By MIKE CAPUTO
Yet, Covanta Tournament Director Steve Epstein and his volunteer committee are still working on it.
Final financial calculations highlight the few tasks remaining before the tournament committee closes the book on the 2008 installment held in late August. But before the committee can take a breath and reflect on the event's success, it must begin focusing on the next Covanta Tournament, to be held on the weekend of Aug. 29, 2009.
By January, the monthly committee meetings become weekly sessions. As the months pass by, the weekly meetings become even more frequent. Come summer time, the volunteers pitch in hours of work on a daily basis.
A prerequisite for Covanta Tournament organizers is commitment, something that Epstein takes seriously. The attorney by trade is so focused on delivering a memorable weekend that he takes nearly the entire month of August off from his law practice.
"That is the dedication that some of these people have" said Eric Schwartz, president of the East Meadow Soccer Club. "People schedule vacations for work. It is just an unbelievable amount of work that comes in. Without the volunteers, it wouldn't be possible."
But the planning behind the tournament doesn't stop with Epstein and his tournament committee. There are six or seven subcommittees consisting of dozens of volunteers that focus on specific aspects of the event, including scheduling, field assignments and finances.
In addition to the committee members, hundreds of parents, alumni and players offer their services in preparation, during and after the annual tournament.
"Certain people come down and give a great amount of their hours and time volunteering," Epstein said. "It is those people that make the experience better for the kids."
The Covanta Tournament, formerly known as the Ref-Fuel Tournament before the sponsoring company changed names, is a respected Long-Island based event that provides preseason competition for youth teams of all levels and age groups from across the region. Annually, about 380 teams register for the tournament, which takes place the weekend before Labor Day at over 50 fields spread out across about 15 sites in Nassau County. It is believed to be the largest soccer tournament in New York State.
Scheduling is an aspect that organizers take extra seriously. As registration forms are sent in to East Meadow soccer club headquarters, volunteers perform extensive research on each applicant's ability and history to ensure proper placement in the final brackets.
"We can't take a [premier level] team and play them against Division 4 team," Epstein said. "They are not going to come back to a tournament because they are going to want the right competition."
Also, the Covanta Tournament is known for its favorable collaboration of starting times and field sites. Because of the committee's scheduling method, divisions are designated a specific field, and teams are not forced to wait several hours before playing another game, Epstein explained.
Epstein's predecessor, Bill Walsh, was tournament director for six years until he left the post in 2005. Although his daughters are now adults, and are no longer members of the soccer club, Walsh is still involved, especially come tournament weekend.
"'What else are you going to do with yourself?' Walsh recalled his wife saying to him. "'You better get yourself involved and stay involved with the tournament.'"
Each tournament weekend, Walsh loads his van with soccer equipment and field items. He remains on standby if a site encounters any trouble.
As a former director, Walsh knows the collective effort that goes into the annual event.
"It is an unbelievably big, enormous undertaking that takes the health and work of dozens and dozens of volunteers," Walsh said.
Additional revenue accumulated from the tournament is split equally among East Meadow's travel teams, to be used for training. The East Meadow Soccer Club has over 1500 players that join from across Long Island. Epstein, who is also the club's executive vice president, volunteers time not only for his two daughters, but also for all of the participants.
"Seeing the kids play on the field is what really makes it worth the while because it is really a tremendous amount of work," Epstein said.
To mark the 30th anniversary of the Covanta Tournament, local elected officials will honor the East Meadow Soccer Club in a special ceremony at Speno Park on Oct. 18.
Comments about this story? MCaputo@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 287.
