Veterans Day Soccer Festival to Benefit the Troops

Known to many simply as 'the Festival,' Danvers Youth Soccer will be hosting its sixth annual this weekend, with proceeds benefitting Danvers based Operation Troop Support.

For Danvers Youth Soccer president Jeff Chambers, partnering with Operation Troop Support for a Veterans Day tournament was "a natural match."

"Operation Troop Support was really beginning to hit its stride, receiving both local and national recognition, around the time we were seeking to run a small, "for fun" event catering to younger players on Veterans Day weekend," said Chambers.

This year, more than 550 players are expected to compete in the festival, with 46 teams spanning from 17 different towns.

Chambers said the festival over the first five years has accumulated more than $35,000 for Operation Troop Support. The timing, he said, works perfectly with the holiday season approaching, defraying the non-profit's shopping and postal costs.

Each year local businesses and restaurants do their part participating in the event as well. , New England Coffee, Bagel World and Lazer Lines have been partnered with Danvers Youth Soccer since the event's inception, Chambers said, as well as the Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts from Danvers helping out over the years.

This year pizza will be supplied by , and the Touchdown Club of Danvers is donating equipment and supplies.

"I am just glad I can be a part of this every year," said Bob Gilmore, director of publicity for DYS. "I know Operation Troop Support really appreciates Jeff and all of DYS's volunteers for what they do."

The games will be played on Saturday and Sunday, November 12-13, starting at *AM each day and going until 3-4 p.m. There will be four fields at on Hobart St, adjacent to the , and one field next door at