Dear Parents of Irvine K-8 students:

The purpose of this petition is to urge IPSF to change the annual date of the Harvest Cup soccer tournament, per the reasons below. Please continue reading for further information, and, if you agree, add your name INCLUDING YOUR SCHOOL.

Special shout out to parents of kids in club or AYSO - please support us!

Thank you.

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Dear IPSF,

We urge you to change the date of the annual Harvest Cup Tournament. The event currently takes place each year in the Fall in the middle of club and AYSO soccer league play. Further, the timing immediately follows the 3-week Fall break of year-round schools.

Details:

1) Many of our youth who love soccer also play on league soccer teams such as AYSO or club teams. Every year, the kids who are on league teams have to choose between their school or their league team. Leagues do not release players to play for their schools. This creates a lot of unnecessary emotional distress. It does not make sense to organize a soccer tournament during the primary soccer season. It's like organizing the Pro Bowl (a post-season NFL fun event) during the NFL regular season. Those who are playing in their regular league games wouldn't attend the Pro Bowl. Basically, the kids who really love soccer can't play in both places. And, if they do, they are playing in way too many games which takes a toll on their bodies and places them at a disadvantage.

2) The current date is disadvantageous to year-round schools. Year round schools are on fall break and return just in time for the Harvest Cup event. This defeats the purpose of bonding with the team. Year round schools don't get the opportunity to practice together or "gear up" for the event as other schools do. Year-round kids are penalized for their school schedule.

3) Smaller elementary and middle schools can't participate Harvest Cup. Unfortunately, if kids have to choose between their club and Harvest Cup, they often have to choose their club. As such, those who don't have large schools can't field a team because the soccer players aren't available. For example, Vista Verde girls could not form a team last year because Harvest Cup fell on club soccer days. This is devastating to kids. The window that kids have to play with their classmates at this age is very small.

A lot of stress and disappointment can be avoided by moving the dates. We suggest a weekend following Thanksgiving weekend when league play is over/before the holiday break, or one of the weekends following MLK in January. Parents, parent coach volunteers, and of course student soccer players would be grateful and relieved to not have to miss out on this unique event year after year.

A recent email sent to IUSD families from IPSF claimed:

"Inspiring Big Dreams
Students have more opportunities to explore interests and cultivate dreams through unique programs like the Irvine CubeSat STEM Program, Tournament of Champions, Science Fair, Naviance counseling software, college scholarships and more. The sky is no longer the limit!"

Apparently, there is a limit with regard to the Tournament of Champions - under which Harvest Cup falls. Many students are excluded or placed at a disadvantage at no fault of their own.

Irvine Parents