Thousands of youth soccer players geared up for 28th annual Plum Kick-Off Classic

By: Michael Love
Thursday, August 21, 2025 | 4:57 PM

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The largest youth soccer tournament in Pennsylvania is set for its 28th edition this weekend.

Tournament director Jamie Stewart said Plum Area Youth Soccer and PA West are excited to host the Plum Kick-Off Classic and will welcome teams from neighboring communities and throughout the region.

“We are right around 300 teams this year,” Stewart said. “We jumped two or three years ago to get there, and it has stayed at that number since then. It is super awesome. I am involved in soccer from a lot of different angles, and I very much look forward to this as so many other people do. We don’t spend a lot of time publicizing this. It’s a lot of word of mouth. Once people get a chance to play in the tournament, they want to keep coming back.”

Stewart said he isn’t sure exactly what percentage of the nearly 300 teams this year are returning, but he said it is special to welcome them back and also a lot of fun to welcome new teams to the tournament.

“I was at Sam’s Club (Friday morning) picking up some stuff, and one of the guys helping us out there said he was a referee in the tournament some years back,” Stewart said.

“When you figure 300 teams with 10 to 15 players on a team, you have 4,000-plus kids playing this weekend. That is awesome. That is what we all do what we do, to get kids out there playing and having fun.”

The tournament kicks off at 6 p.m. Friday, and games through Sunday will be at the tournament’s hub at Larry Mills Park in Plum as well as Plum Middle School, Boyce Park, Murrysville Community Park and Monroeville Community Park.

Games will run continuously from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.

Champions will be crowned in many boys and girls divisions from U9 to U15.

More than two dozen teams from youth organizations in the Alle-Kiski Valley will be in one or more of the divisional brackets.

Plum Youth Soccer will have 18 teams in action hoping to claim a championship on its home fields.

“Our kids really look forward to it,” said Stewart, also the Plum varsity girls soccer coach and the recording secretary for Plum Area Youth Soccer.

“They start preparing over the summertime. They spend a lot of practice time getting ready. This means a lot to them. There is a lot of pride involved.”

Volunteers and other workers were busy preparing and lining the fields at Larry Mills Park on Thursday afternoon.

“It’s always nice to see all the volunteers ready to work and do everything they can to make this weekend a success,” Stewart said. “It takes a village to run this tournament. You have the core people who are planning this every year, but it takes a lot of hands to make everything come together. It started a couple of weeks ago with some prep days, and this week, every night, we’ve had 20 to 30 volunteers up (at Larry Mills Park) getting things ready.”

Stewart said much thanks goes out to those involved at Murrysville Community Park and Monroeville Community Park for their efforts to host games over the three days.

“We’ve grown, and our relationship with Monroeville and Murrysville allows us to do what we do,” Stewart said. “We’ve got five fields in Monroeville and five in Murrysville. If we didn’t have those fields, there are just not enough fields in Plum to host all of these games. They’ve been so gracious, and it means a lot that they are willing to be partners with us.”

For more information about this weekend’s tournament, visit plumkickoffclassic.com.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Plum