On November 8, Pasco High had its first soccer tournament hosted by the Girls High School Soccer team. It started at 4pm and went on to go until 8pm. Teams were allowed up to 10 members but it was a 5 vs. 5 format. The games lasted 20 minutes with 10-minute Halves and 3-minute break in between. The field was also split into four smaller fields so more games could go on at a time instead of just one.

Many people entered, mostly young men from which I assume are from Pasco High. There was also a team that was compiled of teachers and staff from Pasco High. It was definitely an entertaining competition with, from what I saw, friendly rivalry and exciting crowds. Ultimately the competition was won by an all-boys team that went by Juventus. They got a prize of first place custom bulldog medals, their picture is posted on the Pasco Soccer Instagram page.

The tournament took place at the Edgar brown stadium. The concession stand wasn’t open but there was a taco truck provided by @juanitos.grill on Instagram and as well as coffee and snacks from @kingscupcoffee. It definitely helped since it got cold pretty fast and pretty quick and allowed for the girls’ soccer team to get more for their fundraiser. There was also a fee it $10 per player in a team so about $50 from each team. A portion of the money earned for the taco truck and kings’ coffee also went to the fundraiser.

I was able to get the last-minute honor of becoming a referee. I wasn’t the best I still tried my best. It was a bit chaotic because there seemed to be a technical issue with the brackets so there was a lot of confusion. There were games that would start at different times and halfway through the event the duration time of the games changed because we wouldn’t have enough time to finish all games including the loser’s bracket. In the end, they did manage up to wrap everything nicely.

One highlight of the games would, I believe, be the students vs teachers’ game since so many people seemed to gather to watch those. Maybe it was because they had bigger goals but it seemed those games got more attention. The teachers team consisted of history teachers, gym teachers, and a few others. Two of the girls’ soccer coaches participated as well with the teachers and staff. Another noticeable incident is when a Kennewick High School player was suspected of playing. Apparently the only people allowed to play in this tournament were people from Pasco. There was a commotion which resulted in the pause of the game but ultimately went to continue on.

The coaches hope that they’ll put the money to good use next season for their girls’ soccer team. They also hope that they’ll continue to host these types of events for the community and school. It was an entertaining tournament which I think many will hope to continue and maybe it will get more attraction next year as it really brought a lot of students together in teamwork and rivalry.