By Barclay Kruse, Schwan's USA CUP Media Director
Throughout the 24-year history of Schwan’s USA CUP, championship Saturday has a special place in the memories of staffers and volunteers who’ve been around for a long time.
“Taiwan-Nigeria,” said Paul Beggin, one of the tournament’s founders, who has seen every championship Saturday since 1985. “That was a huge one. I don’t remember the year exactly. They were both great teams and they drew a big crowd.”
The Enugu Black Rocks , from Lagos Nigeria, won that 16 boys title game, and the year was 1989.
“It was the best game I’d ever seen,” said current tournament director Teri Vogt who was working on the staff back then. “That was back in the day and we didn’t have any media, so the word spread to watch this team. There were about 450 people at the game, and it was all word of mouth.”
Larry Ragland, a long-time volunteer in the tournament’s scoring headquarters remembers the girls 19 championship game in the tournament’s first year.
“That’s because Amy (his daughter) was playing,” he said. “They beat a team from Norway, and their team was called the Bruisers. The level of play was nothing like it is now, probably not even up to medal-flight nowadays.”
In 1994, Egressy F.C. from Hungary won the championship in the 19 boys division against another Budapest team that they’d already played a half-dozen times that year.
“They traveled halfway around the world to play a team across town,” said Vogt.
Championship Saturday is a day of contrasts. With championship medals at stake, it’s the best and most-passionate soccer of the week. But with the majority of the teams eliminated after Friday’s games, it’s also a day of with plenty of open parking spaces and even some open fields.
Many legendary Minnesota players have played in Schwan’s USA CUP championship games over the years, including national team members Tony Sannah and Jenna Klugel, as well as the famous Lagos brothers, Manny and Gerard. Manny Lagos is currently the President of the Minnesota Thunder.
While the old guard remembers the early years, new championship traditions are being written anew.
Rudbeckianska, a high school team from Sweden, won three straight 19 boys championships, the Weekend and Weeklong in 2006 and the Weekend in 2007. Their quest for a four-peat was derailed by an upset loss in the semifinals of the Weeklong tournament last year. But Rudbeckianska is working on a new streak. They won the Weekend Tournament last weekend, and they’re still in the running for the Weeklong Championship Saturday.
Here is the schedule for the Cup Flight championship games on Saturday. Pairings will be determined by semifinal games on Friday night or Saturday morning.
Cup Flight Championship Game Schedule
Girls 13: 10:45, field C2
Girls 14: 10:45, field I4
Boys 19: 12:30, field U1
Boys 14: 14:15, field U1
Boys 15: 16:00, field D1
Boys 16: 16:00, field A4
Boys 17: 16:00, field U2
Girls 19: 16:00, field U1
What about the Maplbrook blast boys team that is going for their three peat? they won it as U17 and then won it as a U18 team in the U19 bracket and are looking to win it again this year
Posted by: Dre | July 18, 2008 at 01:01 PM