National beach soccer tournament hits the Waukegan lakefront

Heart of the City and the City of Waukegan co-hosted a beach soccer tournament at Waukegan Municipal Beach Aug. 10-11 as part of Soccer in the Sand, a nationwide beach soccer series.

The tournament drew over 250 youth and adults from around the state to participate, with close to 400 people attending as spectators.

"I was inspired by the show of support for this first year event in our community and at our amazing beach," said Waukegan Mayor, Sam Cunningham. "Players, teams and families came from the surrounding area, and this was a great opportunity to highlight the facility and the expertise of our event partner, Heart of the City."

"We are thankful to all that worked countless hours to plan this tournament and we look forward to seeing this event grow into a premiere destination in the future."

Next year's Waukegan Soccer in the Sand tournament will likely take place in July.

About Heart of the City

Founded in 2014 by community members, Heart of the City provides an opportunity for youth in Lake County to participate in recreational and competitive soccer activities. We believe that all youth should have access to high-quality sports programs and to academic learning opportunities. As a result, we endeavor to teach our players to be competitive on the field, successful in their school and productive in their community. To learn more, email leah@heartofthecitysports.org, connect with us on Facebook @heartofthecitysports, or visit www.heartofthecitysports.org.