Fairchild to host Military Women's World Cup

MEAD – Area residents can expect to see international military soccer this summer at no cost when Fairchild Air Force Base 

host the 13th Military Women's World Cup in July.

The Conseil International Du Sport Militaire (CISM) revealed the site during a Feb. 18 press conference.

Teams representing 10 countries will compete at Union Stadium in Mead from July 11-22 to determine which country will claim the championship trophy. Games will be held twice a day for 10 days at 3:30 and 7 p.m. The championship match is on July 22 at 4 p.m.

"We're going to have 10 countries coming here on Jul. 9," said Lt. Col. Jeremiah Kirschman, Fairchild tournament director for the event. "We'll get three from the Americas-you're talking Brazil the reigning champ, team USA, since we're hosting, and probably Canada from the north. Then three from Europe, two from Asia, and two from Africa."

While searching for an adequate venue, Kirschman said he was "blown away" when he saw how nice Union Stadium is and immediately wanted to partner with Mead School District.

"It's an honor to partner with the Air Force on this," said Mead School District Superintendent Shawn Woodward. "When we built the stadium, we knew that it was going to be a great place for our student-athletes to perform for their families and the community. We also knew that we could host some really cool events and allow our community to have some good shared experiences." 

Not all of the teams are officially determined at this point. Interested member nations still have to go through a checklist of continental requirements, according to U.S. President of CISM Steve Dinote.

"We sent out an invitation to member nations of CISM and we have until Mar. 15 for those interested countries to respond," Dinote said. "There are allocations per continent and there are four continents within CISM. Within Europe, Asia, and Africa, they have different qualification standards, and sometimes have a qualifying tournament."

Kirschman is also the Air Force and Armed Forces soccer coach and works as the 92nd Mission Support Group Deputy Commander at Fairchild.

"Usually, our events are held on the base," Dinote said. "When they're held outside the base, and we have the community rally behind the base and the program, it just really enhances the overall experience. Not just for the base itself, but the players coming in from around the world too."

The U.S Armed Forces sports program serves many military sectors and is very active in holding events such as this. 

"We involve all six services branches with service members stationed around the world," Dinote said. "We have 25 different sports in our portfolio and every year, we try to hold a world CISM military championship."

According to LT. Col. Marci Walton, team USA includes athletes from all branches. Walton is also the assistant coach for Team USA Soccer.

"I think about how pumped I am to come back here in June with the team. We're bringing 40 women from all the service branches to come here and do a tryout and trial camp," Walton said. "We'll do our training and prepare for the tournament, so we'll be here from June up until the tournament."

Dinote also explained much of the CISM's history and how the United States got involved in a large-scale military sports program.

"CISM has been around since 1948, and we've been members since 1951," he said. "We were one of the original architects of CISM back in 1946 when we started what was then called the inter-allied games, and then it morphed into CISM."

All agree having a program available for service members promotes healthy competition and offers a fun venue for military personnel to interact with one another.

"We are happy that we are out of the barracks and especially here in the city," said Major Rudi Fell, who hails from Germany. "To bring in young people so they can visit here and play sports. Some of the teams have professional players so you can expect a very high level of play."

Walton said the CISM program had a significant impact on her career and her life.

"Being able to be on this side of it now and helping to organize this for our younger players that are coming up is just a huge joy for me, she said."

The event is free and open to the public.

"We really encourage all the soccer players and all the soccer fans to come out and support our event," Kirschman said. "We are thrilled to have this in the Spokane area, and the community support has been unbelievable."