over the pitches at Brennan Park for the latest installment of the two-day tournament.
In total, 38 men鈥檚 teams and 30 women鈥檚 teams signed up for the event, with games taking place over the weekend in different age brackets: men鈥檚 open, men鈥檚 over 30 and men鈥檚 over 40, ladies鈥� open, women鈥檚 open rec and women鈥檚 over 30 rec. Many of the teams compete in the Vancouver Metro Soccer League.
鈥淢ost of the teams are from the Lower Mainland,鈥� said Dave Harrison, one of the organizing committee members. 鈥淣o premier teams allowed. It鈥檚 first division and down.鈥�
The men鈥檚 open was the final category to be decided Sunday, and in the end it was the 麻豆社国产Thunder that came out as champs, beating the Coasters team in a close 1-0 match. The game went right down to the end, with the Coasters throwing everything they had at the Thunder net and the Thunder countering with a long shot that glanced off the cross bar.
The Thunder had snuck into the semi-finals with the fourth most points from the round robin stage but managed to advance to the finals.
In the other men鈥檚 brackets, Serbia beat the Coasters 3-2 in the over-40 group, while in the over-30 group, the VUWS Rangers shut out Shaheen 4-0.
On the women鈥檚 side, the 麻豆社国产Strikers went into the playoff round first on points in the open category and kept winning, taking the final against Vancouver Organized Chaos 4-2.
Van City shut out Maki Attaki 3-0 in the women鈥檚 open rec category, while in the women鈥檚 over 30 rec, Loma beat the Aldergrove Fireballers 4-1.
The men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 tournament, which featured several local teams, has been held continuously every spring but for a blip two years ago when weather forced the cancellation. This led to questions about whether teams would return.
鈥淚t was hard having it cancelled. We weren鈥檛 sure if we were going to get them back,鈥� Harrison said, 鈥渂ut they鈥檙e back.鈥�
The event started in 1980 with 20 teams playing games of five-a-side and grew over the years.聽
鈥淚t鈥檚 one of the longest running tourneys in the province,鈥� Harrison said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 unique in that we鈥檙e non-profit.鈥�
The tournament not only brings revenue into the community through visitors, it helps generate funding for facilities like sports fields as well as scholarships for high school students.
鈥淚t鈥檚 one of the events that is important to the community,鈥� said Jose Oreamuno, another organizing committee member.
The organization also had a hand in raising money for the turf, and the members would like to see the fields expand for the tournament and the community as a whole.
鈥淲e鈥檇 love to get a second turf field.鈥�
