After a year away from the fields of Kino Stadium, Southern Arizona's largest youth soccer tournament returns this weekend for its 31st year in Tucson.
The Tucson Association of Realtors Fort Lowell Shootout will kick off with Friday night's Olympic-style Opening Ceremonies, featuring the parade of athletes, Soccer Olympics and the presentation of the Founders Award and Matt McManaman Volunteer Award.
Roughly 315 teams from across the U.S. and Mexico will descend on Tucson for the event, with games scheduled at Kino Sports Complex Saturday and Sunday. For the first time ever, teams from Missouri will be competing in the tournament.
"Honestly, I'm quite shocked," tournament director Kat Jackson said of the size of this year's Shootout, which rivals 2020's.
In 2020, the Shootout drew more than 370 teams. The 2021 Shootout was canceled in December 2020, with organizers saying it was the right thing to do for the health and safety of the community.
Jackson said that 335 teams applied to compete in this year's Shootout; that number would have been closer to 380 had it not been for issues with the new online registration platform.
"It's been an unexpected hurdle for us. It's a completely new platform, and it's presented quite a few problems for us and for the teams," Jackson said. "That's been the biggest hurdle, and it's just a matter of teams not having their information in the new system that kept them from registering."
The new registration platform isn't the only thing that looks different this year. Teams will also be checking in online, instead of in-person in the stadium's novelty shop, like in previous years.
The change is due to Pima County's COVID-19-related protocols, which includes wearing masks while indoors. Now that check-in has gone virtual, the mask guideline primarily effects the Shootout's Friday night VIP event in the stadium's press box, Jackson said.
"With one thing comes another, but we're rolling with it and all-in-all it's good," she said.
When it comes to the parade, organizers can't push masks, but they've told teams that it's strongly recommended that participants wear masks.
"They're all down there on the field together and then they're going to be running around," Jackson said. "We're taking as many precautions as we can. We'll provide masks for anyone that needs, and there are plenty of hand-washing stations and hand sanitizer throughout Kino."
Jackson said a few teams have dropped out, due to outbreaks, and organizers are prepared for more.
"We're anticipating teams at the last minute just not showing up to games. We've got that on the back burner," Jackson said. "But we know this has to be something somebody puts in motion to try, because if not, everybody will just sit back and say, 'Let's wait, let's let them do it.'"
Jackson says the Shootout committee and Kino staff have a good plan in place, and she's confident in their procedures when it comes to health and safety.
"It's hard to say this, but I think we're getting to the point where everybody just really knows the drill. It has to be said, it has to be revisited, but at the same time, most people are just overall compliant," Jackson said. "We want the kids to play and we're going to do what's necessary to have the kids out there."
Jackson said she's looking forward to honoring this year's award winners, Kelly Pierce and the late Bruce Caris, for their lifetime of contributions to youth soccer.
Pierce is the head coach for FC Tucson's Women Premier League team, leading the team to a conference championship during last year's season. In 2017, Pierce returned to her alma mater Salpointe Catholic High School, coaching the girls' soccer team into state championships three out of the last four years.
Caris, who died in September 2021, was a longtime supporter of the Shootout who started coaching kids in the early 1990s and served as coach of the Fort Lowell Soccer Club until 2014. He brought several teams to the Shootout, including his son's teams.
”Bruce really enjoyed the shootout and being a part of it,” said Caris' wife, Lisa Fraser. “Receiving this award would have meant so much to him. He would want everyone to know that this award isn’t just for him, but for the whole youth soccer community in Tucson. He was always about the whole team.”
Pima College's men's and women's soccer teams will also be honored.
"Soccer in Tucson is phenomenal. We have so much to offer, and not just for the kids, and that really speaks to the community," Jackson said. "I hope all this coming together really puts Tucson on this level of we’re here with soccer and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon, and we’re going to do our best to make everyone feel welcome and we support them."
