Men's soccer tournament kicks off Saturday

BY LAUREL MYERS

The Caruso Club will be hosting its 17th annual Senior Men's Soccer Tournament this weekend.

Action will kick off Saturday, with playoffs being held Monday, at the Jim Jerome sports complex. 12 teams from across Ontario, including four from Sudbury, will compete for the championship trophy at one of the two largest soccer tournaments in Sudbury - the other is the Panhellenic Tournament, which had the fields buzzing last weekend.

Nicola Nero, chair of the tournament committee, has been with the tournament since it began almost two decades ago. He admitted the tournament hasn't changed much over the years.

"The competition is pretty stable," he said. "It's always been good competition."

He explained there is a perception that soccer in Sudbury is not as good as it is down south.

"We've always had a couple of teams from the North in the top four for many years," Nero said. "Last year a team from the Sault won it. Our teams are right up there. "Most of the teams that have been up here know that there is good soccer here."

Pat Micelotta played in the tournament numerous times, including the inaugural year. After coaching youth soccer for a number of years, Micelotta recently returned to men's soccer as a coach and joined the tournament committee as the secretary.

"The tournament was quite competitive and sometimes it was a war of attrition," he said. "Those were the winners at the end that could finish off that last game, physically."

As a new coach in the league, Micelotta said he is looking forward to seeing the talent.

"There's a lot of experienced university players plus seasoned men playing the game," he said.

"The whole idea of playing in a competitive tournament, especially the local teams, is to measure up where you are compared to the better teams, and look at what you have to improve on," he continued. "You have an opportunity to talk to different coaches, get an idea of how they coach and bring that back."

The community is invited to come out to the games and join the teams back at the Caruso Club, Nero said.