Popular Youth Soccer Tournaments

Intro to popular youth soccer tournaments
Soccer may be a game of all age groups, but it is more popular among youths in their teens and twenties beyond doubt. If you are in this age group, you’d know what it means and takes to partake in a youth soccer tournament and represent your team to a national soccer tournament.

It is of course not as great as representing your country to the World Cup or others alike, but youth tournaments around the world are indeed equally important in getting to know many other good players from around the world; an opportunity window for those seeking to improve their skills from secondary school years itself.

In fact, most of the now-famous professional players in Europe, particularly in England, were all members of youth soccer teams from their schools or colleges and have at least represented their teams once in youth soccer tournaments.

Some of the most popular ones would include the North American and European tournaments. The United States and Canada are known for their popular youth soccer tournaments all year round, particularly focused around special occasions or events that would attract large number of supporters or spectators.

The game is undeniably popular in the country, although it was introduced here only some three decades ago. In fact, there are officially almost 3 million youth players in the United States alone, with another few hundreds of thousands in Canada.

Among the most popular youth soccer tournaments in the US would be the GISA Shoot, Lazers Cup, Columbus Spring Kickoff, Lanier Recreation Cup, DCSA Winter Classic, Augusta Arsenal Spring Shootout, Texas Winter, Twin City Classic, Red River Classic, Las Vegas Mayors Cup International Tournament, Bethesda Thanksgiving Tournament, Nike Norcross Cup Tournament, Texas Cup, and many more. Information and dates for these soccer tournaments could easily be found online, and it’s seriously not uncommon to find a famous participating team near you as well.

Apart from the above list, there is also the USA Cup which is held much like a European tournament, true to its nature. It is normally held during the middle of summer, with two separate events for different matches; one on the weekend and one on the weekdays of the tournament season. This tournament is among the most famous in the country, apart from being one of the most expensive as well. Another large-scale tournament would be the Las Vegas Mayors Cup International Tournament, normally held in October.

It is open for both boys and girls with individual awards for 1st and 2nd places aside from the team winnings. These tournaments are open to any teams countrywide, with particular attention given to independent teams with non-star or paid coaches. If you’re looking for something broader, the American youth tournaments are also sometimes tied with foreign tournaments for friendly matches.

There is also equal amount of youth tournaments in Europe, predominantly seen in the Eastern European countries such as Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and others; not including soccer’s homeland England itself. Two of the most popular tournaments in the continent would include the Gothia Cup and Dana Cup. Gothia Cup is held annually in Gothenburg, Sweden around July, while Dana Cup is held annually in Hjorring, Denmark, normally a week after the Gothia Cup.

Dana Cup is also one of the largest tournaments in the world, not counting Europe itself. Both the tournaments are quite similar, where teams would play several matches to be then sorted out into new flights for a single elimination play.

None of these tournaments will feature famous paid star players, for it is strictly meant for enthusiastic youths in the region. Most of the times, they are also not associated with any large confederations such as FIFA or the UEFA, perhaps except for advisory purposes upon invitation.