Pilot Cup to kick off in one month

TONY DODERO

I can’t believe the time is nigh, but one month from now, a couple

thousand soccer players will be screeching across the fields at The

Farm and Costa Mesa High School for the sixth annual Pilot Cup

tournament.

“Eventually we are going to cap out on teams,” said Kirk McIntosh,

the local attorney and director of the tournament, who has been doing

this labor of love from the start. “I think we are going to break the

record again this year as far as participation. Some schools like

Kaiser sent 10 teams to the tournament. Some schools that only sent

one team last year will be sending more this year. I would

guesstimate we’ll get over 2,000 kids.”

McIntosh said if the tournament gets too big in future years, it

may need to be spread over two weeks.

And judging by the response he gets, that may just be the case.

“They generally start calling by January,” he said in reference to

the kids who begin asking him at the first of the year when the

tournament is going to be held.

This year it will take place from May 31 to June 5, when the final

games will be played and the plaques awarded to the winners.

McIntosh said that every single school has been contacted and the

question now is: Will they all send a team?

“Our biggest obstacle in this tournament remains getting the

Westside schools involved,” he said. “The key is to get adults and

parents from those Westside schools to get involved in the

tournaments.”

And McIntosh is hoping that the tournament will get a dose of new

blood as far as the schools who have dominated the event in the past.

“The private schools dominate this thing now,” he said. “But I’d

love to see some diversity. I’d love to see some school like Davis do

well. They should do well in this; they have tons of kids.”

If you haven’t ever attended a Pilot Cup event, I suggest you

change that this year.

It’s a sight to behold as all the fields are covered with teams,

all day long on Saturday and Sunday, and it’s a competitive but

family-fun atmosphere.

We’re so excited about the Pilot Cup and it’s future around here

that we’ve partnered so far with the Newport-Mesa Unified School

District and the city of Costa Mesa.

We have other partnerships in the works, and we’ll announce those

soon. Last year, the UCI soccer team came out to give a soccer clinic

to the kids, and McIntosh is hoping the team will do the same this

year.

And as always, the event, which is largely put on by volunteers,

could use more volunteers, especially when it comes to chalking up

the fields. Those interested in volunteering -- or even vendors who

want to sell their goods at the tournament -- can contact me, and

I’ll forward the information to McIntosh.

Hope to hear from you soon.

* TONY DODERO is the editor. He may be reached at (714) 966-4608

or by e-mail at tony.dodero @latimes.com.