This year marks the eighth year of the Pepsi Soccer Showdown and the seventh year it has been located at the Lyons Township High School soccer fields. This annual soccer event is one of the largest high school tournaments in the United States that showcases high school soccer.

The showdown kicks off on Sept. 6 with games played at the Chicagoland area high schools. The two Saturday tournaments will be played at Lyons Township High Schools West Fields on the corner of Cossitt Avenue and Willow Springs Road on Sept. 10 and Sept. 17.  The tournament is comprised of single elimination games and showcases some of the best high school boys soccer in the metro area, as well as provideing the athletes a chance to compete outside their normal conference. 

Other coaches can see programs that will be in the ISHA seeding that they wouldn’t see during their normal season. This is also a great venue for college scouts to come out and see forty teams in two weekends.

The tournament has each team seeded and placed in a single-elimination winner’s bracket with the losers being matched up against teams that are not on their 2011 schedule. There are 32 teams in the starting bracket, and an additional eight teams from out of state will be included in the Saturday games. This year teams are coming from Ohio, Missouri and California, according to Joe Trost, tournament director.

“When we brought the tournament to LTHS in 2005, we had some concerns about how the community around the fields would react to two weekends of traffic in the area,” Trost said. “The community has embraced this event and made it possible for us to continue year after year. For the past five years I have noticed that there are a lot of garage sales in the area too.” 

The tournament is sponsored by Pepsi and the concession area will feature Pepsi and Frito Lay products, in addition to other delicious treats for breakfast, lunch and snacks. Other sponsors who will be present with tents include: B96 (with great music as well!), Athletico, Muscle Milk and Chicago Soccer along with many other vendors.

Another important part of this tournament is the volunteer support from the LTHS Boys Soccer teams and their parents. The ball runners during the games are members of all the LTHS soccer teams except the varsity. Ice runners, field marshalls and concession stands are all staffed by parent and student volunteers.

The championship games will be played on Sept. 18 at Toyota Park, 7000 S. Harlem Ave. Tickets for the triple header of high school soccer are $8 per person and available for purchase at the Toyota Park box office the day of the event.