Today, the South Tahoe 14-Year-Old All-Star team will play Carson City at Todd Fields in Tahoe. Playing a home game is something most of the players and coaches have never done before in an all-star tournament.

“It is a lot better than driving somewhere else,” said all-star player Bobby Oakes, who has spent six years on All-Stars. “It was fun last year, but it is better staying here because we know the whole field and everything.”

Todd Fields has been the home of all-star tournaments before, South Tahoe manager Kevin Higgins said the 15-year-old qualifier tournament was scheduled there last year.

Higgins has been coaching all-stars for about the past four years and has never had the opportunity to play at home.

“First time I have coached a team that we did not have to travel,” Higgins said. “Everybody is going to have home-cooking, so hopefully it is an advantage. It certainly can’t hurt. You know the boys are sleeping in their own bed, mom is cooking dinner; it can’t hurt.”

Before a June practice Higgins said South Tahoe has not had a lot of success at any level in the all-star tournament format but hopes to change it around this year.

The 15-year-old team has already been eliminated after losing to Truckee and Carson Valley last weekend.

Members of the 14-year-old team said they think playing on the South Shore will help them play better than previous Tahoe squads.

“We will definitely have an advantage,” Oakes said. “We know the field, we know the bounces. The temperature and the elevation is a lot different so I think the teams will have a little disadvantage there.”

Tyler Sharp, a member of the team, said he wants to show his town what they can do.

“We kind of really want to represent our town and our field,” Sharp said. “So I guess we would try better to represent Tahoe.”

If South Tahoe defeats Carson City in the Friday night game at 8, it will have to play the next day at 9 a.m. against Reno West.

“I don’t like it,” Higgins said. “I actually called somebody and asked why it was set up that way, but we will just go with the schedule. Somebody is going to be done at 10:30, 11 o’clock at night and have to be out here at 8 o’clock the next morning. It is not exactly ideal.”

If South Tahoe falls in the first round of the double-elimination tournament, it will have to play at 6 p.m. Saturday against the loser of Saturday’s noon game.