Latinos Stand Up hosted their annual soccer tournament on Thursday, Feb. 18, for students and staff.
There was a total of sixteen teams, the most teams ever throughout the years for the soccer tournament.
“We start with a round robin and then move on to elimination rounds,” sponsor Martin Rocha said.
The LSU soccer tournament is an annual event at North and has been since LSU started. They start planning the soccer tournaments a year in advance.
“We start planning this tournament over the summer each year by confirming a winter date that will be convenient for student teams but won’t conflict with any other athletic events. Students start planning the advertising, food sales, team sign-ups, and then the brackets as soon as we finish with our annual winter dance,” sponsor Cynthia Karabush said.
The teams played three round robin games, and then the teams with the highest scores move to the second round with single elimination.
“The first place team was named Another One: Miguel Carrera, Irving Barrera, Jon Mejia, and Fernando Sanchez. Second place went to team Decals’ Little Angels: Ben Tompoles, Jason Rhodes, Grant Nikolson, and Jack Critzer.
Each team could come up with their own uniforms and create their team name for the tournament and play in front of their friends and families.
“This always attracts a crowd from the community: families and younger children come to watch their siblings play, and students come to cheer on their friends’ teams,” Karabush said
LSU has been planning this year’s soccer tournament for about a year in advance, and it has become an annual activity that’s been held for seven years at Grayslake North.
“The LSU tournament is all about having fun and bringing people together. We want everyone to have fun and play hard together,” Alderson said.