The Veterans Cup Ends Its Two Year Stay In Massachusetts As A Record Number Of Teams Participate
By Tim Busch, Veterans Cup Chairman
The 13th annual USASA Veterans Cup was held July 13-18, 2010 at Citizens Bank Fields at Progin Park in Lancaster, Massachusetts. 104 teams competed for titles in 14 Women's and Men's divisions. The total for participation over the two years the tournament was held in Massachusetts is 209 teams, a new Veterans Cup record. It is further proof that the United States Adult Soccer Association family is a whole lot more that under 30 players or those who participate in our National Cup programs.
There was added excitement in 2010 as the Veterans Cup took on a strong international flavor as the Vakhegula-Vakhegula women’s team from South Africa took part in the Over-60 Women’s bracket. The so called “South African Soccer Grannies” attended the event after much hard work by women’s groups in Massachusetts and financial support from around the country. Most notably, Herbalife made a major financial contribution to bring the team to the tournament. In additional the Tokyo Seniors from Japan attended their sixth straight tournament and participated in the Men’s Over-65 division.
In the Men’s Over-55 division, the New Britain Falcons of Connecticut won their first ever division title by downing powerhouse Golden State Elders of California North by a score of 2 to 1. In a local derby, MSSL Select defeated fellow Massachusetts team Southboro United 3-2 to claim the Men's Over-40 1st division title. The Dallas Legends 060 – South Texas won their sixth straight Men's Over-60 title by defeating Golden State Internationals 3 to 0. No other team has won a title in this division.
The Men's Over-65 division saw the O65 Georgia Rovers/North Carolina defeat Framington United of Massachusetts, 2-1. In the Men's Over-50 division, Connecticut United won its second straight title by defeating Holcam FC of Washington 1-0 in overtime.
MPS of Massachusetts won its second straight over-30 title by downing Fidjos Terra Soccer Club of Rhode Island by a score of 2-1. Over-40 Men's Premier team Safire defeated their Massachusetts rivals MPS 2-0. In Men’s Over-45 division, last years runner-up, Concord United won the title by downing the New Britain Falcons of Connecticut 3-0.
In the Women's Over-30 division, Spirit of Massachusetts defeated Dragonfly of North Carolina 2-1. In 2009, the Indagoal Girls of Massachusetts won theWomen’s Over-40 1st division, this year they knocked off San Francisco of Cal North by a score of 1-0 (5-4 on penalty kicks) for the women's over-40 Premier title. San Francisco has been a dominant power in the division for nearly a decade. In the Women's Over-40 1st division, 2009 runner-up Austin Allies of South Texas defeated Santa Cruz Breakers of California by a score of 3 to 2 for the title.
In a repeat from last year’s final, two strong cross-country rivals met again as Leahi of Hawaii defeated Camp Spring Soccer Club of Maryland for the second year in a row, this time by a score of 1-0 to capture the women's over-50 championship.
The Women's Over-55 title went to Seattle’s Best of Washington who proved to be the best team in the division as they defeated Motor City Classics of Michigan by a score of 2-0. In a reversal of last year’s result, Virginia Spirit of Metro DC/Virginia defeated the San Diego Celtics on penalty kicks, 3-1, for a 1-0 victory. The Celtics had won three straight titles in the Over-60 division prior to the loss.
The Veterans Cup was founded by the United States Adult Soccer Association in 1998 to provide the highest level of competition for players that are 30 years older and above. Throughout the years the tournament has been held in Bellingham, Washington; Nashua, New Hampshire; Beckley, West Virginia; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Wilmington, North Carolina. 189 teams participated in the Veterans Cup in 2007-08 in Bellingham, Washington. 209 teams took part in the event in 2009-10 in Lancaster, Massachusetts.
Many thanks to Cezar Wislocki-Wasecki, Mass Soccer President, Julian Dunlop, president of the New England Over-the-Hill Soccer League, Lois Kessin, the Eastern Massachusetts Women's Soccer League, John Motta, Andy Weiss, Janet Slausen and all of the volunteers from the Massachusetts hosting committee for making the 2010 Veterans Cup such a success. A special thanks to all of the referees who donated their time to officiate matches. And finally, thanks for the efforts of Robin Gordon of the Washington State Soccer Association Office, the Veterans Cup Committee, and most importantly our wives who committed so much of their time to our success.
The 2011 Veterans Cup is slated to be held in the Orlando, Florida area next year.
2010 marks the end of my time as chair of the USASA Veterans Cup. Over the past 13 years I have travelled thousands of miles, shared thousands of smiles and laughs with the nicest people you would ever want to meet. Oh, yeah, we argued and fought and complained, but at the end of the day we all respected each other and shared the passion for our beautiful game. Soccer is the universal language of our planet. It brings us together in ways few other things do. This sentiment was brought home to us again as we shared the past week with our friends from South Africa and Japan.
So, I am not saying goodbye to all of you, but rather so long until we all meet together again some sunny day.
