The three-day tournament features 110 age-group teams from all over Alaska and Canada and even one from Hawaii. More than 2,500 players will participate and 227 matches will be played.
The bulk of the play will be on seven fields at the Kincaid Complex. Two fields at Dimond High will also host matches and the Balta Seppala soccer fields will host matches for kids under 12.
This year is the first time the tournament will use the new fields at Kincaid. Tournament director Terry Curran said Kincaid provides a great central location where players and officials can more easily organize than in previous years, when matches were played wherever a vacant fields could be found.
"Otherwise you're driving all over town," he said. "It's a huge advantage."
Curran said future tournaments could be even better once Kincaid's artificial turf soccer stadium is completed.
The new stadium is being built on the site of an old biathlon range, where lead contamination has delayed the project. Curran said he hopes the stadium is ready by next summer.
The round-robin tournament will conclude Sunday with 16 championship matches that will crown boys and girls champions for the U-11 through U-19 divisions. The first championship matches are at 12:30 p.m., and the last ones start at 3:30 p.m.
For some of the older players, winning a championship isn't their lone motivation this week. On Thursday, two showcase matches -- one boys, one girls -- featuring upcoming seniors against upcoming juniors were played at The Dome in front of several college coaches.
Reach Jeremy Peters at jpeters@adn.com or 257-4335.
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