Action Shooters photographs 600 soccer teams in two days

Over the Thanksgiving holiday Action Shooters Inc set a new sports photography record by shooting 601 soccer teams over two days during a weekend that had it all from Las Vegas nightlife to San Diego sun and fun, to traffic gridlock, and Norcal rain and wind. The weekend started early for the Action Shooters crew with a couple of days of relaxation at the Mirage in Las Vegas as action shooters Hakan Benkert, Mike Szobonya, Toby Oliver and Oscar Urizar, along with their lovely ladies, got some R&R before the big weekend. Once all the gambling and drinking was over, it was time to get started on the weekend. On Friday, Action Shooters Socal leaders Oliver and Szobonya headed up a seven-photographer crew at the 10th annual San Diego Surf Girls Cup under sunny skies at the Del Mar Polo Grounds. The tournament attracts some of the best girls youth soccer teams from around the country. This year there were teams from Florida, Illinois, Washington, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, Texas, as well as the best girls teams from Northern and Southern California. "You never see play like this," said action shooter Peter Broulliet of the level of soccer action during the tournament. Broulliet, a specialist in beach volleyball and a 25-year veteran photographer for the National Football League, shoots for Action Shooters whenever he is not booked for pro or college games. The level of play should be good at the annual event as it attracts more than 200 college soccer coaches and scouts from around the country looking for the next Mia Hamm. This year was no different as coaches and scouts sat on the sidelines making notes on players throughout the day Friday through Sunday. Meanwhile in Las Vegas, Action Shooters Norcal leader Benkert along with Urizar welcomed another five shooters who flew in from the Bay Area Friday morning to shoot the three-day Las Vegas Turkey Shoot. This is the first year Action Shooters Inc photographed the tournament, and Tournament Director Mike Spedale was happy to have Action Shooters onboard. "Yeah I've heard about you guys," said Spedale. "You're like the Wal-Mart of sports photography - you're everywhere." The Turkey Shoot is a little different than most tournaments, as the first games of the day start at 10 a.m. rather than the usual 8 a.m. start. This gives the parents a little extra rest after enjoying the Vegas nightlife, Spedale added. This late start time also gave Action Shooters time to fly in photographers on Friday morning, allowing them to spend Thanksgiving Thursday with their families. "Oscar's driving us around in this circus car," said Norcal action shooters Steve Maslanka as they rode a Dodge Caravan from the airport. "We've got seven guys, three crates of film and all the equipment crammed in here." The Vegas shoot went till dark at three locations in North Las Vegas and then the crew raced back to the airport to catch a flight to Oakland. Unfortunately, Urizar and film runner Melissa Poot missed the flight because they were taking back the rental van. Poot, who had a term paper due at San Francisco State on Monday morning, began furiously typing away at an airport Internet terminal, while Urizar searched desperately for another flight. "Man I'm ready to go home," said Urizar, who was scheduled to shoot in Norcal the next day, and had half of the Action Shooters equipment needed for the next day's shoot still with him at the airport. He got his wish though and was able to get himself and Poot on the last flight to the Bay area by going standby. "It's all good, we've got the e quipment," said Norcal Leader Benkert as the equipment arrived at Oakland airport Friday at midnight. The Norcal crew processed about 800 rolls of film overnight, and Saturday morning Action Shooters seller Jasmine Pham flew to Las Vegas with twelve crates of photographs. She was met there by Action Shooters sellers Phil Monaskanian and Lyra Teel along with Socal leader Oliver, who together sold the photographs over the next two days. The worst ordeal of the weekend was left to Monaskanian and Teel, who were stuck in traffic for almost eight hours on the drive back to Los Angeles on Sunday night. "It was a parking lot all the way to the 10," said Monaskanian, who claimed to almost go crazy during the drive. Action Shooters rounded out the weekend by also shooting the Riverside Trolley Express and Simi Valley Thanksgiving Classic in Socal, as well as the South Jose Thanksgiving Classic, San Bruno Turkey Tournament, Simplot Turkey Kickoff, Livermore Thanksgiving Invitational in Nocal, where it rained most of the day on Sunday. "The only down side to the weekend was the rain and wind on Sunday (in Norcal), which probably affected sales a bit," Benkert said. The grand total for the weekend was 601 soccer teams photographed in two days, with Action Shooters Norcal location processing about 1,700 rolls of film, and the Socal location processing about 1,200 rolls of film Friday and Saturday. For Action Shooters lab manage rs Brian Prince (Norcal) and Frank Aguilar (Socal), who both worked at least 30 hours in two days, it was a weekend to remember. "It was crazy," said Prince. "It was a lot of work, but after it was all done, believe it or not, I felt good that we were able to accomplish it all."