Start the new year off with a kick

For some people, the best way to ring in the New Year will be sitting at home, watching Dick Clark do his thing at Times Square. For others, it will be heading to the Orange County Fairgrounds for its New Year’s Eve celebration.

But for soccer fans locally, the way to do it will be on the pitch.

The 20th Costa Mesa Classic, sponsored by AYSO Region 120, opens Friday at five sites around Costa Mesa. The tournament runs through New Year’s Day

All told, 115 teams are entered in this year’s tourney, featuring boys’ and girls’ teams in the Under-10, Under-12 and Under-14 brackets.

The action will take place at Balearic Center, TeWinkle Middle School, Costa Mesa High, the Farm Complex and Davis Elementary School.

And the best part is, the last game on New Year’s Eve starts at 5:15 p.m. so there’ll be plenty of time to get home and warm up to do all those other New Year’s Eve celebrations.

* High school girls’ basketball, Sage Hill vs. Hamilton at Garden Grove Christmas Tournament, 4:30 p.m. today: It won’t take long for Sage Hill to get back into the basketball spirit, with a potentially tough game at the Garden Grove Christmas Tournament. The Lightning face a Hamilton team that was ranked No. 15 in Division IV-A last season. One advantage is that the Bobcats will be making a long road trip from Riverside County for this game.

* High school girls’ basketball, Estancia vs. San Ramon Valley at Costa Mesa Winter Classic, 6:20 p.m. Tuesday: The Eagles did well to snap their four-game losing streak before Christmas. But now they get to face San Ramon Valley in the first round of the Winter Classic. The Wolves lost in the finals of last year’s tournament and is 7-2 to open this season.

* College basketball, Surf City Classic, Vanguard University, Thursday-Saturday: Depending on who you ask, Surf City is in Huntington Beach, Santa Cruz or somewhere in New Jersey. Well, starting Thursday, it’s in Costa Mesa. At least, that’s what the organizers of this three-day tourney want you to believe. The host Lions will be in action in the men’s and women’s fields, getting in some final nonconference games before the Golden State Athletic Conference really gets going.

* High school girls’ water polo, Newport Harbor-Corona del Mar Holiday Cup, Thursday-Friday: It’s no stretch to say this tournament is loaded. Of the 14 Southern Section teams entered, 10 are ranked. And the two San Diego Section teams -- Poway and Carlsbad -- played for the section Division I title last year. Santa Margarita and Foothill are the top seeds in their brackets, with Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar as No. 2 seeds.

* College football, Sun Bowl, 11 a.m. Friday: El Paso is not Pasadena, Atlanta, Phoenix or any of the other spots that host Bowl Championship Series games.

It is, however, a nice way to finish the year for Newport Harbor High grad Robert Chai, who’ll make his fifth start of the year at center for UCLA. The Bruins face Northwestern in this game, televised nationally on CBS.