Playing soccer for prizes and community

Using competition to build community, Penn's Residential Advisory Board sponsored an inter-college house soccer tournament Saturday afternoon in Superblock. Six teams representing five houses participated in the first-ever event. Players from Spruce, Harrison, Goldberg, Community and Harnwell houses made up the group of six teams, with Harnwell fielding two squads. The RAB is charged with advising the administration on college house issues and creating house-oriented activities. RAB co-chair Mike Pezzicola, a Wharton and Engineering sophomore who served as referee for the games, said the soccer tournament was "brought up as a good way to promote inter-house activities." College sophomore Margaret Watt, a RAB member who served as line judge for the matches, said the event was intended to "help promote community living and the college house system." The tournament was created, she added, in the hopes of fostering a little friendly competition between the different houses. Two of the teams were comprised of students who knew each other through special programs -- one of Harnwell's teams represented that house's International Program, while the Community House team was comprised of students who will be going to Mali this year to participate in a technology project. The six teams were seeded randomly in three first-round games. Of the three winners -- Harrison, Goldberg and Harnwell -- two were selected at random to compete against each other while the third received an automatic berth in the finals. After defeating Goldberg in their semifinal match, Harrison went on to defeat Harnwell in the finals, 5-2, clinching the top spot in the tournament. The competition itself was friendly but intense as players were often sent sprawling across the field as they chased after the ball. In between matches, players practiced or relaxed with their teams in the shade. RAB provided refreshments for the participants. But strengthening house community was not the sole motivation of those who participated. The winning team was awarded a $120 gift certificate to the New Deck Tavern, the second-place finisher received a $90 certificate to New Deck and third and fourth place were each given $60 certificates to Chili's. "It's nice to get out here," said third-year Irish exchange student Jonathan Feldman, who organized the winning Harrison College House team. "It's all about the prize money." Although RAB members said they would have liked to have seen more houses involved, the overall turnout of about 45 players was still gratifying for them. "We were hoping for all 12 [houses]," Watt said, "but we've never done anything like this before." The winning team, which came from the Science and Technology Wing in Harrison House, said they were pleased with the afternoon's event, complaining only of a lack of real nets -- small cones were used instead. Engineering sophomore Laura Lai, a member of RAB who also helped coordinate the event, said she felt the tournament would "exploit the whole college house system" and help facilitate inter-house communication.

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