BALTIMORE – Pass by the TourneyCentral booth at the 2008 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) convention and you would most likely do a double take at the huge soccer ball cake on display.

“The conference was in Baltimore this year,” says Gerard McLean, president of Rivershark, Inc., the parent company of TourneyCentral.com. “We’re such huge fans of the show ‘Ace of Cakes’ that is was a no-brainer to get a cake.” The cake was made by the ‘Ace’ bakers of Charm City Cakes, based in Baltimore, Md. Duff Goldman and his crew are the stars of the Food Network’s popular show, ‘The Ace of Cakes.’

McLean added that he usually tries to bring local flavor to his booth by supporting local businesses at the NSCAA. In addition to purchasing a cake from Charm City Cakes, McLean raffled off the cake, with the hope that the winner would donate the cake. The winner of the cake, Mark Serdjenian, the head coach of the men’s soccer program at Colby College in Maine, did not disappoint. The cake was donated in Serdjenian’s name to the Ronald McDonald House of Baltimore.

“The Ronald McDonald House children thoroughly enjoyed the delicious cake,” said Joshua Harden, manager of volunteer services at the house.

In addition, two local soccer tournaments, the Mead Cup and the Warrior Classic also exhibited at the NSCAA. For more information about the NSCAA show, including a photo gallery of the soccer cake, visit www.tourneycentral.com/nscaa.

PHOTO (contributed) A Ronald McDonald resident savors the cake with a plate ready for his slice.

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DAYTON – Two local tournaments are a hit at this year’s National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Conference in Baltimore this weekend. The adidas Warrior Soccer Classic and the Mead Cup soccer tournament were both represented at the exhibition.

“The NSCAA represents some of the finest soccer at all levels,” says Carol Maas, co-director of the Warrior Classic. “Having the privilege of recently serving on the Montgomery County Sports Authority Task Force Committee, I have an increased awareness of the benefits of bringing sporting events to Dayton and the enhancement of the events we already host.”

Both tournaments are looking to attract competitive soccer teams from the East Coast, a large part of this year’s attendees according to the NSCAA.

In addition to the local tournament exhibiting, TourneyCentral – a local soccer tournament management company based in Englewood – presented a workshop yesterday on hyper-localism media and the soccer community. TourneyCentral provides the web-based management tools for both tournament events, as well as twenty-four additional soccer tournaments around the Dayton metro area.

Other local organizations represented at the exhibition are the Dayton Marriott (Dayton) and One Call Now (Troy).

For more information about the Warrior Classic and the Mead Cup, visit the tournament calendar at www.daytondailynews.com/soccer.

Donna Michael (left) with the Dayton Montgomery County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, discusses the Warrior Classic hotel system with Hank Maas. Maas schedules over 450 teams, playing at four venues for the Warrior Classic held on Memorial Day weekend in Dayton.

DAYTON – For years, Laura Shields, 19, has watched her parents, Rick and Nancy Shields dash off to work the Mead Cup exhibit booth at the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) while she sat at home. This year, because of some unplanned manpower shortage for the booth, she had a chance to volunteer for the booth, meeting and greeting fellow soccer colleagues. And she jumped at it.

“I’ve always wanted to come and volunteer to work the booth,” Shields says. “It seemed like just a lot of fun.”

A student at Capital University in Columbus, Shields has not been disappointed as she connects with old friends and meets new one. The NSCAA Convention runs from Wed. Jan. 6 through Sat. Jan 19 in Baltimore, Md. and host over 7,000 soccer coaches, administrators and enthusiasts.

For more information on the annual Mead Cup soccer tournament, held each Labor Day weekend in Dayton and Beavercreek, log onto the Web site at www.meadcupsoccer.com.

PHOTO: Laura (right) and Nancy Shields talk soccer with Patrick Ferguson, head coach of the women’s soccer program at Wright State University.

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