The CV Manchester boys were finalist in the Beach Jam.

The 2010 Beach Soccer Jam was a hit with more than 90 teams competing in the second annual ultimate beach soccer event in San Diego at Fiesta Island.

"The tournament was a huge success for the second year, the kids and families enjoyed it a lot," Tournament Director Raffi Ruotolo said.

One such team was coach Darren Parker’s CV Manchester BU13, soon to be BU14, team.  Parker split his Manchester team into two squads for the beach competition.  Both teams made their way to the semifinals of the BU13 bracket where they were pitted against each other.  And while they both displayed stellar sand competition, it was Manchester that overcame a 3-9 deficit, squeaking by their sister team, Manchester BU13 White, 5-3, to advance to the finals against FC San Diego-Sidebottom.  Manchester played a solid game in the finals against FCSD finishing regulation at a 3-3 standstill. The fate of the game was handed over to PKs in which FCSD pocketed the win.

This is Parker’s first year coaching the BU13 team, since his move from the DMCV Sharks to Manchester. He was quite impressed with the way the boys, who will be competing in the BU14 AAA bracket of the Presidio League this year, picked up the switch from pitch to sand.

“Overall both teams competed well and had a great time,” Parker said. “The majority of the boys had never played beach soccer before but picked it up pretty quickly. We are looking to build on this for the upcoming season.”

Morgan Rodgers, Erick Arango, Johnny Lenihan, Danny Tomnoscheit, Niko Letsos, Peter Copp, Simon Ilko, Michael Yitayew, Blake Capozza and Michael Stewart made up the CV Manchester finalist team.

Parker’s boys weren’t the only ones who had fun in the tournament.  The San Diego Sockers also had a blast, taking the Men’s pro division by storm.  The Sockers outscored the competition 33-5, defeating the Shoreline Soccer Team, 7-0 in the championship game.

Whether its indoor or outdoor, the Sockers know each others tendencies and work for each other on the field or the sand. The combination of strength and skill that they Sockers have really plays toward the beach style soccer.

"I spend a lot of time at the beach when I’m not playing soccer, so being able to play soccer at the beach just makes it a really fun time for me,” Sockers player Scotty Martin said. “I think we all enjoyed the whole day and winning was icing on the cake. We are all super competitive so I don’t think losing was even a thought in anybody’s mind going into the tournament. All in all I had a great time and look forward to playing again next year!"

The Sockers display their fancy footwork against the Sand Crabs at the 2010 Beach Soccer Jam.