Academy Sports Club enjoys run at USA Cup
The Academy U-10 team and coaches with their silver champion trophy
(CNS): Four Academy Sports Club teams recently returned from competing at the 32nd annual Schwan’s USA Cup, securing one quarterfinalist position, two semifinalist spots, and one champion trophy at the end of the week-long tournament held in Blaine, Minnesota. The U-10, U-11, U-13 and U-15 squads played a game every day of the competition, which is the biggest football tournament in the western hemisphere. This year, the Cup featured 1,178 teams from 19 different countries.
The U-15 team reached the gold quarterfinals, the U-13 and U-11 teams each played in the gold semifinals, , and the U-10 team came home silver champions.
Each team named an MVP and leadership award recipitent chosen by their Academy teammates. The MVPs were Sean Byles (U-10), Immanuel Duran (U-11), Jackson Kirkconnell (U-13) and Mathew Haynes (U-15). Recognised for their leadership roles were Jahmar Campbell (U-10), Justin Byles (U-11), Harrison Hew (U-13) and Dominic Owens (U-15).
“We have to extend a huge congratulations to all of our players,” said Paul Byles, Academy’s U-15/U-13 head coach. “Everyone really put in a lot of effort on the field during this year’s tournament and it was great to see many players growing and improving during the week.”
During the group stages all four teams proved themselves at the gold flight level, the highest level at the tournament, which was a nice achievement for the club generally, he added.
“We can take lessons learned during the tournament and apply them to the upcoming season and beyond,” said Virgil Seymour, Academy head coach. “I believe attending the tournament every year really gives the players that extra experience necessary to perform as well as they can throughout the year.”
Congratulations all.