Super soccer weekend

COEUR d'ALENE - When Barb Patton got involved in the Bill Eisenwinter Hot Shot Tournament some 10 years ago, the tournament attracted 87 teams.

In 2008, the tourney had ballooned to a record 192 teams. This year, with the economy down and some Montana teams unable to come because of a soccer event in their state, 151 teams are entered.

But the Hot Shot tournament, which begins today and runs through Sunday and is in its 20th year, remains as wildly popular as ever.

"We have to turn away teams," said Patton, who started off as a volunteer parent doing field marshaling duties, even took a turn as tournament director and is now the registrar for the Coeur d'Alene Sting soccer club, which puts on the tournament.

A handful of games are scheduled for tonight, mostly involving area teams. Most teams begin play on Saturday. Championship games are scheduled for Sunday.

The tournament includes 23 teams from the Sting, 11 from the Post Falls-based Idaho Thunder, and seven from the Lakeland Nighthawks. Also, there are 34 teams entered from Canada, as well as teams from Washington and Montana, and a handful from the Boise area.

"The biggest challenge is field location," said Rob Rollins, Sting club president and this year's tournament director. "We are spread all over. We have six different locations. The big challenge is to make sure each location is running efficiently."

Boys divisions include under-10, U11, U12, U13, U14, U15/16 and U17/19.

Girls divisions include U10/11, U11, U12, U13, U14, U15, U16 and U17/19.

Games are scheduled for Hayden Meadows Elementary (seven fields), Canfield Middle School (four), Coeur d'Alene High (two), Lake City High (three), North Idaho College (one) and Skyway Elementary (three).

The Canfield Soccer Complex serves as tournament headquarters.

The tournament was bumped up one week this year to give teams more time to recover prior to the Idaho State Cup. This year, the State Cup is May 20-22 in Boise for the U18 and U19 divisions, and May 27-30 in Twin Falls for the U13 through U17 divisions.

Coeur d'Alene has hosted State Cup in the past, and bid on it this year. However, Twin Falls landed the tourney for the first time. Patton said having one complex with many fields helps in landing a State Cup. The Boise area has at least two large soccer complexes, and Twin Falls recently built the 15-field Sunway Soccer Complex.

While Patton and Rollins are both grateful for local schools offering their fields for the Hot Shot and State Cup tournaments, "it is a drawback for us" to not have a large soccer complex, Patton said.

A core of about 15 volunteers runs the Hot Shot Tournament, said Patton, who added that parents of all 400 or so Sting players in the tournament are asked to help out in some fashion.

The Hot Shot Tournament was renamed in 2004 to honor Eisenwinter, longtime Sting and area high school soccer coach, who died in a car accident in 2003.

Schedules and other tournament information can be found at the Sting's website, www.cdasting.com.