By Jim Van Slyke

This weekend, the North American Sand Soccer Championships celebrate 10 years of high-flying, beach-kicking fun.

When the North American Sand Soccer Championships started 10 years ago, there were only six fields at the Virginia Beach oceanfront and 26 teams. This weekend, when the tournament takes over a mile and a half of the boardwalk and the beach in front of it from the 1st Street jetty all the way to the 14th Street Pier, there will be 43 fields and more than 600 teams. Dick Whalen, the North American Sand Soccer Championships director and retired Navy captain, had to turn more than 100 teams away this year.

It was tough to do, but we have to cap it somewhere, Whalen said, noting that there were are 54 more teams and four more fields in this year's tournament compared to the one held last summer. We're basically constricted by the number of referees we can get. We've got plenty more beach to use if we need to.

Sand soccer, for the uninitiated, is much like regular soccer except it's played on a smaller field made up entirely of sand. The teams are generally made up of five players on each side and substitutions can be made on the fly. The games on sand are shorter than those on grass, usually lasting just over a half-hour, depending on the level of play. Players do not wear shoes, instead opting for just socks or bare feet.

While most American have not taken to regular soccer even if their kids have they to have a bit more appreciation for sand soccer than they do for the game played on grass. Because the fields are smaller, there is usually more offense. It's not unusual for games to end 9-7 or 8-5 instead of 1-0 or 1-1 like in regular soccer. The sand also forces players to use their aerial skills a lot more. Teams that can keep the ball in the air and off the sand generally succeed at sand soccer. Teams from Brazil notoriously good in the air are generally regarded as the best sand soccer players.

New to the sand soccer tournament this year is a three-match series that will pit the women's national teams of Canada and the United States in the first international women's beach soccer competition. The series was added to the tournament this year because of the huge upsurge in female soccer in the past few years.

Just in the past few years we've noticed that we are getting more and more girls teams in the tournament, Whalen said. Their applications are increasing even faster than the boys right now.

Odds favor the Canadian squad mostly because they have more experience and up until recently the Americans didn't have a national sand soccer team. That didn't stop Whalen, of course.

I called up a (Kempsville High School boy's soccer team coach Kevin Denson) and asked him to put a team together, Whalen said. He's gotten some women together from the local high schools and universities and has a pretty good team. It will be a fun trio of matches to watch.

The biggest draw for the tournament is likely the U.S. Open bracket that features 12 of the best men's sand soccer teams from beaches everywhere. The teams from as far away as California will compete for a $15,000 purse over three days. The first day involves two matches per club, with the top eight teams advancing to the cash round on Saturday and Sunday. The Brazilian sand soccer team Flamilia will be back to defend their 2002 crown. The championship match takes place Sunday at 2 p.m.

But even with the large purse and national pride at stake, the tournament is more about the boys and girls who drag their parents from all over the Eastern seaboard to play soccer in the sand. The fees from the tournament benefit the soccer players here in Hampton Roads, however. Whalen estimates the Hampton Roads Soccer Complex in Virginia Beach has received roughly $750,000 from the tournament in its 10 years of existence.

Local military units have contributed only three teams this year, but Whalen explained that was because of the recent war deployments. There will be more than 100 military volunteers helping with everything from setting up and tearing down the fields to running ice from location to location. But even with fewer military teams in the 2003 tournament, Whalen says local military folks should check out the tournament.

It makes good sense for military folks to support this event because about a third of local youth soccer players have a connection to the military. & (Plus), it's just good soccer.

Want to go?

• What: North American Sand Soccer Championships
• Where: Virginia Beach Oceanfront, from Rudee Inlet to 14th Street adjacent to the Boardwalk
• When: June 7-8
• How much: free
• More information: www.sandsoccer.com