BRUNSWICK
The World Cup has begun in Russia, with the soccer world watching the athletes compete.
Locally, this weekend kicks off the 32nd year of the Coastal Summer Challenge, staged at Bowdoin College and on fields in surrounding communities.
The Coastal Summer Challenge is the oldest and largest Father’s Day premier/town soccer tournament in the country, with this year’s event including more than 250 teams from all six New England states, Canada, Eastern New York and Washington D.C.
In all, around 10,000 players, fans and families will flood into the Brunswick area for the weekend to compete and cheer.
Bowdoin College will feature 15 fields alone, with another 16 fields in Brunswick, Bath, Topsham, Freeport and Yarmouth. There will be two “Cosmos” teams featured — the legendary New York Cosmos will take on Seacoast Mariners semi-professional men at 3 p.m. on Saturday on Bowdoin Field 8, as part of the men’s Premier Soccer League summer schedule, and the Washington Cosmos U9 boys will take on the Seacoast boys, with local Brunswick standout Matty Smith running the midfield.
Freeport Football Club, Brunswick Dragons, Merrymeeting Soccer, along with several area squads will be in action, along with state champions from the New England Premier League attending, as well as state champions from SoccerMaine.
Seacoast United Maine will enter as many as 40 teams into the tournament.
This year’s tournament will be dedicated to longtime Coastal Soccer Club girls coach Tom Howell, who just passed this week to cancer at the age of 66. Howell was a distinguished soccer coach in the area, as an assistant at Morse High School, then head girls varsity coach at Freeport. He is remembered as always being a positive influence to any of the teams he coached and a guiding spirit to players aspiring to become the best they could be.
For complete weekend schedules, visit the Seacoast United website at www.seacoastunitedmaine.com.
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