FAIRFIELD – With talk of the economy on the skids and gas prices through the roof, conventional wisdom says that travel soccer tournaments should also be affected negatively with lower than average applications. But don’t tell that to Ann Yungbluth, tournament director for the Mid-American Soccer Classic (MASC) in Fairfield, Oh.
“We have increased the number of teams in the tournament every year for the past 3 years and still have to turn away teams,” claims Yungbluth. “To me, that is the toughest part. I agonize, check and recheck brackets, and try to find space to take a few more teams.” This year, the MASC has attracted over 600 applications from soccer teams throughout the Midwest.
With over thirty soccer tournaments each spring in southern Ohio and well over 250 nationwide, according to TICOScore.com, the MASC has some serious competition. When asked how the MASC remains successful, Yungbluth replies, “MASC committee members spend hundreds of hours making things easy and comfortable for our guests and it seems to work. Maybe that is one of the keys to success; having the right people in the right place to make things happen.”
This year is Yungbluth’s first year without her right-hand man and soccer expert, Ron Smith. Smith suffered a fatal heart attack just weeks before last year’s tournament. Yungbluth says that Smith was her inspiration and support for trying new things.
This year’s MASC will be held over two weekends, April 5-6 and April 12-13. It is the twenty-third year for the annual MASC soccer tournament. For full information on the MASC, including all the competing teams, scores and contributed photos from fans, visit the web site at www.masctournament.com.