RAPID CITY - The summer soccer season is underway.
Rushmore Soccer Club teams and some Rapid City Youth Soccer League Challenge teams are traveling this month to the Capital City Classic in Bismarck, N.D. and home for the Rushmore Cup, June 22-24. More travel and tournament play is scheduled in July.
This weekend, June 16-17, there will be a "Kick-It" 3V3 tournament in Sioux Park.
Teams can register and obtain waiver forms by following the link at www.rcysl.com. This is open to teams at U-8 through adult divisions and will be similar to the indoor format (small fields and fast action). If you aren't coaching or playing, stop by and watch the action. Winners of the tournament will be eligible to compete at the regional 3v3 tournament in Colorado later this summer.
- If you would like to get a glimpse of what the proposed soccer complex could look like, consider attending the July 19 MLS All Star game at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo. It is a carpet of glorious green, clipped fields with central parking areas, concessions and easy access.
The whole neighborhood is transforming around it - new upscale shopping areas, chain restaurants, movie complexes, motels. You can get a glimpse of Doyle Estes' vision for the Rapid City version.
- "Gracie" is a soccer movie now playing in Rapid City. It is a true story of the family of actress Elisabeth Shue who is also in the film. Gracie is a New Jersey teen whose father and brothers are soccer fanatics. She gets to play with them in the backyard, but there are no teams for girls. This is pre-Title IX (1972) and there's not much in girls' athletics but cheerleading. When Gracie's brother dies, she dedicates herself to achieving a place on the college varsity team. Her struggle to train, practice and reach the goal is what the story is all about.
Teens will benefit from watching her deal with the comments and threats that girls faced when they challenged the male-dominated world of high school and college athletics before Title IX forced equal opportunity to play. The reviews are excellent but due to language concerns and some undesirable choices Gracie makes in her grief process, this is a movie for older kids or for families who want to open discussions on such topics.
