80 teams to compete at Soccerfest

As athletes, coaches and fans from around the globe are preparing to travel to Germany for the World Cup, some Missourians are preparing for a soccer tournament of their own.

Soccerfest, a 3-on-3 tournament for athletes 7 to 17, takes place Saturday and Sunday on Stankowski Field. Bruce Ungles, assistant director of the Show-Me State Games, expects almost 1,000 people to attend.

“(There are) 400 participants, 100 to 125 coaches, and each kid usually brings one parent on average,” Ungles said.

Soccerfest takes place in June and November each year.

“November’s the big one,” Ungles said. “We had 160 (teams) last year. We have 80 (teams) this year (in the summer tournament). That’s up about 12 teams from a year ago.”

This is only the second Soccerfest to take place in the summer.

“We are always looking ahead for events and increased participation to get people active and involved,” Ungles said. “It’s another opportunity.”

The idea for Soccerfest came from KFRU, a Columbia AM radio station and Show-Me State Games sponsor.

“KFRU initially had a smaller event they were trying to get off the ground and get started,” Ungles said. “They came to us for help. We ended up just taking it over and running it ourselves. We just added the June tournament on our own.”

According to Ungles, the atmosphere of Soccerfest is generally friendly and fosters improved play.

“Most of them don’t play 3-on-3 ever, and it’s a good skills event,” Ungles said. “It teaches them a lot of passing, a lot of footwork and ballhandling. And being out there on Stankowski with the artificial turf, it’s fast.”

A large part of keeping competition positive rests on the shoulders of the referees. Michael Jackson, head referee assigner for the Central Missouri Soccer Referee Association, has been organizing the officiating for Soccerfest since its beginning and, as a result, provides insightful tips to his referees on how to work the tournament.

“For a lot of them, it’s their first time working a 3-on-3 tournament,” Jackson said. “We get together before the tournament even starts while we’re on Stankowski Field. I’ll instruct them on what mood to keep the players in and what’s important and what’s not important. We talk about the points of emphasis before the tournament starts.”

One thing Jackson suggests the referees watch is showing off.

“Surprisingly, this tournament is more about sportsmanship,” Jackson said. “If someone is hotdogging, it upsets the other team, and they take matters into their own hands. We talk about how to deal with things like hotdogging and running the score up. Things like that might be the biggest concern with a tournament like this.”