This tournament is big, highly competitive and something everybody anticipates every February. I've been playing in this tournament for the past five years running and we've had a few teams go deep into the competition. Three times we've made it to the semifinals only to lose close, competitive games. Last year was a bit of blip in that we lost the first knockout game (round of 16) against the team that ended up winning it. Overall, we were 7-0 scoring 29 goals with only 6 conceded. Those are some pretty good numbers!
Also, here is a link to a Wisconsin soccer blog that has a brief wrietup about the tournament - Wisconsin Soccer Central
Winning this tournament was especially gratifying for a couple of reasons. First, I am getting older and I had to put in a lot of effort working out and training in the buildup to the weekend. It paid off; I felt fit and played pretty well in each game. Second, we beat some good competition to earn the championship. We had a difficult group to come out of and played some tough teams on our side of the bracket. Last, I think the best team won. We played really well the whole weekend and I don't think there was any great fortune that befell us or luck that allowed us to squeak out a game. In the end, it was the most fun and satisfying soccer experience I've had in a long time!
I will also add that I'm especially grateful to Natalie in regards to this year's tournament. We started planning our honeymoon a while ago and were always looking in the February / March time frame. Initially, we had talked about going in the middle of February but upon my request an insistence, we pushed it back specifically so I could play in this year's tournament! Now if that is not love, I don't know what is.
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