POULSBO — Parking spots were scarce near practically every sizable patch of grass in North Kitsap last weekend.

Soccer enthusiasts undoubtedly had the time of their lives in Poulsbo for four days as the 23rd annual Viking Cup took center stage in Poulsbo and Kingston during Memorial Day weekend.

In 2006, almost 90 teams competed in the 22nd annual Viking Cup. This year, the number soared to 107 teams.

The surge brought a smile to Viking Cup director and soccer junkie Cam Corey’s face.

“You can just feel the energy and the excitement of all of these games going on at once,” Corey said during the championship round Monday afternoon. “It’s all about the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat at this tournament.”

Kitsap County teams showed up in droves to taste both.

“I would say probably 40 percent of the teams here are from the local area stretching out towards Gig Harbor,” he said. “Pretty much all of the select programs in the North Kitsap area are playing the tournament, too.”

Corey said he hopes Viking Cup will continue for years to come.

“This tournament has been happening for the last 23 years and I hope it goes on for another 23 years,” he said. “Besides the Kitsap County Fair and Viking Fest, this tournament brings in more money than any other event throughout the year. It’s one of the biggest events in Kitsap.”

Poulsbo Dairy Queen supervisor Amanda Krueger said her restaurant was packed with Viking Cup competitors throughout the weekend.

“We were just slammed with people on Friday and Saturday,” she said. “It was really busy. We had quite a few individual kids from a lot of teams coming here to eat.”

Gig Harbor resident Chris Brown was in town, watching his daughter Olivia play in the GU-12 championship game on Monday afternoon. Brown said he was impressed by the smoothness in which Viking Cup was run by its organizers.

“This tournament is so well organized,” he said. “They put on quite a show here. It’s well put on.”

Silverdale resident and Viking Cup referee Rob Riner agreed.

“They really take care of the refs well here. We have refs who come from out of town as far away as Canada and California for this tourney,” he said. “Many of the refs have come to this tournament for the last 20 years. It’s a lot of fun.”

Local BU-14 player Trevor Waller’s team competed in the championship game on Monday afternoon. Waller plays midfielder for North Kitsap Soccer Club’s team Lahar. Prior to the championship contest, Waller described how his team got to the finals.

“Our last game came down to a shootout, and we won,” he said. “It was fun.”

While playing in the championship game was important to Waller, playing the sport with his buddies is the thing that gets him the most excited.

“I like to play soccer,” he said. “It’s really fun to play a sport with all of my friends.”

Isn’t that what its all about?