DATE: Saturday, October 11, 1997            TAG: 9710110516

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY KENNAN NEWBOLD, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   36 lines

350 TEAMS FROM 16 STATES ENTER BEACH SOCCER EVENT

Few sports in South Hampton Roads will be as visible as soccer this weekend when about 25,000 players, coaches, officials and spectators converge for the 14th annual Virginia Beach Columbus Day Soccer Tournament.

It's the largest under-10 through under-19 boys soccer tournament on the East Coast, attracting 350 teams from 16 states and Canada.

The new Virginia Beach Soccer Complex is serving as the headquarters for the two-day tournament, which begins today and ends Sunday. Matches will be played on 48 soccer fields, including some at Red Wing Park, Lake Taylor High School in Norfolk and Tidewater Community College in Chesapeake.

In the past, the tournament was spread out over 10 local sites. But with the addition of the soccer complex, the tournament will be played at only five sites.

Games begin daily at 8 a.m., with the last game scheduled to start at 5:15 p.m. By Sunday night, champions will have been crowned in 33 divisions.

The tournament, which gets a little bigger each year, has added five teams to the 1997 roster. Tournament director Karen Knott said it has become so large and competitive that it may soon become more of an invitational tournament.

``We're trying to improve the quality instead of the quantity,'' Knott said. ``It's always been premier teams and Division One teams that have participated. But now since we have the complex and the good fields, we can be even more selective.''

The public also is invited to attend a sculpture dedication at 12:30 p.m. Sunday at the soccer complex. The sculpture was created in memory of varsity and Beach FC soccer players Matthew Fidler and Ryan Smith, who died in a scuba diving accident in 1994. It will be set in a memorial garden near Field No. 6, which has been named in their honor.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu