Last Sunday the PCR had its third annual International Friendship Cup at Tutiakoff Field. The International Friendship Cup is an annual soccer game that encourages goodwill between all members of the community. There were games for the younger age groups starting at 11:00 am.
The younger kids were divided into teams by grade when they arrived and played a game for every age group. There were games for everyone between 1st and 8th grade. Since Unalaska doesn’t have an outdoor soccer league, it was a great opportunity to get some practice outside for a change. All of the kids had fun and you could tell that they didn’t want it to end. It will be nice to see some of the older kids in the adult game next year!
The adult game began at 1:00 pm and went until 2. It was a close match that started with quick goals from each side, the pink team and the blue team. You could tell that the match was off to a good start when Carlos Tayag, who refereed the game, said, “I hope this match goes into extra time!” By the end of two halves, it was tied at 5-5 and to Carlos’s excitement, went into extra time. A goal by each side sent the game into a penalty shootout after extra time. It was an exciting shootout with cheering and encouragement from both sides but in the end, the pink team won the match 6-6 with a score of 4-3 in the shootout. It was an intense game, but everyone had a good time. It was all in the spirit of friendly competition.
After the game, players from both sides drank sparkling cider from the trophy and enjoyed the mandarin
oranges that the PCR staff brought. It wasn’t long before they were playing again, this time a pickup game. That game lasted almost an hour and 30 minutes, and ended when someone finally said that the first one to 12 points wins. Everyone had a great time playing soccer, and some athletes could be seen walking over to the Blueberry Bash afterwards.
Carlos Tayag, who helped organize the event, said that, “The International Friendship Cup is a great event to get kids and adults in the community interacting and having fun together. I like to see all of us playing soccer and having fun. I want to see more soccer in this community because it’s a great game and we can learn a lot from it.”
If you want to play soccer here in Unalaska come to the soccer nights at the PCR gym, which are every Thursday at 6. We hope to see you there!
