Soccer, everyone?

Welcome to the World Cup - North Idaho style.

You won't hear chants of "USA! USA!" competing with those annoying horns that droned relentlessly throughout the South African World Cup games. (In fact, anyone caught with a vuvuzela this weekend will have the instrument confiscated and be forced to play goalie during the next shootout.)

What you will hear are the joyous sounds of thousands of athletes competing and their fans imploring them to the heights of excellence.

The occasion is the Bill Eisenwinter Memorial Hot Shot Tournament, named after North Idaho's legendary soccer coach who was killed in a car accident on the way to a youth soccer tournament eight years ago. Eisenwinter may be gone, but the Coeur d'Alene Sting organization is keeping his memory fresh with this exciting tournament.

More than 150 teams are registered from Canada and throughout the Pacific Northwest, meaning 2,500-plus athletes and thousands more parents, coaches and other spectators will be packing our region's playing fields, hotels and restaurants.

This is a big deal. The last similar big deal, the Great Northwest Gym Fest, was lauded for bringing some 900 competitors and 47 teams - roughly a third of the personnel punch of this soccer tournament.

Mother Nature is being her typically unpredictable spring self, but those of us who reside here should do our all to ensure these visitors have a tremendous experience. Our economy is playing under a yellow card, so the thrill of a huge athletic event and the ringing of cash registers should be music to our ears.

Coming to a soccer field near you is a great diversion from yard work and paying bills.

Join us in welcoming to North Idaho some of the best young soccer players from hundreds of miles around. Just keep those vuvuzelas at home, please.