More than 1,000 players turn out for indoor soccer

John Dodd became a soccer mom Saturday.

The Marshall County man fixed his daughter Brianna's hair before her two soccer games at Houck Stadium as part of the 11th annual Saint Francis Indoor Soccer Tournament.

"It's her first soccer tournament," he said.

Decked out in coordinated soccer accessories, Brianna, 8, only said, "It's really cool."

The pair left their Marshall County home Friday around 4 p.m. for two days of soccer in Cape Girardeau County. The trip takes about an hour and 45 minutes, so they stayed overnight at the Victorian Inn.

Victorian Inn had 55 rooms rented because of the tournament, followed by Drury Inn with 35 rooms and Pear Tree Inn with 13 rooms.

The tournament, being held at Houck Stadium, the Student Recreation Center and the Show Me Center, wraps up today.

"With 90 teams playing, each with 15 athletes, that's about 1,350 players involved who come from Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky," said Brad Gentry, Show Me Center marketing director. "Add siblings, moms and dads and the number doubles and even quadruples."

Gentry said a lot of the teams are repeats from last year.

"We start in September or October dropping off pamphlets at local tournaments and then following up with reminders," he said.

Players in the under-8 to under-18 age categories include girls and boys. Five games are played on six courts hourly.

Amy Woolsey traveled two and a half hours from Princeton, Ky., so her son, 10-year-old Cory, could play two games Saturday and one today. In the stands before the noon game Saturday, Woolsey sized up the team her son would later play.

"Our team's had no indoor practice and it's their first time playing on a basketball court," she said.

Her son's team wasn't the only one that hadn't played in a while. Steve Parsons of Cape Girardeau said his son Matthew's Jackson United team hasn't practiced since October.

"We have nowhere to practice indoors," he said.

But the tournament is about more than the game for 9-year-old Matthew.

"He's excited to see all the Jackson kids since we live in Cape," Parsons said.

cpagano@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 133