Saturday, April 11, 2009

Dallas Cup brings international experience to local youth soccer players

By Erin Rice , Laura Seewoester

Over the past week, one of the biggest youth soccer dramas has been unfolding in traditional fashion in Dallas and Frisco. The annual Dallas Cup tournament entertains more than 150,000 spectators each year as 180 teams in seven age/skill brackets from U-13 to the premier U-19 Super Group.

Serving not only as some of the top competition most of these young players will face in their soccer careers, the Dallas Cup is often one of the first experiences the boys who participate have with different countries' cultures. Each year the Dallas Cup hosts 30 each of international teams and referees, with more than 900 players in all age groups coming to play in the United States for either for their first time, or as young veterans of the illustrious tournament.

One of the programs aimed at initiating a connection between the international and Texas teams is the homestay program. Teams that are traveling from other countries have the option of staying with families from North Texas who are participating in the tournament.

The Dallas Texans U-19, who competed this year in the Super Group, housed Lewisham College U-19 players from London, who participated in the regular division. The Texans squad hosted a welcoming BBQ last weekend the night before the tournament began to get to know the players who would be staying with them over the coming week.

"It's always fun because you get to meet new people but you actually keep in touch with them for the rest of your life," said Dallas Texans forward Ben Hill. "It's always fun going through and figuring out what's different. What's just everyday life for us [may be] something out of the ordinary for them. It's a whole new experience."

The Lewisham players, some of whom have been to previous Dallas Cups, some not, expressed their own positive connections with the Texas experience. "It's really nice, I've never been to Dallas... friendly people, really nice place. It's nice to be here," said striker Louie Theophanous. "We're getting fed like kings."

The majority of the tournament has played out thus far, with finals in the various ages groups taking place all day Saturday, capped by the Super Group championship game on Sunday at Pizza Hut Park. Sao Paulo FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps will face each other at 6 p.m. at the FC Dallas Stadium.

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