By Tom Schmitt

For the Mirror

Alex Bartlett, director of soccer at the Northern Blair County Recreation Center, has put together a new indoor tournament at the NBRC — the Junior Classic Tournament, which took in U8 co-ed players and U10 boys and girls divisions.

The co-ed division was played Jan. 18 and the U10 divisions on Jan. 19. Sixteen teams participated from Hollidaysburg, Altoona, State College, Clearfield and Mifflin County.

The first-year tournament was laid out as a futsal-formatted tournament playing 5-on-5. The futsal tourney allows younger players to build better foot skills and greater ball control. They were set up to play 16-minute games with fast-paced play.

“It has always been a goal to have our own indoor tournament,” Bartlett said. “I love watching the great play from these kids in the tourney. I have always been an advocate for promoting youth play.”

He said the Northern Blair County Soccer Club has an instructional program open to all Blair County youths. Bartlett said the travel soccer program had 140 participants in the fall and 200 in the spring. He expects both the tournament and the instructional and travel program to continue to grow in the years to come.

n Summit Athletic Club soccer director Mike Alianiello completed his annual Jr./Sr. High School Soccer Tournament, which took in all area boys and girls teams.

On the first weekend, in the senior high girls division, Central won Division II, while Altoona defeated Bedford following overtime and playing down to a 3-on-3 format. The tournament format was set up as a 7-on-7 tourney with a player being removed during each minute of overtime.

In the junior high girls division, Hollidaysburg prevailed over Altoona. Dino’s Pizza won the over-40 division on the turf court, and the men’s open (16-and-over) was won by Bobby’s Boys, which had players primarily from Hollidaysburg and Altoona.

On week 2, in the Boys Division II, the high school boys divisions were highlighted by overtime play. Division II boys was won by Somerset in a 55-minute overtime marathon game.

Division I was won by Bedford, which edged out Hollidaysburg in overtime. The Hollidaysburg boys took the junior high division over Altoona, and Liz S.C. won the over-30 7-vs.-7 co-ed division.

Alianiello started his new winter session on Jan. 24 with a packed field of 115 teams. Play will go from Friday nights through Sunday.

n The Blair County Soccer Club FC 814 U17 Girls Energy team will be part of the 45 teams in the nation that earned advancement to the United States Youth Soccer National League semifinals on Feb. 21-23 in Round Rock, Texas, for a chance to qualify for the National Championships.

Coach Marc Frye and his squad will face teams from across the country in an effort to get a berth in the national championships.

The cost for a team to compete and travel at this level with squads from across America will run about $25,000, and the team is attempting to run fundraisers to defer this extreme cost.

n Women’s soccer internationally just broke a spending barrier.

Chelsea has just agreed to sign highly-acclaimed United States defender Naomi Girma for a world-record-breaking $1.1 million transfer from the San Diego Wave.

The rise in prices for players will definitely not stop here. Many regard Girma as the best defender in the world. U.S. coach Emma Hayes labelled her the best defender she had ever seen.

Now the question becomes how much would the Women’s Soccer League top goal scorer Khadija Shaw be worth? WSL fans will keep a close eye on this as salaries will continue to climb for the women players.

Tom Schmitt writes a monthly soccer column for the Mirror.