Pilot Cup will produce eight soccer champs

Something new, something old as the most popular sports endeavor in

the combined area of Costa Mesa and Newport Beach looms in early

June.

The first day of June seems a long ways from now, but for Kirk

McIntosh, the guru of the Daily Pilot Cup, which features third- and

fourth-grade boys and girls and fifth- and sixth-grade boys and girls

in a massive soccer tournament, the beads of sweat are already

forming.

“I need a representative from each school, a liaison, to contact

me,” said McIntosh the other day as he begins to sort out the

complexities of a tournament which encompasses some 1,800 youngsters.

Last year the field featured 96 teams.

Trying to maintain a sense of order when faced with these numbers,

even though he has a welcomed support from the Youth Services

Association in Costa Mesa, continues to be one of the big hang-ups.

“The goal is to get 100% participation,” said McIntosh, “even if

that means a school would have just one team entered in one of the

classifications.”

The mainstream is as solid as a rock. If you’re talking Mariners

Elementary or Mariners Christian, Rea or Andersen, Kaiser or Harbor

View or Our Lady Queen of Angels, there seems little need for

publicity leading up to the event. They’re rockin’ schools and seem

to have it in stone, as do many others.

But some, somehow, don’t always seem to get the word.

“This tournament has gotten so much publicity,” said McIntosh,

“and yet I get calls from schools even after the tournament has

started and they’re asking why they hadn’t heard about it.”

The Big Four McIntosh hopes to break up is the absence of

Killybrooke, Sonora, Paularino and College Park, elementary schools

which have yet to have a single entry in the first four years of the

tournament.

All that is required is for one person to act as a liaison for

each school to contact McIntosh at (949) 650-2827 and you’re home

free.

A big change in the format this year will be the emergence of a

gold and silver division for each group, which will mean eight

championship teams will be crowned, as opposed to four.

The tournament, which is a day longer to accommodate the schedule,

will be from June 1 to June 6 at the same sites, Costa Mesa High and

the adjacent Farm Complex.

Splitting the field will do a lot for better duels in the early

going, and on Sunday there will be four champions in the gold field

and four more in the silver division.

It is indeed this group of youngsters, basically ages 8 to 11 in

grades 3, 4, 5 and 6, where gold and silver divisions are very much

justified and welcomed.

The obstacles for McIntosh mirror last year’s scenario.

“We have to be better organized, especially in terms of ordering

the tournament T-shirts and getting them delivered, and in getting

referees,” said McIntosh, who believes the field may come close to

2,000 youngsters.

The entire tournament is done on a volunteer basis and when it

comes to volunteers, well, it can be a rotating thing. When the son

or daughter moves on to the seventh grade, mom and dad are going with

them.

So each year there is an obvious need to fill the holes.

In fact, the tournament director has a solid corps of volunteers

and supporters, but in terms of numbers, they simply need more help.

Dealing with 96 teams goes far beyond a liaison from each school.

I’ve watched a pattern develop over the past four years in this

tournament, which is open to all public and private schools in Costa

Mesa and Newport Beach city limits.

First, it’s McIntosh scrambling for help for a long time.

Secondly, a massive field of youngsters with many appreciative

parents.

Then the big finish with champions crowned.

And finally, McIntosh off to the side in prone or fetal position,

sort of like in a coma.

It seems to be a tried and true formula, and I’m not worried at

all.

But if you have a soccer star in your family, or just feel like

lending a hand for no reason at all, give McIntosh a call and see if

you can help.

*

Not much to report on the ongoing community college sports funding

dilemma, which has cut deeply into the schedules and has the

potential to do a great deal of further damage.

Perhaps something will surface in April, but it appears a great

deal will depend on the possible success of proposition 57, which

would borrow enough to keep things afloat. We’ll see.

*

Former Newport Harbor High basketball player Mark Keys (Class of

‘76) will be signing copies of his book “My Best Day ... Sports” at

Martha’s Bookstore on Balboa Island today, a two-hour endeavor

starting at 11 a.m.

It’s a rather unique concept and a one-of-a-kind item.

I have more on this, and on Mark Keys, but there’s not enough room

today. I’ll try to tackle Keys on a larger scale soon.

Hey! See you next Sunday!

* ROGER CARLSON is the former sports editor for the Daily Pilot.

His column appears on Sundays. He can be reached by e-mail at

rogeranddorothea@msn.com.