FORT WAYNE – Youth soccer in Fort Wayne has grown up.

What better explanation for the number of local players from the Fever teams who participated in this year’s ShindigZ National Soccer Festival at Hefner Fields?

Nineteen former members of the Fever program played for nine of the college teams that participated in the three-day festival.

Six of the former Fever members play at IPFW in James Till, Grant Welter, Mitch Falkenstern, Max Touloute, Brent Helton and Joe Stoffel.

Indiana, ranked No. 21 in the preseason poll, has three former Fever players in Cam Jordan, Nate Mitchell and Tim Wylie.

Others are Gavin Chura and Jesse Sharp, Evansville; Jacob Capito, Butler; Mark Weigand and Kegan Harkenrider, Denver; Nick Wilson, Michigan State; Reagan Perkey, Indiana Tech, and Jocelyn Evans, Grace.

“It definitely attracts talent,” Fever director Matt Chura said.

“When you have an event like this, the younger kids aspire to want to play at that level.”

Bronn Pfeiffer, assistant coach at IPFW and also a Fever director, agreed: “They get a little exposure to a higher level they normally don’t get to see. They get to watch IU every time they come up here; they’re the draw.”

The Fever program is for boys and girls ages 5 to 19.

Just saying ‘No’

With word being out about the festival, it seems as though several teams want to come to Fort Wayne to be a part of it.

Unfortunately, festival founder Terry Stefankiewicz said, not everyone can be part of it.

“I turn people away every year. People don’t understand that,” Stefankiewicz said. “I got a call from IUPUI, from Western Michigan, from Oakland, and unfortunately, the quality of play (at the festival) is so high that some of the teams are saying, ‘We’d rather play against a Louisville or a Duke.’

“Teams that we used to welcome, we’ve grown too much.”

Big Ten in the black

The seven Big Ten teams that played over the weekend finished with a combined 3-2-3 record.

Indiana defeated Duke and tied with Denver, Wisconsin tied Loyola, Penn State defeated Louisville, Michigan tied Evansville, Ohio State lost to Notre Dame, Michigan State beat Duke, and Butler, with the largest one-game offensive output of the men’s college teams, defeated Northwestern 4-1.

Roundup

MICHIGAN STATE 1, DUKE 0: In its only appearance of the festival, Michigan State defeated Duke. Tim Kreutz scored the Spartans’ only goal.

BUTLER 4, NORTHWESTERN 1: Capito’s penalty kick was the final goal for Butler. Other Bulldogs who scored were Ben Sippola, Julian Cardona and Adam Glanzer.

Oliver Kupe had Northwestern’s goal.

stwarden@jg.net