By Darcy MacRae
Sudbury soccer fans are in for a treat this weekend. The 11th Annual Caruso Club International Soccer Tournament will run all weekend, from Saturday to Monday with 16 teams vying for $6,000 in prize money.
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Michael Dowling, chair of tournament operations, expects to see crowds of 2,000 to 3,000 at several of the tournament games.
The roar from such a large gathering of Sudburians will help the four local senior menÂ?s teams (Sudbury Panhellenic, Sudbury Italia Flyers Â?AÂ?, Sudbury Italia Flyers Â?BÂ?, and S.C. Italia) in their quest to claim the championship, he says.
Â?It certainly makes the local teams play better. It seems they get the incentive to do well with the big crowds watching them, and they always do well,Â? says Dowling. Â?The four of them all reached the quarter finals last year and were beaten in overtime.Â?
Dowling has been involved with the Caruso Club International Soccer Tournament since it originated in 1991. He says the calibre of play in the tournament is always high, which is one of the reasons the event is such a success.
Â?We get top quality teams up here for the tournament. We try to make everybody welcome when they get here, and of course, the $6,000 in prize money helps the cause, says Dowling. Â?The feedback we get from the out of town teams is that it is a very well run tournament.Â?
The weekend's competition will use a World Cup format, with each team playing three games in the opening round. The top two squads in each of the four groups will move on to the quarter finals, with the winners facing off in the semis and eventually MondayÂ?s final.
The tournament champion will receive $2,800, with the second-place finisher taking home $1,500. Third and fourth place teams receive $1,000 and $700 respectively.
Dowling lists four teams as the early favourites to reach the semi-finals, including last yearÂ?s champions, Oakville Alfield United.
Teams to watch are Oakville, St. Thomas and Inter Oshawa. Hamilton Michelangelo will be coming up for the first time, so theyÂ?re going to be one of the top rated teams, predicts Dowling.
Â?ThereÂ?s going to be fight between four or fives teams for the championship.
Sports chair of the Caruso Club John Cimino says the event fuels the cityÂ?s desire for soccer, and is certain it has something to do with the popularity of the sport in Sudbury.
Â?This is very important to us. ItÂ?s a good avenue to push the sport. Soccer is very popular in Sudbury, a lot of kids here already play it. What this does is reinforce that popularity, and show the quality of soccer we can have in Sudbury,Â? says Cimino.
The tournament will start tomorrow (Saturday) at 9 am when Sudbury Panhellenic takes on Oakville Alfield United. The competition will come to a close on Monday at 3 pm with the championship game. All games will be played at the Lilly Creek Soccer Fields. Admission is free for all of the games.
Teams participating in this yearÂ?s tournament are as follows.
Group A: Oakville Alfield United; Sudbury Panhellenic; Ottawa St. AnthonyÂ?s; and Whitby Iroquois.
Group B: Inter Oshawa; Sudbury Italia Flyers Â?AÂ?; Hamilton Michelangelo; and Dundas United.
Group C: Peterborough City; Sudbury Italia Flyers Â?BÂ?; Montreal F.C. Levski; and North Bay Davedi Eurostars.
Group D: St. Thomas Andrews Sports; S.C. Italia (Sudbury); Queens Park Rangers (Toronto); and Barrie Spirit.
