Kids get a kick out of regional soccer tournament

The former players at North Carroll High School were simply excited to have the chance to play together again at the 5-on-5 event, even if their odd-colored, homemade jerseys had funny pirate ships on them.

“It’s about 7 or 8 of us, and we haven’t played together since we graduated,” Riley, a 19-year-old sophomore at Virginia Tech, said.  “We thought, “Let’s get together, why not?’ It’s guys I played with for almost four years. It’s a lot of small, quick games and they keep things moving.”

For Nick’s mother, Pam, a Hampstead resident, it was fun to cheer on her son one more time on Friday night.

“He hasn’t played for awhile,” Pam said. “It’s great to come out and see him play.”

The event, which was open to boys and girls squads, drew around 140 teams, about 40 more than last year.

The tournament, which is sponsored by The Examiner and had divisions for teams for each age group between under-6 and under-19, began play on Friday afternoon and continued all day Saturday. The teams played on about half-sized soccer fields and shot into slightly smaller goals. Admission to the event was free and included a family-oriented concert Friday night, a soccer clinic Saturday and autographs from team members from the Crystal Palace, Baltimore’s professional outdoor soccer team.

Brooke Shehade, 9, a student of Odenton Elementary, looked forward to playing with her teammates Saturday.

“I like soccer because you get to see your friends,” she said. “I like to score.”

Brooke’s older sister, Brittany, 17, also was playing in the tournament, as her mother, Bridget, and sister, Brandi, 12, cheered from the sideline. For the Shehades, it was their second year at the tournament, and the reason for making it an annual stop was simple for Bridget: “Brooke just has so much fun playing soccer.”

dcarey@baltimoreexaminer.com