Soccer6 seems to be a hit

Mac Thompson seems to have enough on his plate with teaching and his duties as athletic director at Mariners Christian School in Costa Mesa.

But then again there’s always the summer, a perfect time to create a new soccer league. Thompson organized Soccer 6, a six-against-six adult soccer league. After the inaugural season, which ended Sunday, Thompson just might be on to something.

The first season of Soccer6 generated plenty of goal scoring and attracted a good number of people for a new type of game.

There were 175 players registered and 16 teams, playing in two divisions in an eight-week season.

Alliance FC, based out of Irvine, won the men’s A division, in the Soccer6 inaugural year. Body by Jake, from Fountain Valley won the B division.

“I am thrilled with how the first season went,” Thompson, 35, said. “I never expected to start this league and have 16 teams. I expected more like five or six and thought it would take to grow. I knew I had something special with what I was doing but the attention it’s already received and the positive feedback has been surprisingly great.”

To help get the word out about his new league, Thompson put together a clean website, soccer6.net, and also created a Facebook page. He directed a tournament to produce more interest.

Thompson had played in local adult leagues, but he wanted to start something different, something fun.

He had seen some seven-vs.-seven leagues, but those featured a smaller, tighter goal. In Thompson’s Soccer6 league, the goals are regulation size.

In addition to having league championship teams, Thompson also created the Golden Boot award, given to the player who scores the most goals.

Normally, Thompson would play in the league, but he wanted to focus on getting his league started right. That meant plenty of organization.

The goal statistics were posted on the website.

The league brought out so many types of players, Thompson said. Swedish players on a six-month visa to stay in Newport Beach played in the league, Thompson said.

Some of them were professional poker players, Thompson said.

“We had an incredible time playing in soccer6 this summer,” said Dennis Bejedal, a professional poker player from Sweden living in Newport Beach. “There are similar leagues like this in Sweden and they are just so much fun. This league was excellent, especially in how it was run. The league covered everything, they were really detailed. Each week was well organized really enjoyable. I will be back next year and expect to bring my team, FC Sweden back.”

Thompson said he plans to start another season at the end of August, providing a men’s division and co-ed division.