Pikes Peak or bust for soccer enthusiasts

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Jul 22, 2004 by NICK WALTER THE GAZETTE

Carlos Suarez and his son Julio drove roughly 1,000 miles from Huntington Beach, Calif., to Colorado Springs for this week's Pikes Peak Invitational Soccer Tournament.

Expectations were high for Suarez and his Under-13 NHB Black squad.

It didn't take long for Suarez to make the 15-hour journey worthwhile Wednesday, as he netted the first goal in his team's 4-2 win over Rush Nike II, a team that took second place at the Colorado State Cup in Aurora in May.

"I was very excited," Carlos Suarez said. "Everybody was saying he was a hero, but I don't know."

Suarez was just one of 3,000 people from 17 states who traveled to watch or compete in the tournament at the Air Force Academy Soccer Complex, which has 21 soccer fields sunk into a wide range of mountains.

About 900 hotel rooms were booked for the tournament, which ends Sunday.

Other than the soccer, what makes the event such a getaway?

"I like the forest and the mountains," Carlos Suarez said. "I did not know about Colorado until I drove here."

Jeff Pearson, coach of the U-12 Power Soccer club which defeated the Salt Lake Scorpions 10-0, has been to the tournament seven times and has coached two champions.

He's from Riverside in southern California, where the air offers more to gag on.

"Here, it's like, 'Wow. You can see the mountains from far away,' " Pearson said. "I'm used to breathing muck. It's like Christmas soot. Here you can actually take a deep breath and feel good."

Pearson plans on taking his team to Garden of the Gods, Cave of the Winds, the Flying-W Ranch and, the most popular choice of non- locals, white-water rafting.

These attractions, along with local restaurants and hotels, receive a giant economic boost from the Invitational.

Co-director Marty Mankamyer would like the event to grow to 400 teams, the number it had 15 years ago.

She took a step forward in doing so when Pikes Peak merged with Rush, a soccer club in Denver, to form Colorado Rush Pikes Peak.

"They had such great coaches in their organization, and we wanted to be affiliated with them," Mankamyer said. "This gives players the opportunity to be exposed to toplevel coaching."

There are 64 in-state and 64 outof-state teams from ages 10 to 19. According to Mankamyer, the tournament is a non-profit fundraiser that pays coaches and referees and offers scholoships to players who otherwise could not afford to participate.

Gotsoccer.com ranked the Pikes Peak Invitational the 90th best tournament in the nation. The site ranks 637 tournaments.

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