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.