Viking Cup and the North Kitsap soccer community got a collective kick in the crotch recently as team registrations for the 2006 event fell well short of the keeper’s box. The goal of a successful year for the Memorial Day weekend event won’t likely be hit.

Registration for the 22nd annual event (one of the oldest such tourneys in the state) plummeted from 130 in 2005 to 85 teams.

While the dramatic decrease is partially blamed on higher field usage fees, which were bumped from $5 to $35 per team by the North Kitsap School District, competition with other tournaments is also taking its toll. In the grand scheme of things, a $30 hike (while it is 700 percent) isn’t much given what many parents drop on shin guards, uniforms and team fees. Like an errant header, whether that deterred squads from making their annual journey to North Kitsap is still up in the air.

What isn’t is that the loss of the teams will be felt far beyond the pitch. Businesses throughout Kitsap County won’t be getting as much of a boost from Viking Cup related revenues as they did in past years. Forty-five teams translates into more than 600 players — parents, coaches and siblings not included — who need to buy everything from cold drinks and oranges to meals and lodging.

Some of that money won’t be coming here this year and while some North Kitsap residents won’t miss the traffic and the crowds, Viking Cup will certainly miss the higher level of competition and might just have a tough time finding the net of its former glory.