LITTLE FERRY - The soccer season will kick off earlier than usual in Little Ferry with preparations beginning for a tournament at the end of August featuring some of the premier travel teams in the New York and New Jersey area with proceeds going towards the Little Ferry Hook and Ladder.
The games are known as the First Annual New York and New Jersey Invitational Cup Challenge, featuring teams from the general metropolitan area with players aged nine and 10 years old.
Future Soccer Academy, a collective of club travel teams with players aged seven through 11, will host the tournament with its head coach, Riza Uku, serving as the tournament's director.
The players and coaches of Future Soccer Academy are familiar with Little Ferry as they run a week-long camp at the turf fields on Mehrhof Road, where the tournament will be held. In addition, the games will act as a good pre-season test for his team, Uku said.
Joe Monteleone, an officer in the Little Ferry Hook and Ladder, has a son who plays for a Future Soccer Academy team, and is coordinating the fundraising side of the event for the fire department.
'Each team will pay a fee to get into the tournament,' Monteleone said. 'We'll do some other things. We'll sell some food and hold a 50-50 raffle. It's our first time running something like this so we didn't want to jump into anything too complicated.'
Monteleone said that he hopes the tournament will become an annual event in town as a way to raise funds for the Hook and Ladder as well as bring highly-competitive soccer to Little Ferry.
'We're hoping for it to get bigger and better,' Monteleone said. 'As it gets more competitive and we get more teams to participate, we can hopefully push the entry fee a little higher to raise more money.'
The inaugural tournament currently has ten teams slated to play with one coming from as far away as Brooklyn. The remaining clubs are other top-level teams from the area, including the host itself, Future Soccer Academy, a club that has been consistently ranked among New Jersey's best over the past few years.
The Little Ferry council passed a resolution in early July waiving the park permit fees related to the tournament as it is in the best interest of the borough to waive the fee since all residents will benefit from a financially healthy fire company.
'That helps because it comes out to about 250 dollars a day,' said Monteleone of the permit fees being waived for the two days of games. 'The entry fee is not that high right now, so it might not be a lot of money, but everyone is grateful for it.'
The tournament will be held Aug. 23 and 24 with each team to play at least four games during the weekend's festivities. Teams pay an entry fee of $350 and will participate in an 8-on-8 format of play.
Krulish@northjersey.com