My first travel tournament

Over the weekend of April 28-30, 2023, I had the privilege of participating in Washington Youth Soccer's President's Cup as a match official. The competition took place at the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, Washington, approximately 150 miles north of where I live.


I packed two bags for the two-night, three-day trip. The brown bag contained my regular clothes, while the blue bag was for my referee gear.



I decided to get the air in my tires checked and, if necessary, topped off before hitting the road, so I stopped at Les Schwab, which provides this service free of charge. (Sorry about the glare in the pic; I stayed in the car during the inspection.)



After Les Schwab, I went to get some gas. My 2008 Toyota Prius seems to average ~42 mpg, so I figured I'd be able to make the entire round trip on a single tank. Spoiler alert - I did it!



After getting fuel for my car, I needed fuel for my body, so Jersey Mike's Subs became my next stop. I'd never eaten there before as far as I can remember, but I found their food to be quite tasty.



Before heading out of town, I made one last stop at the dollar store in search of some small notebooks and pencils with which to take notes during my matches. In addition to these items, I also bought some Air Heads and bubble gum.



About 40 miles out of town, I made a quick stop at an AM/PM for a drink. What I like to do is mix blue Powerade with Sprite. It really hits the spot on a hot day, or a long drive, or both.



Late that afternoon, I arrived at my hotel - the Hampton Inn Seattle/Southcenter in Tukwila. Turns out it's less than a mile from the complex where the matches would take place, so that was nice.



It's a fine hotel, and one I would certainly recommend to others.


I didn't have anything to do that evening, so I decided to go hang out at the nearby mall. Those who know me will tell you that I love malls. This one was quite nice; it was large and had all the stores I loved when I was younger.



The next day, Saturday, I got up bright and early for my first game. Saturday would be all semifinal matches. This one took place at 9:30 am and ended 0-1.



Game 2 happened at 12:00 that day, and ended 4-0.



The last game for the day immediately followed (2:00 pm), and concluded with a final score of 3-1.



Saturday's victors would progress to the finals on Sunday.


My first final took place at 9:00 Sunday morning, in which Crossfire fell 0-4 to Eastside FC, who became champions.





My second match for the day ended 0-3. Another team from Eastside Football Club became the champion.



I ended the weekend with a 2:00 match, in which Snohomish defeated Everett 1-0 to claim the title.


And with that, my first travel tournament was over. I got to work with experienced officials who taught me good things that I can use to advance my officiating career. All in all, a good experience.

- A.A.




This tournament took place at the Starfire Sports Complex. Below are a few photos of the location.





Comments

  1. AlexMay 13, 2023 at 9:43 AM

    Great job Sean. I'm glad that you're having fun.

    ReplyDelete

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