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Exhibition tour on tap: GCCC men's soccer to Illinois

Published 8/13/2010 in Sports

By JASON ELMQUIST

jelmquist@gctelegram.com

The Garden City Community College men's soccer team will be traveling over 1,300 miles round-trip this weekend for a three-day, three-game preseason event at Western Illinois University in Macomb, Ill.

"We're going back to where I played and went to school, so I'm excited," said GCCC men's soccer coach Stephen Gorton, who is a graduate of Western Illinois. "I think it will be good for the kids to get off campus and really get to know each other. We were just wanting to do something different with our kids. We graduated so many key players, I thought it was going to be a big thing for all of them to really get to know each other and have a good time early — and get to have some fun."

The men will get a good measuring stick from the weekend games, especially with the second game against Illinois Central College, whichofinished last year as the fourth-ranked team in the nation with a 17-1-1 record and is ranked No. 6 in the preseason poll.

"We get to play three junior college programs from Illinois, and good programs, at that," Gorton said. "We're just excited to see where they're at — both Illinois Central and us. We're not going to just play a few players, we want to see everybody and see how we do against them that early with just having a few practices. It's just going to be a good test for us and a good way to see some of our new players and get an idea of where they are going to fit into things."

While the Broncusters will be getting to face some competitive teams, the weekend will also be used asfora team-building experience. The Busters will be staying at the Horn Field Campus, which is a ropes course on the campus of Western Illinois.

"We're going to be staying in cabins, so that will be an adventure," Gorton said. "You shove them all into cabins together and they're living on cots. They're going to have to get to know each other and will get to live together for four days. Every morning we're going to do a team-building activity, so I'm excited. I think the guys will enjoy it and will get a chance to get away from soccer and do some things that will really bring them together."

The idea for the five-team exhibition tour was actually brought about by Gorton.

"I originally wanted to try to get at least one game set up," Gorton said. "The way our program is starting to build, a lot of teams are wanting to play us. So you're making a trip into Illinois and you're getting a lot of teams getting interested and willing to play."

The teams participating will get the opportunity to use the soccer facilities at the Division I university — which is actually home to several of Gorton's former players at GCCC.

"We'll use their facilities for games and practices," Gorton said. "I think it's going to be huge just to see a Division I campus. We'll probably watch them (Western Illinois) train a bit and we have three guys there that arewill begoing there to play. So it's just going to be a good opportunity for us — and also for the other Division I and Division II schools that are going to come out and watch and get an early recruiting base going with the five junior colleges that are going to be there. It's just an awesome opportunity and I hope it continues to grow and we continue to get some of the best programs in the country to do it."

Garden City is ranked No. 12, two spots behind fellow Region 6 competitor Barton Community College. Johnson County also received votes for the top 15 preseason poll. The Broncbusters will face Barton on the road on Sept. 29, while they will host Johnson County on Oct. 9.

Also on the schedule for the Busters is Iowa Western Community College, who GCCC will face Aug. 29 at the Barton County Tournament in Great Bend. Iowa Western also received several votes in the preseason poll. Also receiving preseason votes on Garden City's schedule is Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa, which will be a road game for the Busters on Sept. 18.

"We've tried to upgrade our schedule every single year, outside of our conference," Gorton said. "You play who you have to play in conference — whether they are ranked or not. So with our non-conference schedule, we want to bump it up as much as possible and try to play the best teams."

See schedule in Scoreboard, Page B2.

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2010 Men's Soccer Schedule

Aug. 14 — (Exhibition)

Aug. 15 — Illinois Central College (Exhibition)

Aug. 16 — (Exhibition)

Aug. 28 — North Iowa Area*

Aug. 29 — (RV) Iowa Western*

Sept. 10 — LARAMIE COUNTY

Sept. 11 — INDEPENDENCE

Sept. 15 — at Cloud County

Sept. 18 — at (RV) Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa

Sept. 20 — KCKCC

Sept. 25 — at Allen County

Sept. 26 — at Coffeyville

Sept. 29 — at (10) Barton County

Oct. 2 — at Cowley College

Oct. 6 — HESSTON

Oct. 9 — (RV) JOHNSON COUNTY

Oct. 13 — NEOSHO COUNTY

Oct. 16 — PRATT

Oct. 20 — at Dodge City

*-Barton County Tournament

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