USA CUP Soccer Tournament

[runeleven]

Blaine, Minnesota, United States - Schwan's USA CUP - July 13-21, 2007

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Tournament Dates: Schwan's USA CUP Weekend Tournament July 13-15; Schwan's USA CUP 2007 July 17-21, 2007

Location of Tournament: Blaine, Minnesota, USA

Date of Arrival: Typically Thursday, July 12, 2007

Date of Departure: Either the evening of Saturday, July 21 after finals or the morning of Sunday, July 22.

Entry Deadline: Rolling, but obviously you will want to start the process soon so you can start making plans.

Age Classes: 9-19

Expenses/Match Fees: Varies based on referee level - about $24 for a referee and $17-18 for an assistant referee.

Accomodation Arrangements: dorm style housing - four referes to a room, air conditioning, cable tv. Dorm is located right on campus where all games are played. 3 meals per day in cafeteria. Housing/Food cost $32USD per day.

Food Arrangements: cafeteria attached to dormitroy meals are part of housing package. 3 meals per day.

Minimum Age Limit for a Referee: 14, but typically referees under 18 travaeling from outside of MN will travel with an adult referee.

Other Notes:

Typcially a group of 80-100 referees from the UK attends.

Countries that have had referees attend in the past include Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, New Zealand, Poland, Puerto Rico, Scotland, Sweden, Slovakia, Spain, Thailand, and Wales.

States that have had referees attend in the past: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Deleware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisianna, Maryland, Massechussets, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montanta, Nevada, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

Referees of all levels of referees attend from FIFA down to 2nd or 3rd year officials.

Every referee should attend once just for the experience. The tournament is played at the National Sports Center in Blaine, Minnesota, USA. The National Sports Center is in the Guiness Book of World Records for the largest athletic complex in the world with 52 fields in one location!

The referee camaraderie is unmatched! The tournament provides transportation to local establishments after games are completed each day. Also, the tournament puts on a wonderful referee banquet at the end of the week to recognize all the hard work of the referees.

The international flavor mentioned above trancends the teams as well with over 100 international teams attending annually. In the 10 day span of USA CUP Weekend and USA CUP, 1000 teams will compete.

The tournament utilizes 10-12 assessors to evaluate all referees during the tournament ensuring that referees are receiving the appropriate assignments and providing referees with helpful feedback.

Lots of other little things that make referees feel appreciated - shuttles to fields (it's a big complex!), free shirt, flipping coin, etc.

Websites: The referee information for Schwan's USA CUP can be found at www.usacup.org/referee. There is very informative information on the website.

The website for the National Sports Center facility is www.nscsports.org.

If you have questions, you can post them in this thread or PM me.

[runeleven]

If anyone is interested in officiating at the USA CUP this summer, let me know!