(Spirit Lake)-The U of O Soccer Classic will be held at the Bedell Family YMCA this weekend. KUOO’s Becky Thoreson has details:
The annual University of Okoboji Youth Soccer Tournament will be held Saturday and Sunday.
Local Coordinator Matt Richter says, the tournament is now in its 46th year. “The founders of the tournament, they came to a young lad by the name of Herman Richter back in the day and said, Herman, we’d like to have a soccer tournament. You know Herman, positive attitude. Let’s go, let’s do it! So, sure enough, here we are 46 years later . We have 64 teams in the tournament, 1150 kids, and we’re even to the point now, we’ve been doing this long enough, that when they do that opening ceremony, some of those under 12 teams, grandma and grandpa actually played in this tournament 46 years ago. So, it’s really a fun family event and we’re excited to have them back in the Iowa Great Lakes.”
He adds that there’s no admission charge to watch the action. “We need to give a huge thank you to The Bedell Family YMCA. Andrew Fisher, his entire team. This tournament would not be possible without the help of the Y, utilizing 7 fields. The Parade of Teams is going to be Saturday morning at 7:45, and the fun part is, it’s free to the public. If you like watching soccer, swing by the Y this weekend, check it out and cheer these kids on.”
Play is scheduled for all day Saturday and Sunday at The Bedell Family YMCA in Spirit Lake.
