You do the math: There will be 452 soccer teams from seven different states competing at 16 different venues across Summit and Wasatch counties in one of the largest U.S.-sanctioned youth soccer tournaments in Utah this weekend.
So, as soccer takes over the Wasatch Back, know that the Park City Extreme Cup will be giving back in big ways.
Park City Soccer Club Executive Director Shelley Gillwald said this is the 20th anniversary of the tournament, the foundation for its scholarship program. “This year, we will top over a million dollars net to our scholarship program through the Extreme Cup.”
The Park City Soccer Club offers competitive and developmental soccer programs for athletes ages 5 through 18. Thousands of dollars have been awarded in just the last two months.
“We have already since the beginning of June, when our new program year started, have awarded over $100,000 to 110 participants which will only go up from last year," said Gillwald. "I think we awarded a total of $113,000. And we are dozens of kids ahead of last year in terms of participation.”
So, who benefits from these need-based scholarships?
“One of the things that I'm really proud of is the scholarship program allows the club to really diversify," said Gillwald. "We take to heart our community's goal of social equity and I think at this point, one-fifth of our club is Spanish speaking, which is really great.”
Yazlaii Quintana works at the soccer club as a Spanish-speaking liaison and translator. Her 14-year-old brother Diego has been one of the recipients of the scholarship and she said soccer has been his escape from their family’s financial hardships.
“I think soccer is a way for him to escape from everything and really be who he is and connect spiritually with who he is and who he wants to become," said Quintana. "Soccer has helped him build a family with his friends and it has helped him gain connections through people.”
So, who does he want to become?
"Diego wants to play for the Mexican national team when he's older," she said. "He just has the biggest aspirations to follow the dreams of people that he looks up to.”
Dreams that will be literally playing out all over Summit and Wasatch counties this weekend.
