Mayor's Cup Draws World's Best to Vegas

By Mary Hausch

The weather was 10 degrees below normal and the championship games were played under intermittent rain on Presidents' Day, but that didn't dampen the enthusiasm for the second annual Las Vegas Mayor's Cup International Showcase.

There was an impressive turnout of elite players among the 246 competing teams, representing eight foreign countries and 26 states. The caliber of play was an attraction not only for spectators, but also for the 60-plus college coaches who came to the tournament for a chance to watch so many world-class players.

The festive tone for the three-day, four-game guaranteed tourney, for boys and girls in the Under 15 through 19 age brackets, was set by the foreign flags lining the fences along the Bettye Wilson Fields in Summerlin.

"It gives me goose bumps, just looking at those flags and thinking about all of the players from around the world who have come here to play," said City of Las Vegas Tournament Coordinator Sherry Alexander.

That sentiment was echoed by the president of the Downtown Las Vegas Soccer Club, Roger Tabor, who spearheaded tournament planning.

"It's amazing to watch these players who are already on their national teams and realize that we will be seeing some of them again in the next World Cup," Tabor said.

Perhaps the best team in the competition was the Under-17 Boys Borussia Moenchengladbach team from Germany, which played to a 2-2 tie in a game against the UNLV Men's soccer team the day after the tournament.

The German team won its age group in a 3-0 shutout of the Ft. Collins, Colo., Arsenal Gold. The Downtown Las Vegas Gold U17 team experienced a victory of sorts in its 5-1 loss to Borussia Moenchengladbach, by being the only team to score against the powerful Germans. Even the strong Canadian Calgary Chinooks United were held scoreless in a 4-0 loss to Borussia Moenchengladbach.

The Presidents' Day tournament was created in 2008 by Las Vegas recreation officials and their Downtown Las Vegas Soccer Club partners in the traditional October Mayor's Cup tournament. They saw a need for a winter tournament for older teams who couldn't compete in the fall because of their high school seasons.

"This was a history-making tournament with teams coming from as far away as Germany, Australia and Sierra Leone," according to Tabor. "It was truly international in scope."

The record number of foreign participants from five continents made this the largest international youth soccer tournament in the country.

Tabor said club representatives felt energized every time they showed up at McCarran International Airport with the appropriate country's flag to great an arriving team. One of the highlights was meeting the Boys Under-16 Johnannsen FC team from Sierra Leone, whose members were decked out in sports jackets and ties for their arrival.

Tabor also took note of two teams from Culiacan de Sinaloa, Mexico, who road a bus for three days to come to Las Vegas.

Tabor said teams came from many states that are not often represented in Nevada tournaments, including Alaska, New Hampshire, Nebraska, Illinois, Wisconsin, Kansas and Minnesota. The teams represented all four soccer regions in the United States, four Canadian provinces and three Mexican states. It received the platinum rating as an exceptional tournament from Gotsoccer.com, the nation's top rating service for youth soccer.

Tabor said the more than 400 tireless volunteers in the Downtown Club are a key to giving the tournament a national platinum ranking. The logistics of coordinating 523 games on 27 fields at Bettye Wilson, Kellogg-Zaher, Ed Fountain and Cimarron Memorial soccer fields required many people to give up their holiday weekend.

Because of the record number of entries – up from 190 last year – matches were played from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Feb. 14 and 15, and the championship games were played on Presidents' Day. Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and members of the City Council were on hand for the awards ceremony.

Tabor said there was concern that the tournament might not have as many participants this year because of the weakened international economy, so they were pleased with the response that brought several thousand people to Las Vegas.

Other notable international teams included the Boys Under-17 ABA Anahuac team from Mexico City and the Boys Under-17 Academia Internacional Dominicana team from the Dominican Republic. Academy teams participated from the Mexican professional club powerhouses Chivas and Club Atlas. The field also included a record 37 Canadian teams.

One reason so many teams came to the International Tournament was the chance to showcase their best players in front of college coaches and recruiters. Tabor said coaches from about 60 universities came to scout players.

Helping make the tournament possible were local Rotary Clubs whose members hosted some foreign teams in their homes. Other sponsors were Telemundo and Adidas.

Information on the International Showcase is available at the Tournament Web site, LVMayorsCup.com , or the Downtown Las Vegas Soccer Club Web site, downtownlvsc.com. The tournament site includes results of all the matches.

The Downtown Soccer Club and the City of Las Vegas will partner again for the Mayor's Cup, Oct. 24-25, for teams in the Under-11 to Under 15 age groups.

A Junior Cup tournament for Under-8 through Under -10 teams, sponsored by the Downtown Club, will be held on the club's training fields May 2-3. The entry deadline for that tournament is April 1.

For More information, go online or contact Downtown Las Vegas Soccer Club President Roger Tabor at 812-4803 or Mary Hausch at 349-9512.