20 years and running, Kirk McIntosh is still in charge at Daily Pilot Cup youth soccer tournament

Every year, Kirk McIntosh thinks it will be his last as tournament director of the Daily Pilot Cup youth soccer tournament.

And every year, McIntosh, who founded the tournament, is back running it. The tournament for Newport-Mesa elementary schools starts Tuesday and runs through June 2.

The Costa Mesa resident, a lawyer, is out at the fields at Costa Mesa High, Jack R. Hammett Sports Complex and Davis Elementary to make sure the Pilot Cup, in its 20th year, is running smoothly.

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McIntosh, 65, is a longtime youth soccer coach and his five daughters — Terra, Krista, Ashley, Alexandra and Courtney — all played the sport for Kaiser Elementary. When Alexandra was a fourth-grader, he sought out a tournament so that the Kaiser girls could play against other schools.

All that’s required to enter is $10, which includes a team T-shirt. All that McIntosh requires to know that he’s still doing something he loves is to watch a third-and fourth-grade Bronze Division game at the Pilot Cup.

“You go watch a girls’ third-and-fourth Bronze game over there at Costa Mesa High, and it’s total chaos, but they’re just having a blast,” McIntosh said. “I’d be very confident in saying that most of those kids have never played in any competitive environment in any sport. They’re having their first actual look at a team game.

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“One of those girls will go up and kick the ball, and as soon as she kicks it, she turns to look for her parents, see if her parents saw that she got contact with the ball.”

McIntosh has built the tournament from 28 teams in its first year to more than 200 in most recent years. This year, he said about 195 teams will suit up at the tournament, which has produced stars over the years.

Water polo Olympic gold medalist Maddie Musselman played for Andersen Elementary as a goalie. Jack McBean, who has played for the Los Angeles Galaxy, once dominated opponents for Mariners Christian. Former Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant has even been sighted at the tournament, watching his daughters in action.

Everyone seems to look forward to the tournament, McIntosh included. It wasn’t always so easy to put on.

“The first couple of years, I had to call schools, call principals, try to raise money,” he said. “I went to all of the local organizations, the Rotary Clubs and that type of thing. They’d give me a $500 check, I’d give my presentation, and I’d have to eat a spaghetti dinner.

“I got private individuals to help us with it. Without that, we’d have never been able to get this thing rolling. It costs money to have the tournament.”

There is a bracketing committee that makes the schedule for each division. Certain individuals make McIntosh’s life easier during tournament week, including his self-described “right-hand man” Paul Hillson, referee coordinator Jeff Grant and volunteer Pam Garrett.

“Twenty years is a long time to do anything,” said Hillson, who like McIntosh, started coaching his kids — Dylan, Hannah and Jake — for Kaiser at the Pilot Cup. “It’s just growing and growing, the tournament is. I mean, Kirk is a very cool-headed person, which I think you kind of need to be in that position.

“There are a lot of complaints. You field a lot of questions, a lot of complaints from parents and coaches. To control an event that large, it’s pretty remarkable that he’s done it for 20 years.”

Grant, who has coached an AYSO Region 97 Extra division team with McIntosh for the last couple of years, is just impressed with what the tournament has become.

“It’s unlike any other youth sporting event that I’ve ever been associated with,” Grant said. “A lot of these kids play organized soccer, but a lot of them also don’t. It’s an opportunity for kids to play soccer with their classmates, and it’s something that they don’t normally get through organized soccer.

“It’s kind of hard to believe how big of an event it is for the kids. They start talking about this tournament in November or December, they start talking about Pilot Cup. It really is an amazing level of enthusiasm that these kids have for this tournament.”

McIntosh isn’t sure when he’ll call it quits. On championship Sunday every year, all of the championship teams gather near the snack bar at the Jack R. Hammett Sports Complex, and he announces the winners and presents the trophies.

“I never would have thought that I’d be here 20 years,” McIntosh said. “The problem I have is that once the tournament is over, I forget about it, right? Then all of a sudden, it’s February and we’ve got to start the tournament again and I have nobody else.”

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