More Photos From the Final Day

Pretty good turnout to watch U19 Boys Final between Eastside FC (Oregon) and Sereno (AZ)

A great contest between two great teams.  Defending National Champs Eastside FC (Oregon) v. Sereno (AZ)  Sereno claimed the regional crown this year.  Now they face the test of whether they can win the national title--at home.  US Youth Soccer Nationals will be played in Phoenix next month. 

The dance of competition!

Mustang parents (CA-N) admiring their championship team.

Coach outlines the training schedule as they prepare for Nationals. 

FC Nova Fans

FC Nova U19 G drew a Far West Regionals record crowd for their final game against Real Colorado.  Nova lost a heartbreaker for the hometown fans having a 3-2 lead until the last five minutes.  Real won 5-3.  

Photos From the Week

The finals are in the books, but here are photos of volunteers, spectators and some field action (hard to do with a tiny backpacking camera, but we try!)   Check it out.

A good audience turned out to watch FC Nova's U12 Girls in their first-ever  Far West Regionals appearance.  It's nice to be the home town team.    

This one's admittedly fuzzy, but we liked the air, the hair and the shades and just HAD to post it.  Soccer players are fun to watch and have a certain flair.

Other teams, local fans and other Rush teams came to watch the U17 Idaho Rush boys.  

Colorado Rush Girls provided noise for their Idaho Rush Brothers. 

MVLA Foothill U15G in blue. 

Wave of The Future?

The most eye-catching uniforms of the week clearly belonged to SoCal Blues (top three photos) and FC Nova (in the pink.)  Neon colors the cameras can't quite duplicate brightened the pitch.  The pink, by the way, is worn by the Nova players to raise awareness of efforts to fight breast cancer.  Nova coaches report that some of the boys teams want to wear the pink.  And the girls say that would be one way to impress them!  

Yes, You Read That Correctly

Visitors to the Simplot Sports Complex chuckled at a sign the locals have learned to take for granted.

Then again, those of us who've lived around Idaho long enough, can remember when the area around the sports complex was a lot of scrub sage and horses & llamas weren't altogether that out-of-the question.  We love some of the local quirks still in existence.

Video Action

Don't forget that US Youth Soccer has video highlights of each day on its website.  Don't forget to thank the videographer who shoots and edits this every day.   You can search out all Region IV videos or even catch a look at the upcoming competitors from other regions.

Blogger in Denial

We have a whole slew of new photos to put up for you, but Blogger, for some weird reason, is refusing to put them into the blog.  Working on it.

So-Cal Suburban Kickers to Idaho Mountain Men

Wandering around Ann Morrison park brought us to a practice by the Irvine Soccer Academy U18 Boys team.  In order to cut costs, this team is camping near Idaho City.  That's in the mountains about 20-30 miles east of Boise at an altitude of 3907 feet.  There may be some methodology that makes sense here.  Serious mountain climbers have a saying for adjusting to altitude:  "Climb high.  Sleep low."  That means climbers go about a thousand feet above their camp and then hike back down to where they will sleep each night.  This, apparently, helps climbers adjust to extreme altitude.  Boise is by no means at an extreme altitude (2730 feet), but coaches from sea-level cities are wondering whether altitude will be a factor for their players.  It's a cost-saving measure, but it can't hurt these hardy SoCal players have to rough it in the mountains, braving rain, cold and altitude.  No question these guys are tough.  Welcome, Irvine Soccer Academy U18Boys.

UPDATE:  The Boise Family YMCA has graciously stepped up to provide showers for the Irvine Soccer Academy players.  

Last-Minutes Tweaks

We caught a few teams working out at Ann Morrison Park yesterday getting Regionals Ready.  Here are a few photos of the del Sol U18 Girls from Phoenix, Arizona.  Welcome, del Sol!

Tournament Ready!

Mass Planning

Planning for a US Youth Soccer Championship Series tournament takes more than a year of planning.  A staggering list of details and logistics demand attention so that 232 teams (nearly 4-thousand players) can compete seamlessly on 21 fields.  US Youth Soccer estimates that players, volunteers, coaches, referees, vendors and soccer families in Boise this week will total about 20-thousand people!

US Youth Soccer reps meet with IYSA staff and officers planning the biggest gathering of elite youth soccer players in the west.  How many Region IV champions will move on to claim a national title?

The fleet of more than 50 golf carts needed to move people around the 21 fields.  

Two utility carts.....

Fitting that one of the utility carts is painted in BSU Bronco colors! 

Details, details.  IYSA even had to plan for 46 portable toilets to be delivered to the fields.

Tent space for T-shirts, college coaches....

..a place for injured players (we hope it won't be needed, but there are, after all, nearly 4-thousand players in action tomorrow.  

Sun or rain shelter for field marshalls 

Already dubbed "the referee palace."  Well, there are a lot of them.  

Beautiful fields set against a backdrop of the Boise Foothills.  Green aided by Mother Nature....

...and the Boise City Department of Parks and Recreation.  Beautiful job, everyone!

Water stations, courtesy of US Youth Soccer. 

Flags representing every Region IV state.  Thirteen states, but California gets to count as two states with its population.  CA teams are representing as CA-N and CA-S.  (Fourteen "states" ??)   Hawaiian teams get to claim distance traveled.

Western goodwill, courtesy of New Mexico Youth Soccer Association Executive Director , Jim Tilley, who showed up early to help.  Say hello to Jim when you see him on the fields this week.  He's a good friend to IYSA. 

About 4000 goody bags with small gifts and coupons from local businesses.  Gathered by Sam Sandmire and Pam Draper.  Thanks to Boise Nationals U15 Boys & parents for helping stuff the bags.  Distribution...thanks to FC Nova, Real Nampa parents for jumping in to help. 

And thanks to Kohl's for the bags! 

It is a logistics and detail list guaranteed to send most of us racing to a dark corner.  IYSA's secret weapon is Shelly Adlard, who has carried lists, spreadsheets and minutiae around with her for more than a year checking and double-checking.  On the list, things like: 100 trash cans, 50 recycle bins, 325 referees and making sure they are fed.  Her admirers are calling her The CEO and she is really pretty calm just before the curtain goes up. 

Our CEO, Shelly Adlard, giving guidance to the field maintenance bosses.  Shelly is a bit hard to pin down with a camera, but there are determined photographers to get the job done.  When you see Shelly this week, say hello and thank her for a tremendous effort.  

And welcome, welcome, welcome.  Take the time to explore our beautiful community.  The locals are very friendly and will answer questions and help you find your way around.