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Boys State Soccer Returns To St. Louis
By Jim Wieners
After four years of playing in Blue Springs, a Suburb of Kansas City, the Missouri State High School Activties Association is reportedly returning the state Boys Soccer championships to the St. Louis area.
In fact the Boys State championships will be returning to a place where they played for 25 years (1986-2010), the Soccer Park in Fenton. The facility was once owned by Anheuser-Busch and the Soccer Park was renamed the Anheuser-Busch Conference and Sports Center and theAnheuser-Busch Center but now St. Louis Scott Gallagher now owns the Soccer Park and it has a new name, the World Wide Technology Soccer Park.
In an April published report the MSHSAA has made a five-year agreement to play the Boys State Soccer Champioinships at World Wide Technology Soccer Park — the home to St. Lous FC, a United Soccer League team and an affilate to Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire — and was a host to the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Assoction’s Boys Championships last May.
While at Blue Springs the state Boys, and Girls Semifinals were played at Blue Springs High and Blue Springs South High, which would have been a problem during the Boys Championships for the two Blue Springs varsity Football teams to play their state playoffs but that never happened.
The MSHSAA Boys State Soccer Championships have been a fixture to St. Louis since it started play in 1969. Prior to playing at the now World Wide Technolgy Soccer Park the Boys state championships were held at the now Lindenwood University Harlan C. Hunter Stadium, St. Charles (1978-85), the now St. Louis University Robert Hermann Stadium (1970-71, 1973 when it was known as Musial Field), the now Gateway STEM (1972, 1974-76 when it was O’Fallon Tech), Washington University’s Francis Field (1977) and Normandy High School Viking Field (1696).
The Boys road to World Wide Technology Soccer Park begins at various sites for the district tournaments beginning Oct. 21 for Classes One-Two and Oct. 24 for Classes Three-Four. It will end with two different weekends for the State Soccer Semifinals-Finals and they are Nov. 6-7 for Classes One-Two.
GIRLS SOCCER — MSHSAA has decided to play the state championships at Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City for the next five years, beginning in June, 2016. There was a published report in April mentioning this June’s State Soccer Championship may move to World Wide Technology Soccer Park if Swope Soccer Village and the MLS’ Sporting Kansas City is allowed to host a 16-team Copa America Centenario. However the wirter of this article has not received any further updates even though that decision was to be made last June.
Prior to 2012 the State Girls Championships were played at the now WWT Soccer Park since 1985 but had to play at now SLU Hermann Stadium in 1994-95 due to flooding from the Meramec River.
The road to Girls state was to begin with districts May 14. Regarldless of playing at Swope Soccer Village or WWT Soccer Park the State Tournament will be played June 1-2, 2016 for Classes One-Two and June 3-4 for Classes Three-Four.
