Over the summer (and winter!) we spend many weekends traveling around Southern California attending soccer tournaments. As always, all opinions are my own and based on personal experience unless otherwise noted. If you have reviews of your own, please add in the comments!
Name: Slammers Futbol Classic (hosted by Slammers FC)
Overall Impressions: Slammers Futbol Classic is a high level tournament attended by most of the top teams in Southern California. A well-run tournament with many teams and flights, you can be guaranteed some good games. The only issue I have with this tournament is that both our clubs take a break in June and it’s difficult to come to a high level tournament after an extended time off. Of course that’s not the fault of the tournament, just a personal issue.
This was LSG’s first tournament with her new team and we had a great time this year getting to know new teammates as well as reuniting with old friends. She’s loving her new team, coach and friends.
Dates: July 13/14 2013
Cost: $550 U9/U10 $725 U11/U14 $775 U15/U19
Location: South Orange County
Application Process/Organization/Coaching Conflicts: This is the 3rd year we’ve been to this tournament and this year only LSG’s team played. We had a good schedule, but in years past our teams have had 8am and 5pm games on the same day. One of those years was U9- that’s pretty brutal for an 8 year old, but the scheduling could have been due to avoiding coaching conflicts. Our coach only had one team at the tourney this year, so coaching conflicts were not an issue.
Check In:Friday night from 6-9pm. I didn’t check in this year, but in the past the check in was efficient and quick.
Rules: 10 Point System; 25 minute halves. Quarter Finals resulted in PKs if tied and Semis and Finals had extra time then PKs if tied.
Number of Teams at our Age Level: U11- 17 teams with three tiers
Strength of Competition: This is a premier tournament attended by almost all of the top level teams. Having three brackets allowed a lot of success for different levels of teams which I always think is great.
Fields: Games were played across Southern Orange County and our team played at the large Oaks Polo Field complex in San Juan Capistrano. I really enjoy playing at the large complexes where you see multiple teams playing. Our girls were thrilled to see many former teammates and enjoyed sitting together and watching other games. It was fun for the adults as well! The fields are nice and parking is plentiful, but not free. There are many trees to set up a “team camp” and let the girls relax in the shade.
Referees: The refs were fine in our games, but in a nearby game the parents were so upset with a ref’s bad call they stormed the field after the game. I wasn’t watching so I didn’t see what happened, but it doesn’t sound like a good situation for either party!
Weather:It was beautiful and very warm. The temperature hovered around 75-85 degrees under very sunny skies.
Restaurants/Attractions: Our team drove in for the tournament, but there are many hotels in the area. My girls favorite attraction nearby is Farrell’s Ice Cream parlor in the Mission Viejo Mall (about 10 minutes away). We had a team gathering there on Saturday afternoon after our second game and my ears were still ringing that night, but the smiles on the girls’ faces made it worthwhile. Their food isn’t bad either and a fun afternoon helped ease the sting of the total beat down our team received in our second game! Definitely team bonding at it’s finest. Since we came back and won our game the next day, I’d say Farrell’s did its job. Ha-Ha!
