By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Brownsville Sports Park will be a busy place for high school soccer activity during the next three days as the annual Brownsville ISD boys and girls tournaments get under way.
The tournaments begin at 9 a.m. today and runs through Saturday.
The 34th annual BISD boys tournament will feature 32 teams divided into two brackets, with the overall champion to be determined at noon Saturday when the two bracket winners square off on BSP’s artificial turf field. The 17th annual BISD girls tournament has attracted 28 teams for pool play during the first two days. The top two finishers in each of four groups after pool play is completed will advance to Saturday’s 9 a.m. Gold Division quarterfinals. The championship of the girls event is scheduled at 12:30 p.m. Saturday on Field 1 at BSP.
It figures to be a hectic three days of soccer with a combined 163 games scheduled during the two tournaments.
Mother Nature appears willing to cooperate and provide favorable playing conditions for the multitude of boys and girls teams coming to BSP from across South Texas, including squads from the Rio Grande Valley, Laredo and elsewhere.
“Nice weather and soccer usually don’t go hand in hand, but I hope God will bless us this weekend,” said Lopez coach Amadeo Escandon, the boys tournament director.
When asked what he hopes his team can accomplish at the tournament, Escandon said, “We are trying to fill in a few gaps (in our lineup) and fix a few minor problems. This tournament should give us the opportunity to do that.”
Boys teams participating in the tournament that are ranked in this week’s RGVSports.com top 10 include No. 1 Porter, No. 3 Hanna, No. 5 La Joya Juarez-Lincoln, No. 6 Brownsville Veterans Memorial, No. 8 Lopez, No. 9 McAllen High and No. 10 St. Joseph Academy.
The undefeated Bloodhounds (7-0) are hoping to make some noise this year. It’s their third season to participate in the BISD event.
“We’re really excited (about the tournament),” said Jose Kauachi, a senior attacking midfielder for SJA. “It used to be that we just wanted to do well (if possible), and now we’re looking forward to advancing in it and maybe even winning it.”
One year ago, Porter and Rivera were bracket champions. The scheduled overall championship match on the final day between the Cowboys and Raiders was canceled, leaving Brownsville with two tournament winners for the boys.
Pace coach Jesus O. Villarreal is the girls tournament director.
“I’m more than sure that the competitive level has increased dramatically across the board since the first BISD Tournament was established (for the girls in 2000),” Villarreal said. “Many teams have used this tournament to polish up any strategies and/or players before district begins. We hope that’s also the case this year, and we want to wish all participants the best of luck. Our goal is to create a soccer tournament that fosters competitive games, fair play and good sportsmanship.
“It seems that the weather should be OK, and we hope that it stays that way in order to carry on with our original plan (for a well-played tournament),” he added. “I want to thank the Brownsville coaches for helping out in this endeavor.”
Participating girls teams that are ranked this week by RGVSports.com include No. 4 Lopez, No. 5 McHi, No. 6 Los Fresnos, No. 8 Edinburg Economedes and No. 10 Hanna.
The Los Fresnos Lady Falcons are defending tournament champions. In last year’s final they defeated Economedes 6-0.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.