Update: April 17, 2013
The ‘King of the Mall’ soccer tournament has been postponed to Thursday, April 18 and will start at 3:30 p.m. Every team will have a fitted shirt and the winning team will receive a trophy and several gift cards to various restaurants in the area, according to Kyle Johnson, a journalism junior, marketing team member and sports reporter for the Arizona Daily Wildcat.
FC Tucson, a premier developmental soccer league, and the UA’s sports marketing management class have partnered up to host the first ever “King of the Mall” soccer competition.
The three-on-three competition will take place on the UA Mall Thursday starting at 3:30 p.m., and co-ed teams can be made of either three to four members.
The contract between FC Tucson and the sports marketing management class was created last fall semester through the efforts of sports marketing management students, according to Victor Piscitello, sports marketing management lecturer.
The partnership has been in place for several months now, said Alex Morrison, a liaison between FC Tucson and the sports marketing management class. The event was assigned to sports marketing management students in early January in order to engage them with hands-on experience in sports marketing.
“What I try to do in my classes is teach sports management principles in marketing through actual events,” Piscitello said.
Event sign up took place last week, and all student teams were invited to join, according to Piscitello. The sign-up fee was $30 per team. There will be four fields on the Mall so teams can play simultaneously.
Each team that competes is guaranteed at least two games, according to Wesley Baker, a business management junior.
“We are hoping to highlight our student body with this event,” Piscitello said.
“We decided the best way to market a soccer competition was to have our own; it is also a great way to get the student body involved,” Baker said.
The event has room for 16 teams and 12 teams have signed up to compete so far, Piscitello said.
“We hope to have at least 16 teams come out and compete this Thursday,” Baker said. “This is our first year holding the event; we are uncertain of the outcome but excited to see the turnout.”
Update: Feb. 21, 2013, 12:05 a.m.
The “King of the Mall” soccer competition has been cancelled due to wet fields on the UA Mall, according to a Facebook post by Kyle Johnson, a journalism junior, marketing team member and sports reporter for the Arizona Daily Wildcat.
The UA’s sports marketing management class is looking to postpone the event but is still unsure of the date. The class is targeting a date a month from now and is looking to make the event at a convenient time for students, according to Johnson.
