FROM THE NEWSROOM:Volunteers needed for Pilot Cup

I do a lot of shameless self-promoting of our paper, and right now, I’m going to do a little more. But this time, it’s for a good cause — the seventh annual Daily Pilot Cup soccer tourney.

The Pilot Cup, in case you didn’t know, is a six-day event now with some 2,000 children from just about every public and private school in Newport-Mesa playing.

If you’ve never participated, put these dates on your calendar — Tuesday, May 29 through Sunday, June 3 — and get out to the Costa Mesa Farm Complex for an experience you aren’t likely to forget.

The tournament is made up of third- through sixth-grade boys and girls. This year, we will have more sponsorship than ever before. The sponsors so far include the city of Costa Mesa, Newport-Mesa Unified School District, Newport Mesa Soccer Assn., Newport Orthopedics, C.J. Segerstrom and Sons, and now Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian.

As I said, just about every school is represented in the Pilot Cup. And it’s that “just about” part that I want to discuss with you today.

Every year, the tournament director, Kirk McIntosh, does his very best to get the word out to all the schools. And every year, some schools just don’t participate.

Unfortunately, some of the schools that don’t have representation are those on the lower-income Westside of Costa Mesa.

The irony here is that many of those schools are populated with Latino students, who have a deep cultural identity and affinity with the game of soccer. But those same students also don’t have the means or money to participate — or worse, they lack an adult who will volunteer to coach their team.

So we’re looking for volunteers. As the news pages of the Daily Pilot and our online reader comment boards can attest, there is a lot of interest in improving Costa Mesa, in particular the Westside. Here’s a chance to become part of that improvement. Help lead a soccer team at Pomona or Whittier or Wilson.

It’s a chance to become a great role model for many young, impressionable children, have fun doing it and maybe win a soccer match or two.

If you are interested in being a school liaison or coach, e-mail me or contact McIntosh via e-mail at lawofficesofkm@ sbcglobal.net, or go to the website of the Newport Mesa Soccer Assn. at www.newportmesasoccer.com

For more information about the Pilot Cup signups, click on:

https://www.dailypilot.com/content/display_ads/pilotcupflier.pdf