This event, first played in December 2004, featured a Boys game with two squads created from a list of 30 boys. Played at the Cooper Soccer Complex, home of the Missouri State Bears soccer program, the game is dedicated to recognizing High School seniors who have exhibited skill and leadership on the pitch. The players in that initial game consider it a significant event in their High School playing career, despite the weather and difficulties associated with establishing anything new.

Organized that first year by Springfield Soccer Club, the second year sees the addition of the SGFsoccer.com website as a principal organizer. Here is what Lebanon High School Soccer Coach Mike Gow has to say about the origins of the game and it’s first incarnation:

Around three years ago I mentioned the idea to Jeff Rogers (Glendale HS), Tom Davidson (Kickapoo HS), Mike Howard (Rolla HS) and few other coaches and they all thought it was a great idea. So I got serious about the game, and wanting to see it happen, I started to contact a few more coaches to see if they had any players they would like to see in this event.

I then had a conversation with the MSHSAA and was informed that I, as a High School coach, couldn’t be involved in the setting up of the game. That is when Jeremy and Springfield Soccer Club stepped in and made it happen. It was a really good first year event. The weather was terrible but the kids had as good of a time as they could. There were a few college coaches from outside the area there to watch and the boys I know who participated had a good time in spite of their frostbite and soaking wet clothes.