Prescott Valley Tribune

Local youth soccer coach Craig Hacker didn’t know he would be pitted against himself in the finals of the 3v3 Live Soccer Tournament May 21 at the Snedigar Sports Complex in Chandler.

But that’s what happened after he split his Yavapai Soccer Under-12 team in half to enter the tourney, which allows just six players per team, and both squads made it to the title game.

The green squad handed the white squad its only loss of the tournament in the championship game, and both teams qualified for the 3v3.

“They have worked so hard in the past season earning them no less than third place in every tournament we entered this year,” said Hacker. “I am proud to be their coach.”

“That’s one happy coach and a bunch of happy kids,” said Yavapai spokesman John Sterling.

He said each squad played four games in one day in 100-degree heat. The fast game is played on a smaller field (40-feet long by 30-feet wide or about one-fourth the size of a regulation field) in 10-minute halves.

He added, “This particular group of boys has been playing together for about two years without any major additions or deletions from the roster. Both teams were unchallenged on the day scoring over 25 goals each. They beat teams from San Tan soccer club in Phoenix, The Tigers and local team Vardar.”

Sterling noted the very young U10 boys, playing in their first 3v3 tourney, improved every game.

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The Daily Courier

Don Prince, director of tourism for the City of Prescott, recalls taking his son, Chris, to Prescott from Scottsdale to participate in the Mile High Classic regional soccer tournament. Prince’s son is now an adult, but dad now takes in the tournament from a different perspective: soccer players and their families filling hotel rooms, tables and booths in restaurants and buying other merchandise and services.

“Mile High pretty much sells out all the hotels,” Prince said, referring to the tournament that the American Youth Soccer Organization sponsored from Friday through Sunday. Citing a study that the city’s Parks and Recreation Department conducted, he said Mile High drew 1,060 participants [70 teams] in 2010. He added the estimated direct spending amounted to $273,000 from visitors and $22,500 from participants from the tri-city area … Continue reading →

Press Release

John Sterling coach and former board member from Yavapai Soccer League has been elected Distirct 7 Commissioner by the Arizona Youth Soccer Association along with John Guillen of Flagstaff to represent youth soccer in the Northern Arizona area.

The Daily Courier

Youth soccer teams from Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico will kick up their heels at area fields starting Friday in the [seventh] Annual Yavapai Cup.

The event, which has grown from 112 teams to 144 this year, will be hosted by Yavapai Soccer.

“Part of the attraction is the weather,” Yavapai Soccer president Mary Sterling said. “It’s so hot in the Valley. And we have so many nice fields to play on up here thanks to the City of Prescott Valley.” Continue reading →

Prescott Valley Tribune

Former Bradshaw Mountain standout boys soccer player Oscar Irvin Juvera died in a swimming accident in Utah on Friday.

Juvera, 20, who was from Prescott Valley, was at the Sand Hollow Reservoir as part of a Dixie College of Utah-sponsored kayaking trip.

“On behalf of Dixie State College, we want to extend our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Oscar Juvera,” DSC President Dr. Stephen D. Nadauld said in the release. “Our hearts and prayers go out to his family and as a campus family, we join them in mourning his loss at this time.”

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Prescott Valley Tribune

Prescott Valley experienced its own British Invasion of sorts when Challenger Sports set up its British Soccer Camp June 28 through July 2 on the amphitheater soccer field.

With the Yavapai College soccer scoreboard looming from field’s edge, 85 aspiring soccer stars as young as 2 braved the heat to learn British-style “football” from five young coaches

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image copyright PV Tribune

image copyright PV Tribune

The Daily Courier

Youth soccer teams from as far away as Vancouver, Canada, and Colorado will descend on the tri-city area this Friday through Sunday for the annual Yavapai Cup.

Yavapai Soccer, an Arizona Youth Soccer Association (AYSA) member celebrating two decades in Prescott Valley this year, is playing host to the tournament.

Mary Sterling, YSL president, said that as of Sunday 111 teams of 7- to 18-year-old boys and girls from across Arizona as well as Colorado, New Mexico and Vancouver were registered for the event.

Ed Andert, who doubles as the 2010 Yavapai Cup’s director, said the clubs will bring an estimated 3,300-plus visitors and provide an economic impact of at least $1 million over the three-day weekend. Continue reading →

Prescott Valley Tribune

Hundreds of children ages 3 through 18 participate each fall in the Yavapai Soccer League’s 10-week recreation program.

But YSL also supports a half-dozen select competitive teams for a season that spans September through April. Two U11 (under 11) teams, one U13 team and one U16 team exist for boys, and a U12 and a U16 team for girls are forming. The league encompasses the Quad City area, and in fact, all of Yavapai County.

“Yavapai Soccer caters to every type of player from recreation to serious,” said new coaching director Philip Reid, who also is head boys’ soccer coach at Bradshaw Mountain High School. Continue reading →

The Daily Courier

If soccer’s your game, your weekend plans are set.

One week after AYSO hosted a 72-team tournament to close its season, the Yavapai Soccer League (YSL) ups the ante with a 94-team field for the Yavapai Cup. The event is expected to draw more than 1,400 players.

“The tournament has grown significantly this year so we’re pretty much managing it as best we can,” Tournament Director Ed Andert said Tuesday. “It got very popular this year … the popularity of the tournament has just mushroomed.”

… Click here to read the published article