By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
Now comes crunch time as teams throughout the eastern portion of the Empire State, plus squads in Region 1, stretching from Maine to Virginia, prepare for some top competitions during the next three weekends.
The Presidents Cup, featuring many good travel teams in Region 1 not yet considered elite, will be played on Memorial Day weekend--May 25 to 28, 2012--in Londonberry and Nashua, New Hampshire. The Boys-Under-14 Oceanside United Pirates and Girls-Under-15 Lake Grove Herricanes will represent the Long Island Junior Soccer League in that competition.
The State Cup has two different competitions––the State Open Cup for Premier and the top travel teams plus the Arch Capital Group Challenge Cup for our other travel teams. 971 teams––533 boys squads and 438 girls teams––are playing in the State Cup this spring.
The finals of the State Open Cup, officially known as the US Youth Soccer ENYYSA Championship Cup, are scheduled for Saturday, June 2 and Sunday, June 3 at Stringham Park in LaGrange. There will be 16 final games in the State Open Cup. The Under-12 to Under-19 champs will play in the Region 1 championships from June 29 to July 3 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The fun continues as the regional champs then play for the US Youth Soccer national championship from July 25 to 29 in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
The 12 championship finals of the Arch Capital Group Challenge Cup are scheduled for Saturday, June 9 at the Peter Collins
Soccer Park in Plainview, Long Island. Special thanks to our sponsor, Arch Capital Group Ltd., a Bermuda public limited liability company. They write insurance and reinsurance on a worldwide basis through operations in Bermuda, the United States, Europe and Canada, with a focus on specialty lines.
“This cup competition is a great event in that it gives young people an opportunity to experience high levels of competition. And you don’t have to be the best team in the state to win a championship with the Arch Capital Group Challenge Cup,” commented Brian Hughes, Senior Vice President and Chief Actuary of Arch Capital.
Both State Cup championship venues, besides having well-manicured grass soccer fields, sport 9/11 memorials. The Memorial Plaza at Stringham Park was installed by the Lagrange Rotary Club while the 9/11 Commemorative Plaza at the Collins Soccer Park was recently built by the Long Island Junior Soccer League.