After a successful inaugural tournament last year, the 2nd Annual Owensboro Street Soccer Bowl is set to kick off Monday at Legion Park with expectations set even higher.
Co-creator Nikos Agisilaou said the field has expanded from 24 to 28 teams, and he thinks the growing interest in street soccer has helped. He and his brother Christakis brought the tournament to fruition a year ago with the vision of getting the youth involved.
“We had a great turnout last year,” Agisilaou said. “We’re adding to it, and I think everybody has enjoyed it so far. I think our passion for coaching and watching the kids enjoy it kind of started it.”
The tournament will largely resemble the format from last year, though the championship games for each division will be played on different days. Play begins Monday with pool play and advances to a knockout tournament in the week-long event.
The Street Soccer Bowl features three divisions: Middle School (two groups — competitive and non-competitive), High School and Adult. The High School championship is at 7 p.m. Thursday, followed by competitive Middle School at 9:15 p.m. Friday, non-competitive Middle School at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, and Adult at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Agisilaou said he and his brother used to play street soccer wherever they could, but there was no court dedicated to the sport locally. They had to wait for open tennis courts or find other areas to play, so Agisilaou said finally having a court specifically for street soccer has been a blessing.
“For us to actually have our own court is awesome, especially for the kids that are just now starting to play,” he said. “Giving the kids opportunity is one of the biggest positives.”
While he’d like to see the tournament continue to grow and possibly even add more courts, Agisilaou said just getting to put on the Soccer Street Bowl and seeing the excitement around the community has been great so far.
“When I was little traveling around the country and overseas, I would see this type of atmosphere and play,” he said. “It’s hard to explain what type of atmosphere it brings until it’s actually here.”
