Academy Sports Club recently entered four teams into the Schwan’s USA Cup, managing to secure one quarterfinalist position, two semi-finalist spots, and one champion trophy at the end of the week-long tournament.

 The four teams entered were in the U10, U11, U13, and U15 age brackets. The teams played a game each every day of the tournament, resulting in the U15 team making it to the Gold quarterfinals, the U13 and U11 team being Gold semi-finalists for their respective age groups, and the U10 team coming home victorious as Silver Champions. 

 Each team had an MVP and Leadership award presented which were chosen by their Academy teammates. The players’ chosen MVPs were Sean Byles (U10), Immanuel Duran (U11), Jackson Kirkconnell (13), and Mathew Haynes (U15). Winning for their leadership roles were Jahmar Campbell (U10), Justin Byles (U11), Harrison Hew (U13), and Dominic Owens (U15). 

 “We have to extend a huge congratulations to all of our players,” said Paul Byles, Academy’s U15/U13 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,” Virgil Seymour, Academy Head Coach said. “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.” 

 This was the 32nd annual Schwan USA Cup, and the Cup is the biggest football tournament in the western hemisphere. This year, the Cup featured 1,178 teams from nineteen different countries.