With a new date and a new name, the St. Albert Soccer Association’s (SASA) adult tournament is looking a lot different this year.
Formerly the Big Rock Adult Tournament, organizers this year have changed the name of the event — running this weekend at the SASA grounds in Riel Park — to the Dieter Knobloch Memorial Adult Tournament, honouring one of the organization’s biggest boosters.
“It was a suggestion that came from a member, that we rename [the tournament] in his name and we all thought it was a great idea,” said Darcy Taylor, tournament director and a member of SASA’s board of directors.
Knobloch was a fixture at SASA, serving in many capacities with the organization, from president to facilities manager and from referee to head coach. He passed away on June 30, 2010 after battling cancer for nearly 10 years.
Taylor said it’s a fitting tribute to a man who gave so much to the game of soccer in St. Albert.
“It’s a great way to honour him, the contributions he made to the club and his enthusiasm and love for the game and for this tournament,” she said.
Knobloch was also posthumously awarded an Energize Award in 2010 from Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation for his dedication to the organization.
Part of the weekend’s festivities will include a “shooting station,” where players can pay a loonie to take a shot on net and have the speed of their kick recorded, with the fastest shot taking home a prize at the end of the weekend. All the proceeds from the shooting station will benefit the Canadian Cancer Society and Cross Cancer Institute.
“It’s fun and it’s very soccer-focused,” Taylor said, adding that SASA might expand fundraising efforts in future tournaments, but they haven’t looked that far ahead yet.
Besides the name change, SASA made another significant tweak to this year’s tournament by moving it from its usual August date into July.
Taylor said a number of factors led to the switch.
“Last year, we had fewer teams and we wondered if it was because there were so many games scheduled in the [Edmonton and District Soccer Association] for August,” she said, “so we thought we’d try something different and move up the date.”
Taylor added that soccer teams often reschedule rained-out games for August, as well as having to play in provincial tournaments, which could both hurt tournament turnout.
As of Monday, there were 26 teams entered in the tournament across four divisions: women’s competitive/recreational, co-ed, men’s competitive and men’s competitive/recreational.
Most of the teams are from the Capital region but there will be teams visiting from as far away as Cold Lake, Fort McMurray, Drayton Valley, Calgary and Lloydminster.
“It’s nice that we have two men’s divisions; that’s not something we’ve always had,” Taylor said. “Co-ed seems to be staying steady at what it has been for the past few years since we started offering it about four years ago.”
St. Albert will be represented by the SA Force and St. Albert Kickers in the women’s division, the Impact Rangers, Impact 1 and Impact 2 in the men’s competitive division and NECF FC, the Mighty Muffin Tops and the Rookie Pirates in the co-ed division.
For more information on the tournament, including schedules, check out SASA’s website at www.stalbertsoccer.com.
