DAYTON – How do you get over 450 volunteers to show up on a holiday weekend to run a concession stand, direct parking, field marshal and do other less-than-glamorous jobs for a large soccer tournament? You feed them steak and all the sides.

Actually, the volunteers all pull together to make the Labor Day Mead/CUSA Cup soccer tournament an event to remember because they care about maintaining a tradition of excellence. But having a good meal at a volunteer reception – following an afternoon of golf – goes a long way toward saying ‘thank you.’

“We’ve been donating food for the CUSA volunteers’ reception for three years,” says Robert Atkins, the proprietor of the Outback Steakhouse in Centerville. “It is our way of giving back to a community that gives so much to the kids each Labor Day weekend and throughout the year. We’re just happy to be a part of it.”

The Mead/CUSA Cup kicks off a weekend of soccer, starting with their team reception this Friday at the Dayton Marriott. More information about the tournament can be found at www.cusasoccer1.com.

PHOTO: Robert Atkins, 27, of Outback Steakhouse, prepares steaks for the volunteers on the portable grill used to cater events. The reception was held at the Yankee Trace Golf Course clubhouse on Sunday, Aug. 27.

LEBANON – With Labor Day Weekend approaching, this means one thing to the Centerville United Soccer Association (CUSA) Girls U14 team; the Labor Day Mead CUSA Cup. The CUSA 92 Premier team is one of the host teams, and they are ready to go says Asst. Coach Dean Burgess.

“We got started a little early this year, back in late July. The girls had a full week of training followed by a camp hosted by CUSA. The camp was three hours a day for five days.” Burgess then added, “We attended a tournament last week and we’re at the Arsenal Challenge Cup this week.”

But don’t think the girls are being worked too hard. After this weekend, the girls will have a week to rest before entering their hometown tournament.

“I’m still going to touch the ball on the week off. I’ll also be icing my knee,” says sidelined Kristie Wolf. Wolf has been on the team for about two years and is sitting out with a knee injury. “I played yesterday’s game and felt a little shaky. I should be ready to go for the Mead CUSA Cup.” Wolf adds, “Some of these girls have played together since they were seven. We play as a unit; we play as a team. Teamwork is the reason our team wins games.”

The team has a bit of an emotional tie to the upcoming Mead CUSA Cup. When they were in the U10 division, the girls made it to the finals and lost on penalty kicks. This year will be their last chance to win a first place trophy.

Another reason the CUSA 92 Premiere team should do well is the parenting that surrounds these young ladies. Donna Reist, parent of Erica Reist, says, “I try to give her as much encouragement as possible. I try not to say anything about the opposing team, their record, or anything at all that might scare her. I just want her to have fun.”

With the Mead CUSA Cup just around the corner, keep an eye out for these girls on their home turf. As Burgess puts it, “It will be an advantage for the girls to sleep in their own beds and be right down the road from the fields. They have a chance to take the Mead CUSA Cup this year!”

The games and real time scores of the CUSA team and 203 others competing at the 2006 Arsenal Challenge Cup can be found on www.arsenalchallengecup.com

PHOTO: Kristie Wolf helped her U14 CUSA Premier team to a 4-0 win over Woodridge Premier FC, one of the top 30 ranked teams in the region. (Photo by Michael Blackwell, TourneyCentral.com)

Visit the event website.

LEBANON – Thirty-one local area teams from Shelby County, Dayton, Beavercreek, Warren County and Kettering will be competing in the eleventh annual preseason, premier-level Arsenal Challenge Cup. The Arsenal Challenge Cup draws competitive teams from Michigan, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Northern Ohio each year. This year, the Cup is hosting 204 teams at four locations in and around Cincinnati.

The local area teams competing for the Cup are: Boys08 BSA Celtic 98, Boys09 SC Alliance Lightning, Boys09 SC Alliance Striker, Boys10 Warren County United Blue, Boys11 CUSA 95 White, Boys12 Metro FC Rapids, Boys12 WC United Blue, Boys13 CUSA 93 Blue, Boys13 CUSA 93 Premier, Boys13 Metro F.C. Rapids ’93 Premier, Boys14 BSA Celtic, Boys14 CUSA 92 White, Boys14 Metro FC 92 Rapids Starr, Boys14 Metro FC Rapids, Girls09 Lady Celtic Blue 97, Girls09 Warren County United Blue, Girls10 BSA Celtics White, Girls11 Celtic 95 White, Girls11 SC Alliance ’95 White, Girls11 WC United Blue, Girls12 CUSA 94 Premier, Girls12 Thunder United FC Panthers, Girls12 Warren County United Blue, Girls12 Warren County United White, Girls13 CUSA Premier Hurricanes, Girls13 Warren County Mud Dogs, Girls13 Lady Warriors ’93, Girls14 CUSA 92 PREMIER, Girls14 Metro FC Rapids 92, Girls14 Warren County United 92 White and Girls14 WC United Red.

Scores and standings will be posted in real time throughout the weekend on the tournament web site at www.arsenalchallengecup.com.

PHOTO: The Boys 13 WSU 94 Green team demonstrates how much they have grown since last year’s Arsenal Challenge Cup. The team is competing in the BU13 Silver division, with games against Metro FC and CUSA. The photo was uploaded to the tournament web site using the MyTournamentSpace software.

Visit the event website

SPRINGFIELD – After spending two weeks training to kick, run to the goal and play together as a team, the Dream Soccer players came together to play in the second annual Dream Team Tournament, featured at the Springfield of Dreams soccer tournament. The Dream Team event is the brainchild of Tony Cooper, 41, a Springfield Thunder U12 boys coach, who decided that he was going to make a difference for special needs kids.

“Many of these players see their brothers and sisters out there playing soccer,” says Cooper. “It gives them confidence to play on their own team, instead of just watching from the sidelines.”

By his own admission, Cooper has no formal training coaching players with special needs. He relies on advice from his wife, Tracey, an occupational therapist with Clark County schools, to give him creative ways of reaching the kids. Among successes he has had is to use music to cue the players to dribble when the music starts and hold the ball when it stops. “You have to be willing to be creative,” says Cooper.

Last year, the tournament hosted twenty-eight players. This year, there were forty-one. If the current trends keep up, Cooper is hoping to have enough kids in his program in 2007 to form a TOPSoccer (The Outreach Program for Soccer) team to compete in the Dayton TOPSoccer league.

Photo: Kalib Strines, 8, reaches for the top cross bar of the goal to celebrate the end of the game.