New York, NY - Saturday's NYFEST, New York City's first Film & Entertainment Soccer Tournament, was an event full of wonderful and uncanny surprises. A day which commenced with rain concluded with a beautiful and refreshing sunlight hovering over Pier 40.

In a partnership with the Tribeca Film Festival, Umbro and The New York Cosmos, Saturday's NYFest graciously provided soccer fans a day of soccer.

Whether you were at Pier 40 to watch NYFest's 44-team "Industry Soccer Tournament," have your child participate in the youth soccer clinic, or simply watch the "Celebrity Match" where soccer stars, and celebrities from the film, music, sports and entertainment worlds competed for bragging rights, you were entertained.

While the day was long and mostly wet, I was glad to have been there since 8:45 in the morning until it's conclusion way past 6 p.m. I have to commend the staff and volunteers who made this event possible, because I can honestly attest that they were working hard in training to run things smoothly.

Without a shadow of the doubt, I have to commend the New York Cosmos staff because not only did they compete in the tournament, they were handling their other responsibilities.

One thing many Cosmos fans don't get to see is the work they put into these events. I've covered many of their events to know that they're a "hands on" organization.

Whether the New York Cosmos organization is awarded the 20th MLS franchise remains to be seen but for now, they're doing everything in their power to demonstrate their commitment to return as a team.

What was special about Saturday's NYFEST was attendance of the soccer entities that's spread throughout out New York City. For someone who's encountered these organizations in the past, it was awe-inspiring to see them in the same space.

It's really a beautiful demonstration of how soccer can truly unite New York City for a great cause.

Personally it was a reflective moment chatting with Rachel Markus and Greg Lalas from the Kicking & Screening Soccer Film Festival, Josh Morgan from the Claudio Reyna Foundation, Martin Moreland from Asphalt Green, and Luke Rodgers from the New York Red Bulls, and Majid Wasi from the Doha Film Institute because their presence truly reminded me how I've evolved as a writer. 

While I didn't know the representative from both Downtown United Soccer Club (DUSC) & Gotham Girls FC, I was ecstatic when he informed me that Gustavo Palominio was still DUSC's Director of Coaching.

The highlight of my day was running into Fernando and his three sons. I met Fernando last November when his wife competed for the opportunity to meet Pelé at Flushing Meadows Corona Park (Queens, N.Y.) Field #3 during the 2010 Global Peace Games for Children and Youth.

Initially, I didn't recognize him until I remembered that his youngest son was in stroller the day we met.

As we reminisced about last November, his sons ran around without a care in the world about the weather. After our brief but pleasant exchange of words, I returned to my role as an observer and continued to watch the tournament matches.

Despite certain areas of the pitch covered with puddles of water, the games were extremely competitive and well-played. In the end, Grassroots Soccer was declared the champions of the NYFEST tournament.

One cool moment of the day was seeing Tim Ream and Luke Rodgers of the New York Red Bulls interacting with the New York Cosmos staff. While the rivalry is hopefully inevitable, it's great to see two different soccer traditions support the NYFEST.

With the weather mostly horrific for the day, soccer fans as well as the competing teams unitedly endured and braved through the weather for charity.

Due to their participation, the event raised $25,000 for underprivileged children who are affiliated with non-profit organizations who provide soccer-based programs.

Concluding the day was "Celebrity Match" between the Home Team and the Away Team. Representing the Home Team was Ritchie Williams, Steve Nash, John O'Brien, Tab Ramos, Ethan Zahn, Anderson "The Spider" Silva, John McEnroe, Andrew Shue and Claudio Reyna.

For the Away Team was Jeff Agoos, Giovanni Savarese, Gale Harold, Gilad Bloom, Ian McKee, Frank Whaley, Eli Freeze, Russell Pain, Eddie Louis, Ethan Hawke and Tony Sanneh.

In a game where John McEnroe kicked off the scoring register with a beautiful header for his team, both squads gave everyone in attendance an enjoyable match.

To be honest, I didn't follow the match in its entirety because once the the clouds made way for the sunlight, I went to the top of Pier 40 to take city view pictures of the match.

In the end, Home Team was the winning team and it was a beautiful way to conclude the day.

Cesar Diaz covers Soccer for LatinoSports.com. He's also a Columnist for USSoccerPlayers.com; your source for American Soccer news brought to you by members of the U.S. National Team. Easily accessible, you may reach Cesar at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and at Twitter at @CoveringSoccer. 

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