More than 100 youth soccer teams from across three states rolled into Barrington last weekend for the Barrington Invitational Tournament. 

Barrington Youth Soccer Association hosted the annual tournament — it used 17 fields in five different locations. This year’s event saw a 20 percent increase in participation from a year earlier. 

“It really was a great weekend, the fact that my Monday morning inbox was full of thanks and compliments from visiting coaches about the tournament is a testament to our town,” said James Cabezas, the BIT Tournament Director. “It starts with coordination, especially with the other youth sports programs that play outside in the fall and partnering with St. Andrew’s School to ensure we have field capacity for such a large event.  

“Then all the helping hands, whether it be the 75-plus BYSA parents volunteering from set-up through breakdown, the DPW getting the fields fully prepped and lined, or the Police on-site keeping the event patrons safe. Finally, we were excited to bring in a local business, Blue Kangaroo, as our lead food and concessions on-site who knocked it out of the park this year. It really was a team effort from the full community that helped make this year's event shine... the fact the sun was out didn't hurt either!"

Barrington soccer teams had a strong showing throughout the tournament. Leading the way for BYSA were tournament champions U14 Girls-Chelsea and U11 Boys-Portugal.  

Additionally, U12 Boys - Lyon, U12 Boys - Ajax, and U14 Boys - Bayen each finished as finalist/runners-up in their respective divisions.  

Not to be outdone, BYSA's U10 Girls - Argentina, U9 Girls - USA, and U9 Boys - France each finished the weekend unbeaten in group play.