Tracy Press

Nearly a hundred youth teams will pour into town over Memorial Day weekend for Tracy Futbol Club's inaugural tournament.

Tracy Futbol Club’s inaugural “Orange Bowl” was supposed to be a modest event.

The club decided last fall to host an tournament for about 20 or 30 teams over Memorial Day weekend at the Tracy Sports Complex. Once planning started in earnest, they figured it could grow to 30 or 40 teams from the U.S. Soccer Club’s regional affiliate, NorCal Premiere Soccer.

About the time the 120th team applied to participate, club president and vice president Harry Bourassa and Jeff Hoffman began to wonder if they were prepared for the onslaught of soccer players, families and fans who will arrive in Tracy on Friday.

“We decided to go for it all the way,” Hoffman said. “I don’t think I’ve slept since November.”

They’re busy enough, with only a week to go before about 5,000 people, by their estimate, arrive for a full weekend of games at the Tracy Sports Complex and Plasencia Fields.

The upside is that local restaurants and hotels will get lots of business, but they also expect traffic delays and parking issues in the area of 11th Street west of Corral Hollow Road.

It could have been bigger. After organizers figured in the game-playing capacity of eight fields at the two parks, and two full days of play in addition to Friday night, they limited participation to 90 teams.

Hoffman and Bourassa expect their tournament will be the biggest soccer event to come to Tracy, and they hope teams from around Northern California will look forward to future Orange Bowls in Tracy.

“It will be some of the best soccer ever played in our area,” Hoffman said, pointing out that U.S. Club Soccer, the parent organization for Tracy Futbol Club, has made it a gold-ranked tournament.

Bourassa said some of the local club’s 15 boys and girls teams in the under-9 through under-16 divisions could do well at the event, but they would have to beat some of the top teams in U.S. Club Soccer’s NorCal Premiere league to gain the top tournament honors.

Regardless of how local teams do, he said, the tournament will showcase the city’s soccer fields.

Tracy Futbol Club is about 2½ years old with about 300 players and has grown along with U.S. Club Soccer.

Hoffman and Bourassa said part of the inspiration for the club was seeing the city’s new sports complex, finished in 2002, and the restored turf at Plasencia Fields.

“They’ve given us an avenue, where with average fields, we wouldn’t be here,” Bourassa said.

The Friday games involving the local teams will be among the first youth soccer games in Northern California to be played at night under the lights.

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written by JV #21 U16 , May 22, 2008

We Boutta Win This Babbeee!!!!!!