Local teams claim sand titles

It wasn’t your typical soccer tournament. This one had sand involved. And plenty of it.

The 13th annual Longboard Classic Sand Soccer Tournament wrapped up two days of competition Sunday with championship finals and two local teams ended up claiming first place.

With 16 teams entered in this year’s event, it was the Gumbas winning the women’s division by virtue of a 6-0 victory over the 909ers. On the men’s side, Voo Doo Doc, sponsored by the Huntington Beach Beer Company, defeated a CHG team sponsored by Longboard Restaurant & Pub of Huntington Beach, on penalty kicks.

The tournament was open to players ages 18 and older and included teams from Southern, Central and Northern California.

Tournament director Jeff Benbow said the event is based on a sand soccer tournament in Mexico and the Longboard Restaurant & Pub helps run it.

“The number of teams have varied from year to year,” Benbow said. “We have had teams from Germany, Brazil, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, North Carolina, Virginia, Nevada, Utah, Colorado and of course our California teams, and in the early years we had players from the U.S. beach professional team.”

Matches were made up of two, 20-minute halves.

“Beach Soccer has been a growing sport and the Longboard Classic Sand Soccer Tournament has been a local favorite but with the additional draw of the beautiful surf, we have been able to have this tournament for 13 years,” Benbow said. “In years past we have also held the Beach Soccer Tournament for kids from Under-8 through Under-18 (divisions), and since we had an overwhelming response, we plan on bringing the tournament back to the beaches of Huntington Beach in 2008.”