Making trip worth it whether getting money from fundraisers or

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Jun 29, 2003 by TIM BERGSTEN

Coach Nour Aboussir's team from Wayzata, Minn., may not win the girls under-16 championship at the 178-team Pikes Peak Invitational soccer tournament this week at the Air Force Academy.

But somebody should give that man a medal for courage.

He traveled 900 miles by bus, surrounded by teenage girls and quite a few of their mothers.

"The bus driver and I were the only guys on the bus," Aboussir said. "We supported each other for two days. It'll be that way for two days going back."

His girls team was one of many out-of-state clubs playing in the tournament. To organize such a trip and bring a group of girls so far for four games in a new place takes a sense of adventure.

"Doing this with 16-year-old girls is a challenge," Aboussir said.

In January his team made the decision to play for the first time in the Pikes Peak Invitational. From that point, the kids on the team went to work making money - they bagged groceries and sold merchandise with the club logo printed on it.

The teams come up with creative ideas to raise road-trip money.

Angie D'Amore aided an under-12 girls team from the Dallas area. A soccer mom, she helped the team fund the trip by working at Sonic Drive-In. But she insists she didn't wear roller skates.

"No, no, I wasn't going to do that," she said.

The Texas team, which voted to attend the Pikes Peak Invitational over tournaments in San Diego and Minnesota, also washed cars and sold candles and cookie dough.

Not all of the teams raised money. The parents for the Blue Valley Stars Gold from Kansas City sprung for the trip.

"We're all digging deep," said Ann Fuller, whose daughter Emily plays on the team. "But it's not that bad because almost everybody made a family vacation out of it. There is so much to do here."

A team from Wichita, Kan., enlisted the help of the local bingo parlor and managed to raise about $400 per player to help offset costs. Nearly all of the parents made the trip.

"Bingo worked pretty well for us," said Ann Ragan, soccer mom.

The tournament is a challenge for out-of-state teams and parents who have to arrange for time off, make travel and lodging plans, then get to the field for four games over four days.

"Keeping their focus for a whole week is difficult," Fuller said. "The girls are tired, they don't sleep well in a hotel bed, we eat in restaurants every day. You're kind of just hanging on for a whole week."

And the altitude, more than 7,000 feet at the soccer fields, is a challenge for the out-of-state teams, most of which come from near sea level.

"It was a huge factor our first game," Aboussir said. "For the first 15 minutes we looked good, then they really started dragging. But the second game was better and by the third game we were fine."

With dozens of soccer tournaments being held across the United States throughout the summer, it would seem easier to stay closer to home. But Fuller said the effort is worth it.

"We do it because the girls all love it," Fuller said.

"The opportunity to play against different teams is worth it. We go to Des Moines and Oklahoma City, but we usually end up playing the same teams. If we come here, the kids don't come with preconceived notions of, 'they always beat us,' or 'we always beat them.' "

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0260 or tbergsten@gazette.com

PIKES PEAK INVITATIONAL

When: Today, finals start at 10 a.m.

Where: Air Force Academy soccer fields, enter through north gate

Admission: Free