Everyone A Winner At Big Soccer Tourney
For the 14 determined yet giddy girls of Boise’s Osprey soccer team, Labor Day weekend meant fun, fun, fun. To prepare themselves for the 15th annual River City Steelers Fall Roundup, the soccer players had a slumber party Friday night.
“We braided each other’s hair,” said Katie “KC” Corlett, who’s 13. And they painted each other’s nails. All in the name of team spirit.
“See, blue and white for our team colors and we spelled out our team’s name on our nails,” said Megan McGovert, who’s 13.
After driving up from Boise, the girls stayed with one player’s grandmother in Otis Orchards. They were close to the fields at Otis Orchards Elementary and Mountain View Middle School where the 108 participating select and premier soccer teams played their hearts out all weekend long.
The Osprey girls lost their first two games, but were convinced they’d do better in the last two games.
It’s not so much about winning, said several of the girls, as they noshed on lunches of oranges, granola bars, turkey sandwiches and water. It’s more about watching themselves improve and going up against teams they’ve never played before.
And they certainly had the chance to do that.
Each of the teams, with more than 1,500 players from Washington, Idaho, Montana and Oregon, were guaranteed to play at least three games, said River City Steelers Soccer Club president Peachey Turnbull. Some played four or five and made it to the Monday’s championship game.
But the whole point of the Roundup isn’t about having a champion, said the event’s director, Tom Shea. It’s about running a quality tournament for the select and premiere teams in the Northwest.
“The tournament’s just about outgrown the space we have,” said Shea. The club hopes to use the sports complex planned for Plantes Ferry Park in the Valley as its future site.
“Parents who bring their kids out here are very dedicated to the sport,” said Turnbull. With all the equipment and traveling, it can become an expensive sport, she said.
The expense doesn’t seem to bother Sharon Oscarson of Spokane. Both her daughter Ericka, 13, and son, Joel, 12, play on select teams.
“It’s a really healthy sport,” says Oscarson. “It’s real good for the kids to feel confidence and get rah-rahs from their peers. It’s kind of expensive but not as expensive as counseling would be if they were doing negative things.”
The Oscarsons, who just returned from a tournament in Bellingham two weeks ago, head to Sandpoint for yet another tournament in two weeks. By that time, there’ll be games for Ericka and Joel every weekend.
“It is a lifestyle,” said Oscarson, of the commitment that’s necessary to enable her kids to stay involved. “But they really enjoy it and it’s so much fun for them.”
, DataTimes MEMO: Valley Snapshots is a regular Valley Voice feature that visits gatherings in the Valley. If you know of a good subject for this column, please call editor Mike Schmeltzer at 927-2170.