This past week the San Diego Sparks soccer team ventured to Boston, Massachusetts, to take part in the annual International Gay & Lesbian Football Association’s World Soccer Championship. Gay soccer has come a long way since 1980, when the New York Ramblers organized the first official gay soccer team; this year more than 600 players from 40 teams and 20 countries participated in the championship, held at the Harvard Athletic Complex.

“We knew it would be competitive,” Ron Plaseied of the Sparks said of the team’s outlook going into the week-long tournament. “At the onset we didn’t know where we would finally land. We knew that we had a chance of beating every team that was there because we have seen them all before at different tournaments, but, as you know, each individual game has its own ups and downs.”

Out of 20 men’s teams that participated in the tournament, the Sparks ended up finishing in second place They opened up play by going 3-1-1 to earn a fifth-place seed in the eight-team single elimination tournament to decide the champion.

“Through the preliminaries we determined what we needed to improve,” Plaseied added. “We made some changes in the lineup…. Through that, determination and just raw energy we took second place.”

In the quarter finals of the tournament the Sparks faced Boston and got on the board in the first half after scoring a goal on a penalty kick by Ed Pappert. Boston countered with a goal on a penalty kick as well, but Eric Eiben saved the day for the Sparks with a goal in the second half to give them the win.

In the semifinals the Sparks found themselves matched up against the undefeated number one seed in the tournament, Atlanta. Once again, Eric Eiben came through for the Sparks, getting them on the board while Chris Harrison held them scoreless throughout the game. In the final three minutes of play the Sparks picked up a little insurance when Jeremy Salas crossed the ball over to Ryan Lee, who was charging on the goal and headed it in.

Going into the finals, the Sparks were a little battered and bruised as they faced Team America, and two of their key players, Mark Alford and Aaron Kirschenmann, ended up having to watch from the sidelines.

“We did well, as a matter of fact we could have done better if we weren’t so unfortunately crippled with injuries from a couple of our key people,” Sparks Coach Leslie Randolph told the Gay and Lesbian Times. “No one went and played weakly, everybody on the team played strong. One of the things that has held us together is our sense of connection with each other off the field.”

Team America held the Sparks scoreless in the finals to win the game, 3-0. The second place finish was the Sparks’ strongest performance in the tournament since they took first place in the 1992.

“The tournament overall was one of great camaraderie amongst the Sparks team,” Plaseied said. “We really pulled it together; having been ranked fifth going into the quarter finals and pulling out second was no easy task.”

Next year the World Soccer Championship will be held in San Francisco, where the Sparks look forward to making another strong showing. For more information about the Sparks soccer team, visit the Gay and Lesbian Times online at www.gaylesbiantimes.com for a link to their web site.