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Walnut Creek Soccer Fields Sprayed With Tournament-Stopping Pesticides

WALNUT CREEK (CBS SF) -- After months of games and hard work, a season-ending tournament for dozens of young soccer players has been canceled.

The tournament was cancelled after six elementary school fields were sprayed with pesticides.

Ten-year-old Elliot plays on the Stompers soccer team. He and his mom spent the weekend collecting signatures for their petition.

"We ended up getting 118 signatures," Elliot said.

The duo has a game-plan to get the tournament back on after finding out the end of season soccer tournament was canceled for dozens of teams at the last minute.

Elliot's mother, Anne Maze said, " I didn't understand their decision to just cancel the tournament prematurely before finding out if we could reschedule it."

You can't blame the cancellation on the rain. Instead, blame it on Spectracide Triazicide, a pesticide that is sprayed annually on the fields at several schools in the Walnut Creek School District to kill insects on contact.

The only problem is that they sprayed right before a big tournament, killing those plans too.

The Walnut Creek Soccer Club sent out an email to families saying the decision to cancel was not made lightly, but was in the interest of the health of the players, spectators, and referees.

But this mom and son have one goal in mind: get the tournament back on at another time.

"I just want to play. Yeah, I just want to play," said Elliot.

Luckily for Elliot, plans are in the works to reschedule the tournament to the first weekend in December.

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