Numbers tell the story of the Tony Fulk Memorial Classic youth soccer tournament, which is fast becoming a Memorial Day weekend tradition in Pekin.
Some 100 teams from 27 clubs throughout Illinois participated in the tournament last weekend.
Those teams played 169 games from Friday through Sunday at the Pekin Park District Sports Complex and the new Sandrock Sports Park in North Pekin, which opened last month.
An estimated 3,500-plus players, family members and fans descended on the two sites over the weekend.
Each number is a record for the 6-year-old tournament.
Perhaps the most important number involving the tournament is difficult to calculate: the tournament's economic impact on Pekin and the surrounding area.
That number is at least five figures, more likely six figures, say area tourism officials.
"We directed out-of-town teams to five hotels where blocks of rooms were reserved for our tournament. From what we heard, each hotel was a sellout," said tournament director Troy Tarter.
Those five hotels were the Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn Express in Pekin, the Embassy Suites & Conference Center and Holiday Inn & Suites in East Peoria, and the Holiday Inn Express Morton.
While many clubs that participated in the tournament were from the area -- Bartonville, Germantown Hills, Morton, Peoria and Pekin -- a good amount came from out of town.
The out-of-town clubs came from places like Arcola, Bloomington/Normal, Decatur, East Moline, Freeport, Geneseo, Jacksonville, LaSalle-Peru, Lincoln, Mahomet-Seymour, Sterling and Springfield.
In addition to staying in area hotels, the out-of-town families ate at area restaurants and likely did some shopping, adding to the tourism total.
Casey Sabin from the Germantown Hills Athletic Association Fire and Zoran Nincevic from Morton United FC were at Sandrock Sports Park on a cloudy and cool Sunday morning, coaching their teams in the U9 Boys Red Division.
Afterwards, they each had nice things to say about the tournament.
"We enjoy coming here," Sabin said. "The facilities are great, the competition is good, and the tournament is well run."
Sabin said she especially likes the tournament's Player of the Match program, where a team selects a player from the opposing team who should win that honor.
Each Player of the Match receives a special T-shirt and bag tag.
Tarter said he came up with the Player of the Match idea in the second year of the tournament. The program is patterned after a similar program run by Pekin Community High School girls soccer coach Edgar Sandoval and his players.
Ninsevic echoed Sabin's thoughts about the tournament and added that he especially enjoyed this year's tournament because his team played competitive games against teams it hadn't faced earlier this season.
After his team's game, Ninsevic gathered his players around him.
"There was some soccer talk, of course, and encouragement for the kids to keep working hard and improving, which we've done this season," he said about the discussion.
Lincoln FC and Bloomington-based Chicago Inter were the other teams in the four-team U9 Boys Red Division. Lincoln FC won the division championship with a 2-0-1 record.
Morton United also was 2-0-1, but Lincoln FC won the tie-breaker, fewest goals allowed.
Tarter said this year's tournament had some scheduling challenges caused by the record number of teams and the Illinois Elementary School Association Class 3A and 4A state track meet at EastSide Centre in East Peoria.
"We had a few kids in the tournament who also were competing in the state track meet," he said. "We were happy to tweak their team's schedule so they could do both events."
While tournament teams ranged in age from U8 to U19, nearly 50% were boys and girls U9 to U11 teams, Tarter said.
Tarter said he couldn't be happier with the tournament's growth from 46 teams in its inaugural year.
"It's a dream come true," he said. "Can we continue to grow? Well, we're reaching our limit. We have a great tournament committee, staff and parent volunteers, but we need more soccer fields to really grow."
Having Sandrock Sports Park as a secondary site was a great addition to the tournament, Tarter said. There were about 40 tournament games played on two fields there and Tarter said the feedback from teams was good.
The Sandrock Sports Park was built by Dale and Lela Sandrock and donated to North Pekin. A grand opening and ribbon cutting was held April 26.
In addition to soccer fields, the Sandrock Sports Park has baseball and softball diamonds, a track, basketball courts, and pavilions. A playground will be added soon.
The Tony Fulk Memorial Classic is a fundraiser for the Pekin Pride Soccer Club, which is the host.
Originally called the Kickoff to Summer Classic, the tournament was renamed in 2023 for Fulk, a Pekin resident and long-time Pride coach, friend to many in the club, and a husband and father who died from cancer in 2022 at age 49.
The club presents the tournament in a partnership with Discover Pekin, a tourism effort of the city of Pekin and Pekin Area Chamber of Commerce.
The city of Pekin gave the tournament a $5,000 grant from hotel/motel tax revenue again this year to help cover expenses. The Pekin City Council approved the grant at its May 12 meeting.
