Major Beach Soccer News Release -- www.majorbeachsoccer.com
Friday, July 13, 2012
CLEARWATER BEACH, Fla. – The second Major Beach Soccer tournament of the summer began on Friday in Clearwater, Florida. With perfect weather conditions and the pristine, white sand of the Gulf beach, the tournament started bright and early, with four fields and 40 games that drew a huge crowd all day long.
Fighting for a place at the MBS Championships on the same beach, teams of all age groups travelled to the west coast of Florida this weekend as the tournament continued a 22-year tradition of beach soccer in the state of Florida. Friday saw only youth action, with the adult divisions set to start on Saturday morning.
Some teams from last month’s Daytona Beach event were in action on Friday, including IABS (I Am Beach Soccer), as well as some other local teams like the VSI Pinellas Flames.
Perhaps one of the more interesting teams in Clearwater this weekend is FC Double D (pictured), which is competing in the Men’s U16 division. The boys sport neon pink sports bras bearing the team name on the front and a breast cancer awareness ribbon on the back. The team is coached by Dusty Showers, a former beach soccer player and CEO/President of The 2nd Basemen, a breast cancer awareness charity foundation.
“It was the boys’ idea,” Showers said after one of his team’s wins on Friday. “I can’t play anymore, but they asked me to coach them and asked if they could use my pink bra idea.”
Showers wears a pink bra at public events in order to support his non-profit foundation.
“Skydiving, soccer, you name it, I’ll wear it,” he said. “At first I was afraid the boys wanted to use it as a gimmick because it’s a pink bra. But they really understand what it means and I’m proud to be here and have them represent us.”
Another team to watch will begin play on Saturday in the adult division. The Peace Passers won last year’s MBS Women’s Championship and were recently named as the U.S. representative at 2012 Beach Soccer Montreal. The North Carolina team will kick off at 11 a.m.
MBS Clearwater Beach runs through Sunday, when qualifiers for the National Championship will be named.