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The Schwan's USA CUP, presented by PUMA newsletter provides the latest information and updates about the tournament. |
| Schwan's USA CUP and Puma Announce the Field For First Puma vElite Competition |
 The competition features eight U16 boys elite teams with national and international resume's that are sure to draw college and pro scouts, as well as provide an awesome new spectator event for the USA CUP participants to rally around. This "super" group will play July 11-13, during the Schwan's USA CUP Weekend. The game are expected to draw record crowds for a USA CUP game, and will be web cast on USA CUP's web site live. Who will be the first Puma vElite Champion?
Here are the teams competing:
- KFUM, Oslo Norway
- Oakville Gunners, Oakville, Ontario, Canada
- Albion SC, San Diego, CA
- Gombey Warriors, Bermuda
- CUFC Gold, Charlotte, NC
- Texas Lightning Black, Arlington, TX
- Pro-Select, CA
- Arsenal Super Eagles, MN (defending champion of USA CUP Weekend)
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| Chinese Team First Ever at Schwan's USA CUP |
 For the first time ever, Schwan's USA CUP will welcome a team from China. But the make-up of the team, from the QiLin Football Club from Shanghai, is more United Nations than United China. The roster of the 17 boys team coming to the tournament includes players from the U.S., England, Lichtenstein, Austria, Hong Kong, Canada, India, Ireland, Sweden, Spain, and the Netherlands.
QiLin is the largest youth soccer club in Shanghai, and membership is open to all members of the Shanghai community, but it's based in the Jin Qiao international community, so most of the players represent non-Chinese families living and working in China.
Their journey to Schwan's USA CUP will be long, but the connection to the tournament is local Minnesota. The team is coached by Donny Mark, a homegrown Minnesota player who played on the Connecticut's 2000 NCAA championship team, and later for the Minnesota Thunder. Donny knows Schwan's USA CUP well, and he knows what benefits his players can get from playing.
"I'm bringing them to Schwan's USA CUP to be seen by U.S. college coaches in the hope that many of them might be offered scholarships or have the opportunity to play at the collegiate level," he said.
Mark has high expectations for his team.
"I expect they'll do well in their matches," he said. "Their technical and athletic abilities are very high. I would say all are U.S. collegiate football candidates and 4-6 of them could be division I-type players. We have some players who played on youth international teams in their home countries."
While here in Minnesota, the QiLin team will be homestaying at Mark's parents' home in Maple Plain, just west of the National Sports Center, where he joked the objective will be "not to destroy their home."
"This will be the first experience for many of them to travel to the U.S.," Mark said. "so we plan on having them all the normal Minnesota things like going out on the lake, BBQ'ing at night, swatting away mosquitos and helping my dad with the yard work." |
| USA CUP turf warriors working overtime preparing for Schwan's USA CUP |
 If you drive by the NSC this spring you will see lots of dirt being turned into rebuilt, flatter and irrigated fields. In its biggest initiative since 2005, NSC will be rebuilding I1, I3, M1 and M2. Rebuild means improving grading, adding irrigation, leveling, blending soils and providing a new, more playable, surface. In addition, NSC will be increasing its "cultural practices" on all the other fields. What is that, asks the non-turf PhD soccer department? You will be seeing much more aeration, topdressing, overseeding and fertilizing of all the other fields. What it means to USA CUP is SUPER FIELDS!!! Granted the god's of weather need to help, but you can register and be assured the NSC is doing what it can to make your USA CUP experience a good one. |
| Update on College Coaches Program |
Schwan's USA CUP Weekend ususally sees about 50 college coaches, while approximately 90 will attend the weeklong tournament. Generally, coaches are from the Midwest area Division I, II, III, NAIA and NJCAA schools. We provide an avenue where athletes can play the game they love and maybe take their game to the next level. Team rosters for U16-U19 teams are modified for the college coaches program to include graduation year, GPA, ACT, SAT scores and email address so the coaches can contact the athletes. It's important that players provide team managers with this information so they can put it on the roster.
Due to NCAA rules coaches have rules they must follow, especially during the tournament. Please go to www.ncaa.com for more information. Before the tournament athletes should review schools that are coming and contact the coaches of schools they are interested in. Athletes should tell coaches in the email their team ID and schedule if they have it, as well as jersey number and position. The registered coaches are listed on our website.
 For the weeklong tournament, USA CUP along with Soccer America presents a "How To Get Recruited" seminar held on Thursday July 17. There will be two seminars scheduled so all teams that want to participate are able to. We usually have a Division I, II, III, coach sitting on the panel for questions and answers. If you have any questions please contact Vicki Barnes at vbarnes@usacup.org. |
| Referee Committee Looks to Create Positive Experience |
Schwan's USA CUP offers several activities and programs to provide a unique experience for each individual. A large part of your time at the tournament will be spent on the field of play. We all know that exceptional officiating from the tournament referees can truly make your experience fun and enjoyable.
With that in mind, the volunteer Schwan's USA CUP Referee Committee meets about eight times per year to improve the referee program at our tournament. This committee is responsible for recruiting referees, assigning referees to games, and overseeing referee hospitality during the event.
It is the goal of the Schwan's USA CUP Referee Committee to attract the highest level referees from across the US and the world. This summer, approximately 70 British referees plan to officiate at the Schwan's USA CUP. Early interest in officiating at the year's event has been shown by over 30 referees from Jamaica as well. In addition to those foreign referees, Schwan's USA CUP typically draws numerous state, national, and even FIFA referees each year.
Interested referees can apply to work any of the NSC tournaments here... |
| Webcast Games Return in New Form for 2008 Schwan's USA CUP |
Webcasts of selected games will again be available during this summer's Schwan's USA CUP.
All games played during the nine-day tournament on fields U1 (NSC Stadium) and U2 (Exhibition Field) will be webcast. A special Opening Ceremony presentation will also be available.
This unique offering in the amateur sports world allows those unable to attend the tournament the opportunity to watch their children, grandchildren, relatives or friends participate in this world-renown event. In addition, the games will be available live and also on an archived basis, so players, parents and others who are there in person can still watch the webcasts.
In the past, the NSC partnered with an outside vendor to provide webcasts of a small number of events. Beginning with NSC Cup in May, the NSC will take over webcasting operations ourselves, enabling us to offer a wider range of programming to our customers and to improve service. In addition to soccer tournaments, hockey, cycling and selected other events will also be shown. Further details, a schedule and pricing information will soon be available on www.nscsports.org. |
| Homestay Brings Unique Perspective to Tournament |
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Schwan's USA CUP has a long and successful tradition with the homestay program. This housing option is offered to international teams between the ages of U11 and U15. The international teams stay with Minnesota families for the week long tournament. The host families provide lodging and meals to international players, transport the players to their games and tournament activities, and give them a chance to get to know a little about about life in Minnesota.
Once again there are many opportunities to host a player from another country during the tournament. The countries represented for homestay 2008 are Denmark, Ecuador, Mexico, Northern Ireland, and Sweden. This year, we have many boys' teams that are in the U14 age category.
Homestay meetings are offered on June 25 and 26. These meetings give valuable information to the host families about the program and the players that they will be hosting.
The homestay program would like to welcome Cathy Knight to our team. She started homestaying for Schwan's USA CUP in 2003 and brings valuable information to the program.
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| Now Accepting Applications |
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The application for the 2008 tournament is now available. The weekend tournament is July 11-13, 2008 and the week tournament is July 15-19, 2008. Opening Ceremonies will be July 14.
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| Tell Us About Your Team! |
Schwan's USA CUP has a special segment on the website where we like to feature teams.
If your team would like to be featured please send us a brief story about your team and a photo.
- It is especially fun to hear about why your team decided on USA CUP as one on their tournaments.
- If your team has had any obstacles to overcome to make the trip to Minnesota.
- If you have any special stories about your team for fundraising.
- Perhaps some of your players have achieved a special recognition that makes them stand out from the average soccer team.
If you would like to participate in being a featured team, please send your story and photo to Vicki Barnes at vbarnes@usacup.org |
| Link to Us |
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Many soccer clubs/teams put information on their website about their upcoming tournament travels, fundraising efforts to go to a tournament, and updates about what tournaments they have gone to. If your team/club has information about USA CUP on your website we would love to know this and link to you.
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| Update on International Teams |
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Here's the list of countries that will be sending teams to Schwan's USA CUP.
Attending for first time:
Returning countries:
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Tunisia
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England
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Scotland
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Northern Ireland
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Iceland
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Norway
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Sweden
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Denmark
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Costa Rica
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Mexico
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Bermuda
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Mexico
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Guatemala
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Ecuador
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Colombia
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Brazil
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Canada
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United States |
| National Sports Center Launches NSCtv |
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The National Sports Center launched NSCtv in late March on its website. NSCtv offers a behind the scenes look at the events, programs, athletes and people at the facility. Each weekly episode is 4-7 minutes long with new editions available every Thursday.
NSCtv was created after the success of last year's Kick TV, the daily online video journal of Schwan's USA CUP. Kick TV will be returning to the tournament this year as well.
Click here to view the latest episode of NSCtv. |
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