Columbia Invitational tournament gets bigger and better every year

Just when I think that the Columbia Invitational Soccer Tournament may have peaked in terms of the number of teams that come here to play, I discover that there is apparently some room to grow. The 31st version of the tournament concluded May 28 and the 370 teams that came to play represented the largest turnout in the tournament's long history. Those teams came from 22 states and Canada and brought in nearly 20,000 people and an estimated $1.5 million for local merchants, according to figures provided to me by first-year tournament director, 31-year-old Mike Libber.

"The weather was great, the facilities were great and we suffered just one serious injury -- a broken leg -- in the 676 total games played," stated the former University of Maryland, Baltimore County soccer star who started playing in this tournament years ago at the age of 7.

This is a far cry from the start of the tournament a third-of-a-century ago when the entire tournament cost was $500 and one of the ugliest trophies ever in this county or anywhere else was given to the winner. The cost for the 240 officials alone this year was approximately $60,000 and awards another $12,000. And when the final numbers are counted the people at SAC-Howard County should be smiling. There is still lots of money left for the association to conduct its program first class.

Libber, the former varsity soccer coach at Oakland Mills (2004-05) replaced Louise Waxler as tournament director. He is an outside contractor who was brought in this year to run major SAC events with the traveling teams. Based on his performance, he could have a long stay here.

Mt. Hebron's Alban wins Kelly Memorial Scholarship

I'd like to pass along a written pat on the back to Mt. Hebron's Lisa Alban, the winner of the Christopher Kelly Memorial Scholarship for 2007, as awarded by The Howard County Youth Program, Inc. Lisa first played softball as a 9-year-old pitcher in North Carolina, leading her team to a league championship. After moving to Maryland and becoming a 10-year-old HCYP Patriot, she helped her team to a second-place state finish, and a 24th-place finish at the National Softball Association nationals.

Lisa has also served the sport of softball as a camp counselor for HCYP and has even worked the diamond as a baseball umpire. Last year she achieved level 5 status, the highest level an umpire can earn. Lisa plans to major in biomedical engineering at Virginia Tech. As if all that weren't enough, Lisa is ranked first in her class with a 4.69 weighted grade-point average.

This is the 14th year the Christopher Kelly Memorial Scholarship has been awarded, according to a press release. The scholarship was created to commemorate the life of Christopher Kelly, a baseball player at HCYP, whose life tragically ended in a bicycle accident. For more information, call Steve Lee at 443-276-9595.

Bocce, anyone?

I saw the game of bocce played just once and that was in Little Italy in Baltimore. Now if I want to watch it again, I can go to Cedar Lane Park, in Columbia. Recently new bocce courts opened and will be used by the Special Olympics Howard County for training and competition. They will also be opened to the public and were built by Life Scout Andy Byun for his Eagle Scout project, supported by the people at rec and parks.

What a nifty idea. Congratulations to Andy and rec and parks. Is there no end to what the gang at Special Olympics can do?

Administrators get some well-deserved accolades

I was pleased to hear that the Maryland State Athletic Directors Association recently honored several local administrators for their service to our athletics program. Mike Williams, the county's coordinator of athletics, was honored for 20 years of service; Vince Parnell, the Wilde Lake athletics and activities manager, was honored for 25 years of service; and Mike Duffy, the Howard High athletics and activities manager, was honored as Athletic Director of the Year for District 5. Keep up the great work guys, we couldn't have one of the finest high school sports programs in the country without you.

E-mail Stan Ber at Stan Ber@patuxent.com