Soccer Club gets $5,000 to help host

After considerable discussion, the Clinton City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to give the Clinton High School Soccer Boosters $5,000 to help host this year’s second Clinton Soccer Classic Tournament.
Spokesman Marty Wandrie said this year’s tournament would draw both boys’ and girls’ teams from as far away as Miami in the northeast corner of the state.
“Each team will bring 20-50 players and coaches with them,” said Wandrie’s wife, Lisa, in her formal application for the funds. “That does not include the parents and fans who will come as well.”
Mrs. Wandrie is the Booster Club’s secretary-treasurer.
Her husband said most of the teams would be from Class 5A and 6A schools, the largest divisions in the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association. A few will be from Class 4A, in which Clinton teams participate and in which the Clinton girls won last year’s state school championship.
The Soccer Classic Tournament is scheduled March 28-30.
Schools which have committed to send both boys’ and girls’ teams here this year are Moore, Duncan, Miami, Crooked Oak and Clinton. The rest of the field is still being finalized.
Wandrie said the teams will play Thursday, be here all day Friday, and have their climactic games on Saturday. His wife estimated 200 rooms would be used at local motels and the tournament would have a $25,000 positive impact on Clinton’s economy.
Most of the teams that participated in last year’s first Clinton Soccer Classic will be back, said Mr. Wandrie. “They really enjoyed it last year,” he said. “They liked the way they could keep track of all the games going on at the same time.”
One exception is Elk City, which will not be here this year. Crooked Oak, supposedly wanting tougher competition, will replace the Elk City teams.
Councilman Jason Hulin wanted to know the purpose of the $5,000. “What do you do with it?” he asked.
Marty Wandrie said a lot of it is used to pay for referees. He said the tournament requires 15 referees who will be here from 5 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.
Councilman Bobby Stewart asked if the city ever gets any feedback on “all this money” the council authorizes to help different groups host events that bring people to Clinton.
One of his fellow councilmen, Ernie Dowdell, answered that one.
He said he’s involved in peewee baseball which has had tournaments here two years in a row.
“These people that have nothing to do between games are downtown buying clothes,” he said. Dowdell said he knew of one family that spent $400 between their son’s and daughter’s games.
Mayor David Berrong said a Chamber of Commerce committee which reviews the grant applications before they’re sent on to the council had indicated the $25,000 impact to the city’s economy was not out of line. 
Hulin wanted to know what happens if the $5,000 requested from the city is not all spent. “If there’s any residual left, what happens to that money?” he asked.
“It would go into cash reserves,” said City Manager Mark Skiles. Mayor Berrong said it goes back into a fund to help host other events.
The money actually comes from a lodging tax paid by guests using Clinton hotels and motels.
Hulin indicated he had heard enough and made a motion to approve the $5,000 request from the Soccer Boosters Club. Stewart apparently had heard enough too; he seconded the motion. They were joined in the vote by Berrong, Dowdell and Chuy Rosales.