Tourney honors late soccer academy official
By Jodie Wagner

Neighborhood Post Sports Writer

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Dozens of youth soccer teams from around the state - and a few to the north - will gather in Palm Beach Gardens next month for three days of competition, camaraderie and remembrance.

The inaugural Matt DeOrsey Palm Beach Soccer Cup, which will be played April 25-27 at the Klock and Mirasol soccer fields, is expected to feature many of South Florida's top young soccer teams, including 11 from the host Palm Beach Soccer Academy.


"Our goal ... is to have about 60 teams," said Peter Erdmann, the tournament's sponsorship coordinator. "It's the usual suspects of the Port St. Lucie teams and Royal Palm Beach, Wellington and Boca. Hopefully, we'll be able to draw from the Plantation area and Cooper City."

"We enjoy drawing the locals," added executive tournament director Chris Niebling. "But we also want to draw out-of-town teams."

Niebling hopes dozens of those teams will lace up their cleats next month.

Proceeds from the tournament originally were earmarked to support the Palm Beach Soccer Academy, a Palm Beach Gardens-based travel club that was created in 1996 by former professional soccer player Gary Walker.

But after the sudden death in January of PBSA Vice President Matt DeOrsey, 30, who had been serving as the executive tournament director, those plans changed.

Money raised through the tournament, which is open to boys and girls teams in the U9 through U18 age divisions, will aid DeOrsey's family through the Matthew DeOrsey Children's Fund.

DeOrsey, a former college and professional soccer player who was a sales executive with the Ginn Company, died Jan. 23 of an epileptic seizure. The Palm Beach Gardens resident left behind wife Kimberly, who is expecting the couple's second child; a 2-year-old daughter, Elle; and an 11-year-old stepson, Tyler Van Horne.

"In light of the tragedy, the ultimate goal here ... is to raise as much money as we can so that the proceeds of this tournament are as high as they can be," said Niebling, a PBSA coach and long-time friend of DeOrsey's. "They're going 100 percent to Kim DeOrsey and her children."

For the past several months, club administrators, parents and volunteers have worked tirelessly to publicize the tournament, solicit sponsorships from local businesses and create a logo, Web site and other promotional materials.

DeOrsey already had completed much of the preliminary work on the tournament before his death, and the club has scrambled to fill the void.

"Everything was left to us, and we're just picking up the pieces," Walker said. "It's a tough one. It really is. We're doing what we can to make it happen. There are two things you can do in life - sit back and just think about it, or do it - and we're doing it. We're rolling up our sleeves and we're asking people to help."

So far, many have stepped up.

Last month, the Tesoro Club, a Ginn Company community in Port St. Lucie, signed on as the tournament's presenting sponsor.

"Anything that we can do to assist Kim and the kids' futures, we're more than happy to do," Tesoro Club General Manager J.R. Congdon said.

PBSA is seeking additional sponsorships as well as donations in support of the tournament, and also hopes to draw a full field of boys and girls soccer teams.

Cost is $395 per team and includes a guarantee of three competitive matches along with semifinal, final and third-place games. A professional exhibition match featuring former players from the World Cup, English Premier League and Major League Soccer will be April 26. A meet-the-players party will follow the match.

Teams can register online at http://www.palmbeachcup.com/.

For tournament information or questions on sponsorship, call Walker at (561) 252-6729, Niebling at (561) 201-1633 or Bill Koster at (561) 389-0539.