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OPINIONS
EDITORIAL: Soccer tournament had great volunteer support
Mike DeMoss, of Huntington, directs traffic during the second day of pool play for the US Youth Soccer Region 1 Championships Saturday, July 4, 2009, at the Barboursville Soccer Complex.
Purchase this photoThey were not among the list of winners Tuesday, but no one deserves a medal more than the volunteers for 2009 US Youth Soccer Region 1 Championships.
From the opening ceremonies through the final rounds on Tuesday, hundreds of local residents shared their time and talents to stage the massive tournament, which involved 280 teams and an estimated 20,000 players, coaches and supporters coming from 13 different states.
Volunteers filled almost 1,000 shifts or slots over the course of the six-day event, and veteran soccer officials from other states repeatedly complimented local organizers on the effort.
The jobs included skilled posts such as the medical tents, where Mike McCarthy's team of 22 medical professionals handled every thing from bruises and cuts to more serious injuries. Former soccer players and coaches from around the state also showed up to help manage the fields and matches.
But hundreds of others gave their time to perform less celebrated tasks, such as maintenance, parking, transportation, water, cooking and ball retrieving. Hundreds also helped with the opening ceremony, parade and concessions.
Volunteer coordinator Kheng McGuire began working in the spring to fill all the slots, and by Tuesday, she had a waiting list. And some of those people were needed as well.
Many of the volunteers were soccer moms and dads, former players and others linked to the game. But many residents with no "soccer connections" also turned out to help.
"It has been amazing and I think the one thing the Region 1 people will come away from here with is that the volunteers are outstanding," said Bob Gray, the Marshall University men's head coach, who not only helped with the planning but also coached a team of local teens. "This community has really rallied, and, while I think they see the economic benefit, I think it's also more of a matter of pride in the area."
That sense of pride rose to another level Sunday, when a sustained rain forced matches from the Barboursville complex to locations at Marshall, South Point and Charleston. Many volunteers pulled extra shifts to help reshuffle the teams and officials to the new locations.
West Virginia Soccer Association President Len Rogers and other organizers of the tournament have much to be proud of this week, but at the top of list has to be the community support from business and institutional sponsors and a host of dedicated volunteers.
