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Players Compete Five-A-Side

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By STEPHEN HAMMILL, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 24, 2007

CITRUS PARK - Last weekend, soccer-starved residents both young and old found an oasis at Ed Radice Park.

The Five-A-Side Frenzy, part of the annual United Soccer League SoccerFest, took place Saturday and Sunday, attracting 425 participants and 50 teams, competing on four fields.

The game was futsal, a variant of full-field soccer played with smaller surfaces and goals.

"It's such a great thing to see so many soccer lovers in one place, and the futsal format teaches you dribbling skills," said Jay Corrigan, whose team competed in the adult division.

The Five-A-Side Frenzy featured 11 brackets sorted by age group, skill level and gender with kids, college-age students and adults competing for trophies.

The Brandon FC Flames won in the Under-10 bracket.

Most teams hailed from Hillsborough County, but some came from far away. Adult-bracket winners La Gambeta came from Ecuador.

"This is a great opportunity to get some of our kids and residents into soccer," said James Ward of the United Soccer League.

The league provided soccer equipment for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay teams, whose members competed against one another in their own bracket.

Last year, the Five-A-Side Frenzy was launched on a pilot scale with eight teams. This year, the league opened it up to the community.

"It's a matter of building relationships with the local club teams," Ward said.

The league began in 1986 and is the largest organization of soccer leagues in North America.

The tournament at the Ed Radice Sports Complex, 14720 Ed Radice Drive, was part of its third annual SoccerFest, held each year in Tampa, home of the organization's headquarters.

The SoccerFest is held in conjunction with the Tampa Bay Sports Commission and comprises the soccer league's annual general meeting and the Super Y-League North American finals.

The annual league general meetings draw representatives from the league's tiers of professional soccer.

Attendance for the SoccerFest approached 10,000, up from 7,500 last year, according to organizers, who credit the growing popularity of soccer in the United States for the success of the Five-A-Side-Frenzy.

"And it's going to continue to grow," Ward said. "Next will be bigger still."

Reporter Stephen Hammill can be reached at (813) 865-1523 or at shammill@tampatrib.com.

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