Youth soccer tourney arrives and attracts 1,500 players

The invasion of young soccer players is almost here.

If you're in the suburban area this weekend, you will see them everywhere.

Over 1,500 boys and girls will arrive for Kohl's U.S. Youth Soccer American Cup.

The largest recreational youth festival in the United States will be staged from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, June 7-8 at Atcher Park, 700 S. Springinsguth Road, Schaumburg.

The SAA-Recreational Soccer Boys and Girls Under-6 through Under-14 Kohl's US Youth Soccer American Cup will bring together 120 teams on six soccer fields.

The program started in 2000 as an avenue to highlight recreational soccer players and promote fair play.

The event is one of over 60 Kohl's American Cup tournaments being held from February to December. All tournaments are open to players registered with US Youth Soccer State Association recreational league.

Admission to the American Cup is free.

For more information, call (847) 372-9587 or visit www.USYouthSoccer.org.

Track and field

Kevin Dwyer (Hersey) of Miami University (Ohio) earned all-Mid-American Conference honors after winning the decathlon with 6,906 points. He finished second in the javelin with a toss of 207-11.

• David Cutler (Buffalo Grove) of Ithaca (N.Y.) College received the Bernard Scholar-Athlete Award for the highest cumulative seventh-semester grade-point average among all male athletes.

Baseball

Concordia Chicago's J.D. Rotzoll (Prospect) was named a second-team All-American at first base by the American Baseball Coaches Association.

• Pitcher Grant Monroe (Schaumburg) finished with a 5-3 record in his freshman year at Duke. Andrew Wolcott (Warren) won three games.

• Freshman pitcher Steve Godawa (Buffalo Grove) of Valparaiso University was named to the Horizon League All-Newcomer team. He allowed 1 run in 11 appearances.

Softball

Loyola University Chicago senior Kat Krause (Hersey) has been selected ESPN The Magazine Third Team Academic All-America. The most prolific power hitter in school history, who graduated with honors in psychology, is the first Ramblers softball student-athlete to earn academic All-America honors.

• Sophomore Karlee Quaritsch (Palatine) was named the best offensive player at Augustana College. She hit .364 and set the school single-season record with 11 home runs.

Football

Mike Tolzien (Fremd) received varsity letters in football and boxing at the Air Force Academy. He will graduate (business management) as a commissioned second lieutenant and will be assigned to Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas for jet fighter flight training.

• The National Kicking Service will hold a place-kicking and punting camp on June 30-July 2 at North Central College in Naperville. For additional information, visit www.kickpunt.com or call (800) 660-7176.

Golf

Five area graduates earned golf honors at Augustana College.

Sophomore Katy Mascheri (Hersey) was named the most improved player, junior Heather Arizpe (Conant) shared the most inspirational player award, and freshman Jessica Berens (Schaumburg) was most valuable freshman.

For the men, senior Andrew Benton (Vernon Hills) was named the most outstanding player, and freshman Kyle Weigand (Leyden) was newcomer of the year.

Marathon

Mike Giurato of Palatine was the age-group winner (60-64) in the Madison (Wis.) Marathon. The resident of Palatine for 30 years, who coached American Legion baseball and coached and ran the Palatine North Little League, started marathon training when he was 59 and has run in four events.

Basketball camps

Registration is under way for Wheeling High School's girls basketball camp.

The high school camp is scheduled for 8-10 a.m. Monday through Thursday for June 9-26.

The Junior Wildcats camp (fourth through eighth grade) will be held from 10-11:30 a.m. Monday through Thursday, also June 9-26.

Girls may sign up at the student activities office at Wheeling High School or by calling Beth Anderson at (847) 718-7020 or e-mailing to beth.anderson@d214.org.

The camp will be run by Wheeling varsity coach Shelly Wiegel, coach Swierczek and current and former Wildcats, including college level players.

• The Girls Summer Basketball Camp at the North Shore Racket Club (2860 Old Will Road in Northbrook) is designed for girls entering seventh grade to 11th grade.

Session I is scheduled for 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on June 28, and Session II is from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on June 29.

Cost is $90 for each session.

The focus of the camp is geared toward fundamental development. Drills will focus on all phases of the game.

Alicia Ratay, former Lake Zurich High School all-stater and All-American and a key player on Notre Dame's national champion in 2002, will be one of the camp coaches.

Ratay will work with Olga Gvozdenovic, who helped lead Loyola Academy to back-to-back state titles while earning all-state and All-American honors. She then played basketball and tennis at Duke.

If you have questions, contact Olga at (312) 498-6273 or olga@molex.com or Alicia at ratay.2@nd.edu.

Soccer camps

Tony Kees will bring his extensive background once again to camps this summer sponsored by the Elk Grove Amateur Soccer Club and Elk Grove Park District.

Kees holds a USSF "A" License, NSCAA Premiere Diploma and KNVB Advanced Match Analysis Certificate. He is an assistant coach with the Chicago Fire Academy and was the ODP '94 boys head coach.

• The Finishing and Goalkeeper Camp (boys and girls U10-U17) offers specific training for field players and goalkeepers. Field player sessions dedicated to improving goal-scoring effectiveness will be run by Kees.

Goalkeeping sessions will be geared toward technical and tactical aspects of the position and run by Douglas Cardosi, boys and girls ODP goalkeeper coach.

Both classes will come together each day.

Camp is set for June 23-26 from 1-3 p.m. at the Community Athletic Fields in Elk Grove, southeast corner of Arlington Heights Road and Devon Avenue.

• The Week of Fun Camp is for boys and girls K-eighth grade. The camp is known for its innovation and creativity in camp structure and is about skill development and learning how to enjoy the game.

Camp dates are July 21-24 from 5:30-8:15 p.m. at the Community Athletic Fields, Arlington Heights Road and Devon in Elk Grove.

You can visit the Web site at www.skilltimesoccer.com or contact Kees at tkeesii@sbcglobal.net for more information and to register.

Golf outing

The 11th annual Buffalo Grove High School Boosters Club Golf Outing will be held on Friday, June 20 at the Buffalo Grove Golf Course.

Sign-in begins at 9 a.m. and a shotgun start will be at 10:30 a.m. Play will follow a best-ball format.

The fee of $100 includes greens fee, cart, lunch ticket and hors d'oevres.

There will be a raffle and silent auction. Other prizes will be for men and women in longest drive, hole-in-one and closest to the pin.

All money earned goes to the athletic programs at Buffalo Grove High School.

Anyone may attend. To sponsor a hole or get more information, call Jeanne Cleary at (847) 670-7286.

Sports Notes will return in September. Items that are appropriate for publication in the Daily Herald this summer should now be sent only to prepsports@dailyherald.com.