MITCHELL — One of the largest indoor futsal tournaments in the country will celebrate its 15th anniversary this weekend, with eyes on future growth as well.
The Wesleyan Indoor Winter Classic will take place at Dakota Wesleyan University this weekend, from Friday, Feb. 21 to Sunday, Feb. 23. The competition welcomes more than 60 teams from South Dakota and multiple surrounding states. There will be separate boys and girls divisions for ages under-10 through under-19.
The tournament was brought to national prominence by former DWU women’s soccer head coach Clay Glasgow, who grew the tournament to at one point the largest hard surface futsal tournament in the United States.
Current DWU women’s head coach and tournament director John Hakari said he believes the tournament has had sustained success in Mitchell of all places because of the winter climate. Unlike farther south where winter weather may permit some outside soccer activities, states such as South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and other surrounding states don’t have that option.
“It’s grown because it’s one of the only options that [teams] have in this area,” Hakari said. “You get a great venue, lots of games, lots of kids together playing, and you really don’t have a lot of other options given the snow and the cold.”
At its core, futsal is soccer made to be played inside on a basketball-type court. Instead of the traditional 11 players on each team, that number is sized down to five with four field players and a goalkeeper. The ball is also smaller than a regulation-sized soccer with a rubber core so the ball doesn’t bounce as much.
With a smaller ball, fewer players and a smaller playing field, the sport is played at a much faster pace than normal soccer. The sport is very popular in South American countries and has grown in popularity in the United States over the last few decades.
Since the tournament’s peak in teams, participation has shrunk, but it is still one of the largest tournaments in the country. Hakari said there’s reason to celebrate that the tournament has had the sustained success it’s had. However, he wants to return to the time when it was the largest tournament in the country.
“Right now, we’re working on getting back to that,” Hakari said. “I think at its largest, we were bringing in over 120 teams from all over the Midwest. Over the last few years, we’ve been bringing in between 60 and 80 teams. So we’re hoping to get back to over 100 teams to earn that honor again of being the largest one.”
Hakari said one of the keys to future growth is working in tandem with the local leaders to have the event at the perfect time. This year, he said other large events were scheduled for the same weekend in Mitchell and have made hotel space limited, driving some teams away. To that point, there’s a peewee state hockey tournament and a state swim meet taking place in Mitchell this weekend.
But another way he said growth can occur is just by experiencing the atmosphere of the tournament. The event is played at the DWU/Avera Sports and Wellness Complex and at the Christian Athletic Center. All the playing courts are right next to each other, making for a very intense and intimate atmosphere.
“You have just hundreds of people watching these futsal games. You bring a kid to that, you bring a family to that and they always have an amazing experience, and they want to bring more [people],” Hakari said. “That’s just leaning into the players, the families and the coaches having a good experience at our tournament. Then they go back to their club and say, ‘Hey, we should bring more teams to this next year.’”
There is no admission fee to the event and Hakari said that’s in large part to add to the atmosphere to make the event as enjoyable for spectators as possible. The tournament serves as a fundraiser to support the Tigers’ men’s and women’s soccer programs.
“We don’t want to discourage anybody. We don’t want money to discourage anyone from coming to watch their kid play,” Hakari said.
Nathan Swaffar is a sports reporter for the Mitchell Republic. He joined the Mitchell Republic in July 2024 after graduating from the University of Kansas in May of 2024 with a degree in journalism and a minor in history. He covers a variety of prep and collegiate sports throughout South Dakota including USD Football.
