From the Newsroom -- Tony Dodero
Pssst, hey kids. Make sure you don’t make any plans between May 29 and
June 2.
Because over those five days, Newport-Mesa school children between
third- and sixth-grade will again be running and kicking and bouncing
about several Costa Mesa fields for the right to claim the Daily Pilot
Cup soccer championship.
This will be the third installation of the Pilot Cup, a resurrection
of the old Lions Cup tourney that used to coincide with the Fish Fry.
For $5 per child, the goal is to get a team from each district school
and from each private school as possible. The event is set to take place
this year at the fields of Davis Education Center and Costa Mesa High
School, TeWinkle Park and the Farm Soccer Complex, where the championship
game will be held on Sunday, June 2.
Really, this should be called the Kirk McIntosh Cup because it is only
thanks to this local attorney, who has a love for soccer, that the Pilot
Cup survives while the onetime mighty Fish Fry has sizzled to a slow
burn.
It was McIntosh, a soccer player himself who has coached his five
daughters in soccer and led last year’s girls Kaiser team, who approached
the newspaper editors a few years ago to kick off the idea.
They agreed to help with the backing and since then the tourney has
garnered more support from Costa Mesa’s Youth Services department and
others.
The whole thing seems to have become larger than life with local
children waiting eagerly for the Pilot Cup to come around.
Last year’s tourney alone drew 71 teams and more than 1,000 kids, and
McIntosh predicts this year the numbers will eclipse that.
“Every school that I talked to last year said they all had a great
time,” McIntosh said.
And while McIntosh said the Corona del Mar schools are girding for
this year’s battle, some of the schools on the Westside of Costa Mesa
still need some pushing to get involved. Also, McIntosh needs coaches and
other volunteers who can help make the Pilot Cup a success.
So, hopefully this message gets out to the parents and teachers at
these Westside elementary schools -- California, College Park,
Killybrooke, Sonora, Pomona and Whittier -- that still haven’t firmed up
plans to take part in the event.
Over the coming weeks, look for announcements in the Daily Pilot on
how to take part in the event. Or just call McIntosh at (949) 650-2827.
As I said last year, a guy like me has a hard time understanding how
soccer can surpass in popularity my personal favorite sports like
football, baseball and basketball.
Of course, I’m still a guy who snow skis instead of snowboards,
listens to Neil Young instead of N’Sync and still eats filet mignon while
the rest of the world turns vegetarian.
Yeah, I don’t catch on to trends very fast.
But I’ll tell you this, the Pilot Cup is no trend and, with McIntosh
in charge, it’s here to stay for many years to come.
* TONY DODERO is the editor. His column appears on Mondays. If you
have story ideas or concerns about news coverage, please send messages
either via e-mail to o7 tony.dodero@latimes.comf7 or by phone at (949)
574-4258.
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