Labor Day Soccer Tournament is Bigger and Bigger
August 29, 2011 – This coming Labor Day weekend, 160 youth soccer teams, over 2,400 players, are set to play in the 3rd annual Fall Annual Soccer Tournament (FAST) – the largest youth sports event in Fairfield County!
Organized by the Fairfield United Soccer Association (FUSA), one of Connecticut’s largest travel soccer organizations, the FAST event invites girls’ and boys’ U9-U14 travel soccer teams to play. This year, girls will play on Saturday, September 3rd, and the boys’ take to the fields on Sunday, September 4th. FAST was first held in 2009 and continues to grow in size every year – a boon for local business.
“We will host 160 teams – both boys’ and girls’ – from all over New England and New York during the weekend,” explains Carsten Jerrild, Co-Chairperson for the FAST event. “There will be over 5,000 players and their families in our town over the weekend, I’m sure. It’s huge!”
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Volunteers from FUSA have been busy for months, putting together the logistics to handle the thousands of soccer players (and their parents) and recruiting volunteers to act as field marshals, manage parking lots or concession stands, and help out-of-town visitors. FUSA is working closely with the Fairfield Parks & Recreation Department to ensure that the numerous playing fields across Fairfield will be ready for the big weekend.
“Our tournament is an excellent opportunity for travel teams to kick-off their season with a full day of games,” adds Mauricio Trabuco, a FUSA team coach and co-chairperson for the FAST event. “The coming holiday weekend will be a busy time for Fairfield.”
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Good for Fairfield
In addition to the added commerce expected over the Labor Day weekend for local businesses, proceeds from the FAST event help upgrade Fairfield’s network of soccer venues. As a soccer club made up of 52 teams, over 750 kids, and over 540 local Fairfield families, FUSA believes it is important to give back to the Fairfield community.
“Our tournament is a commitment to our community and to youth soccer. We promote our town and our local merchants,” adds Glenn Lajeunesse, FAST tournament co-chairperson. “I’m looking forward to the big weekend; it’s going to be a great sports experience for our kids – and a success for our wonderful town.”
Sponsors make FAST a success
Event sponsors are crucial to the success of the FAST tournament and for 2011, over two dozen local restaurants and businesses have sponsored the event. Sponsors such as the new Chips Restaurant, TD North Bank, and United Indoor Soccer, along with this year’s key sponsor, the RNUNES Soccer Academy, have helped to catapult FAST into one of the largest soccer events in Connecticut.
Rodrigo Nunes, Program Director at the RNUNES Soccer Academy, looks forward to the FAST event: “It’s great to have a Labor Day tournament in Fairfield County, an area with an unbelievable concentration of travel teams and budding soccer talent.”
For more information, see www.fairfieldunited.com.
