Dressed in all red, the starting 11 Las Vegas Gunners walked onto the Ecker Hill Field #4 just after noon for their first match of the Extreme Cup tournament.
Many of these U14 boys had been up since 4 a.m., catching flights or loading into cars for the five-hour drive from their homes in Vegas.
And they weren’t the only ones who had traveled far for a weekend of soccer in our Utah mountains.
This year, 485 soccer teams have brought an estimated 30,000 visitors to the Wasatch Back for the weekend’s 21st annual Extreme Cup.
Hosted by Park City Soccer Club, this tournament is an opportunity for the local teams to face off against competitors across the state — and even the country.
For residents, it’s a blip in the summer of dense traffic, busy businesses and almost zero parking.
For field management groups, like the Snyderville Basin Special Recreation District, it’s a whirlwind of work: prepping the grass, painting field lines, rolling out goals, coordinating signage for parking.
For out-of-state teams, like the Gunners, it’s a chance for families to visit Park City and for players to test themselves against fresh competition.
The Gunners are ranked third in the state of Nevada, with highly coveted spots that, for their most recent tryouts, brought around 100 kids vying for a spot.
Traveling for tournaments is important for Coach Adan Jimenez-Pineda, who has led the team for a couple years now. In May, the boys took home the championship from the Next Generation Cup in Dallas.
The team had competed in last year’s Extreme Cup and were knocked out in the semi-finals, said Jimenez-Pineda. But this year’s group is a better team, he said, and their hopeful for the championship in their category — U14 boys Platinum.
Thursday’s first game wasn’t their best show, both coach and parents lamented, finishing in a 2-2 draw against the Northern Utah United Royalty, ranked fourth in the state. Perhaps it was the early morning travel, difficult referees, the longer grass that slowed the ball.
It’s overcoming these challenges that’s the mark of a good team, and at halftime, after the game, Jimenez-Pineda urged his players to learn more quickly from mistakes.
And they did, winning their second game later that day 10-0 against the SWAT ’11B – EH team.
While serious about their sport, the players are still kids. It was time to relax, celebrate and head back to Airbnbs with families for some of the players. To help some families with costs, and as a bonding opportunity, Jimenez-Pineda had rented an Airbnb for a chunk of the team to stay together. He had also driven up with six of the players whose guardians weren’t able to make the trip.
The families of SK and Richard, two of the team’s players, had also rented an Airbnb together, creating a pseudo-family vacation.
“Are you going to shower before we eat?” Zack Kay asked his son, SK, while Richard’s mom, Justine Fyler, began prepping a pasta dinner in the kitchen.
Richard jumped into the kitchen, wearing a jersey that matched the red bell peppers he helped prep for dinner, while SK opted to eat a bag of chips and watch his teammate while a soccer ball rolled around at his feet on the hardwood floor of the Airbnb.
“It was tiring, quite the turnaround,” Richard said about playing two games back to back after waking up early to fly in from Vegas.
Somehow after two games under the open sun, SK and Richard still found the energy to roughhouse and sit down for a game of Uno while their dads enjoyed a beer and talked about their plans while in Park City. Richard and his family were in town last year for the tournament, and this is SK’s first time to experience local attractions such as the Utah Olympic Park.
With it being SK’s first time in Park City, he said that it is “way different than Vegas,” adding that he was enjoying the high temperatures being 45-degrees cooler here in the Wasatch Back than back home.
“I like the tournament. I’ve played in it twice,” Richard said while eating dinner.
When dinner was served, the boys and their families were able to enjoy a meal. Fueled by chicken pasta and Cesar salads, the boys were ready for a night of sleep before another day of competition in the mountain air.
The next morning’s game against another Utah team, La Roca ’11B A Vazquez, went again in their favor — a 5-0 victory sending them on to the semifinals Saturday morning.
“Go to where you’re uncomfortable, and you’re going to be able to get comfortable,” Jimenez-Pineda told the team during that first halftime talk of the tournament. And they intend to do so, each game pushing their limits, taking space and fostering community even away from home.
Follow the Gunners’ progress, and see the rest of the weekend’s schedules, at system.gotsport.com/org_event/events/31223.
