By Alan Keck

For several years it's been the biggest, and arguably the best. Now the North American Sand Soccer Championships also can claim to be the first.

This weekend's 10th-annual oceanfront beach soccer festival will host the nation's first international pro-am women's sand soccer competition.

Some of the most skilled female players on the East Coast have been drafted to form the first Women's U. S. National Sand Soccer Team. They will compete in the three-game Atlantic Challenge against a pro-am team from Canada for bragging rights to the North American women's title.

The games will be at the oceanfront's 7th Street stadium Friday at 6 p.m.; Saturday at noon; and Sunday at 11 a.m. All games are free to the public.

NASSC Tournament Director Dick Whalen thinks it's an idea whose time has come.

"When I saw that the girls' division was growing as rapidly as it was, I said let's try to do something for the girls to spotlight the growth element of the tournament," he said.

Whalen approached three local radio stations last fall and they jumped at the chance to sponsor the event.

Then Whalen tapped local soccer icon Kevin Denson to put together the team. Denson, who was a Region I Olympic Development Program head coach and an assistant coach at The College of William and Mary, is in the process of taking his Kempsville High School team to the state playoffs.

"It's hard to say no to Capt. Whalen," Denson said.

But you can tell Denson revels in the challenge. He's put together a roster of 10 women who can play in the sand with the best.

Local standouts include Avery Willis and Katie Johnson. Willis is a 1998 First Colonial grad who played for William and Mary and the Hampton Roads Piranhas.

Johnson graduated from Kempsville in 1999 and was a two-time All-American at Wake Forest. She also played for the Piranhas.

Both have played in the sand before. Willis played while in high school, and last year with an adult co-ed team, the Flying Wombats.

"How fun," she said. "This is my home town. I love the game and I love the beach.

Denson and Whalen have heard that the Canadian team, which has already played a few sand soccer games together, is seriously preparing for the Atlantic Challenge.

"They can prep all they want," Johnson said. "I think it's kind of neat in our home town, playing with girls from here to represent the USA. It makes this more than just a pick-up game."

It's been tough for Denson to get the players together. He'll probably have only two practice sessions before the competition, but he's not worried.

"This group is highly competitive," he said. "We won't have a problem getting them motivated."

Also on the roster is Chesapeake's Lindsey Vanderspiegel, a four-time All-CAA and three-time All-American for William and Mary, and Richmond's Katie Tracy, who played for the University of Virginia and WUSA's New York Power.

Whalen said the NASSC is recognized as the biggest pro-am beach soccer festival in the world, and still growing. This year's event features more than 6,200 players spread across 43 fields covering 14 blocks of beach. Organizers expect 20,000 fans.

The popular Brazilian "Flamilia" team returns this year to defend the U.S. Open pro-am men's title its members won the past two years. Challenging them is the Hampton Roads Soccer Council All-Stars, who lost to Flamilia last year, 5-4, in the last 20 seconds of the match.

More than 30 soccer moms from Beach FC and Atlantic Soccer Club also have formed teams to square off in sand soccer competition.