The night before the tournament a large fire broke out to the north of the venue. The strong winds fanned the flames as the fire moved south during the early morning hours and almost caused the postponement of the tournament due to the possibility of an evacuation order being enforced at the venue. Fortunately the Los Angeles Fire Department contained the fire before kick off, and the inaugural California State Championship could proceed as the smell of smoke filled the players’ noses and the sky was darkened by the smoke and ash from this fire and the larger Malibu fire to the south.

The first part of the competition was a ‘Round Robin’ where all of the players played each other. No-one was surprised that pre-tournament favorite Wayne Smith sailed through with six wins out of six games, and without conceding a goal. Simon Hutchinson finished in second place with only one loss. Edward Nathan and Kevin Nieman completed the top four with the same record of two wins, one tie which was the game between them, and two losses.

Dominic Hutchinson surprised the others with how well he played. There were no Newcomers rules so he and Adam Carlson had to play with the same rules as everyone else.

Dominic only failed to score in two games, his first against Nieman and his loss to Smith, which was the only time he was ‘Mercy’ ruled. His father, Simon, described the goal his son scored against him as a “cracker”. The younger Hutchinson went on to score what was agreed was the goal of the tournament against Nathan. Having conceded the first goal of their game Dominic took the kick off and the ball hit one of Nathan’s figures, rolled along the shooting line striking six more of Nathan’s figure, before stopping at the end of line in front on one of Dominic’s figures in a perfect shooting position. He did not waste the opportunity and shot before Nathan could get his hand on his keeper. He proved he can also score goals to win games defeating Carlson 3-0.

As Dominic and Carlson were the bottom two in the ‘Round Robin’ stage they qualified to play for Missions Trophy. Despite Dominic having lots of shots on goal, some a lot wilder than others, the Missions Trophy final ended scoreless and the winner had to be decided by shoot out. Carlson won by 2-0, scoring on his second and fifth shots. “That was a close one,” said the victorious Carlson clutching the trophy. Dominic was generous in defeat stating “Adam deserves the trophy.”

Smith cruised through to the State Championship final ‘Mercy’ ruling Nieman for the second time of the day. Simon Hutchinson beat Nathan by 3-1 to join him in the final.

Dominic and Carlson played for the third time for the Sierras Trophy, which is the under-18 competition. Dominic exacted revenge upon is opponent scoring a goal in either half. “I am pleased I won,” the victor said after the game. “We have shared the glory with one trophy each.”

The third place game for the State Championship between Nathan and Nieman ended goalless and the players agreed to share the honor of third place.

Smith won the final by a score that may not have been a fair reflection of the game. His three goals were scored in the second half and he was constantly contained as Simon defended with usual zeal. But the game was not all one way. In the first half Simon had had four shots at goal, two were saved and two narrowly missed left and right posts.

• California State Championship
  • Winner: Wayne Smith
  • Runner up: Simon Hutchinson
  • Third place: Edward Nathan and Kevin Nieman

• Missions Trophy
  • Winner: Adam Carlson
  • Runner up: Dominic Hutchinson

• Sierras Trophy
  • Winner: Dominic Hutchinson
  • Runner up: Adam Carlson

A detailed report and all the scores can be found here»