By DREW GRANTHUM/Sports Editor

While the Alabama FC season may have just ended with a championship in the WPSL Southeastern Conference, the Birmingham United Soccer Association is just getting started.

The Association is already ironing out the details for the seventh annual Birmingham Bash, a soccer tournament that welcomes youth teams from across the south to play at various fields in the Birmingham area, including SportsBlast 280.

“Last year was our biggest year,” Andrew Brower, executive director said. “(There were) 196 teams from a seven-to-eight state radius.”
The tournament will be held Oct. 4-5, and will feature teams from all skill levels, Brower said.

In addition to providing a competitive outlet for athletes ages 10-18, Brower said the tournament gave Shelby County a major boost in terms of financial profits.

“We do four-to-five major events through the year,” he said. “It brings tons of people to Shelby County, filling up hotels on 280 and 119.”

Brower said he expected teams, players and families from Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, South Carolina, Arkansas and Kentucky to attend, and said he expected most to stay in Shelby County.

We’ve done some economic impact studies, (and) last year it was close to two-and-a-half to three million dollars coming in,” he said. “They spend a lot of money. They’ll be here Friday-Sunday.”

The registration deadline to enter a team in the tournament is September 12, and team acceptances will be posted September 19. The schedules for each of the teams participating in the event will be posted September 26.

There is no cost to attend the event as a spectator, Brower said. For more information on the event, visit Birminghamunited.com.