Soccer News: Dalian National Hope Cup
Soccer unites the world with a shared passion for the beautiful game – and youth soccer players exploring the world and becoming immersed in different cultures through the game of soccer is a life enriching experience. Traveling on a soccer team to compete in an international youth soccer tournament is an amazing opportunity and one deserving of support.
Youth Soccer News: San Diego based youth soccer club, FC Heat is honored to be invited to a youth soccer tournament in Dalian, China. The youth club — serving the needs of players in and around the City of Escondido, California – are sending a BU15 team of 16 players to compete in The Dalian National Hope Cup. The club looks forward to representing the USA abroad and to building a solid relationship with the people of the City of Dalian. Dalian is a port city in northern China, known as The City of Soccer and has a population of over 5 million people.
The FC Heat youth soccer team will be playing 3 games over a ten day period and competing against other teams from the local area. This tournament is second to none and will only feature one US team. Opening ceremonies prior to the competition will include a press conferences announcing the competitors and their teams. With the emphasis on sportsmanship, encouragement, peace and brotherhood, the Dalian National Hope Cup are offers a rare glimpse into life in China.
This tournament is national news in China and all of the games will be televised both on National TV and available to fans world wide on the internet. There will even be slow motion action replays and dual commentary. The games will be officiated by four FIFA trained officials and commentated on by local media and soccer experts in the press box.
Families and players traveling with FC Heat will enjoy the cultural exchanges between the people of these two great countries.
The tournament takes place in the Dalian Stadium, where the playing surface is world class and the view for the spectators is mind blowing. An amazing experience for a youth player and their family.
In order to achieve this goal they need sponsorship. Sponsors will receive their logo and or name on our specialty made uniforms, which will be used for every game. FC Heat are also taking two professional videographers/photographers to capture the trip on a video diary for website and US media release.
SoccerToday spoke with Steve Yorke, FC Heat Director of Coaching, to get more information about the Dalian National Hope Cup:
Diane Scavuzzo: How did the idea of participating in a tournament in China come about? How did it all start?
Steve Yorke: When I first took the job at FC Heat, we set goals collectively to try and set our club apart and to be a little different from other clubs. I hired coaches who I admired that would bring fresh ideas and innovation to the club.
One of those coaches was Roger Rolim de Moura, who I have worked with on many projects. Roger and I have the same outlook on coaching and we always want the best for our players and the club. Roger has a little business called “Coaching for Life,” which teaches all children ‘life’s lessons’, giving them the tools to succeed at anything they want to do. I love this approach.
Well, we had been coaching two young brothers at FC Heat for about 2 years, who were always eager to attend practices. Their father Mr. Wei Zhang (pronounced Chang) was impressed by the lessons we taught and the marked improvement the boys made both on and off the field. He was also very impressed by the effort we as coaches put into each session. He asked if we would be interested in going to Dalian in China to do some coaching and to maybe take a team with us in the not too distant future. This started the ball rolling. We then sat down and put our heads together in order to answer this question:
What can we do to help the children of both cities, Dalian in China and Escondido in the USA?
We decided to base this on a cultural relationship between the two cities, where our mayors and city councils could get involved. A partnership of sorts for many years to come, where in the future we can host Chinese children of similar backgrounds to our children. We looked at the big picture and what this could mean for everyone involved. It had nothing to do with a business proposition to make money, but everything to do with giving children and families an experience that they normally would never have in their lifetime.
Dalian is in northern China and is a major seaport in the south of the Liaoning Province and has a population of over 5 million people. Many of China’s professional soccer players start their careers in Dalian.
Wei Zhang is the founder and chairman of a non-profit organization based in Seattle called the Asian American Affairs Association. Mr. Zhang’s vision for helping all individuals and families is exactly the same as FC Heat’s vision for helping soccer players and their families. It was a perfect match so we joined hands. Mr. Zhang is now the VP of Overseas Operations for FC Heat.
Diane Scavuzzo: Have you ever been to China before or participated in this tournament? How many US teams will be participating?
Steve Yorke: FC Heat has never been or participated in this tournament. However, Mr. Zhang took a team from Seattle last year. FC Heat will be the only international team competing against local Chinese teams.
Next year we hope to have one girls’ team and one boys’ team from FC Heat competing. In the future, the organizers plan to take this tournament international. We are proud and honored to have been selected as the only club from the US.
Diane Scavuzzo: How did you select the team?
Steve Yorke: For 2015 the BU15 team was the age requested by the tournament organizers. When the tournament expands we will be taking both a girls’ and a boys’ team of different ages.
Selecting the team and the players to go on this trip had nothing to do with their financial situation. Whether they could afford it or not, we selected the team as a whole and tackled the financial side of the trip separately.
Diane Scavuzzo: What training will you be doing to prepared?
Steve Yorke: Dalian is very much like San Diego as far as climate is concerned so that is not much of a concern. The field that we play on is in a stadium in Dalian and the playing surface is fast and equal to many world class surfaces played on by international teams. This suits this team’s style of play, which is a fast counter-attacking style. We will be concentrating more on fitness and cardiovascular conditioning because the field is big. The players in our team have played together for a while and I am sure their coach, Roger Rolim de Moura has a few tricks and ideas up his sleeves.
Diane Scavuzzo: How do you think this trip will benefit the boys?
Steve Yorke: Soccer is the tool in order to achieve our end goal. Our end goal is to give these players, both from the US and China an experience that they will never forget. A chance to be part of another culture and to share a common interest with a fellow player and families of a similar backgrounds.
We all hear and read about clubs taking trips abroad to locations where soccer is obviously the most important factor for the geographical location. But you never hear of a team going to Dalian, China the ‘City of Soccer’ no less.
Not only that, but these trips are expensive and usually only families that can afford the trip can go. Not with FC Heat and the Asian American Affairs Association, we plan on sending families who would never ordinarily have the chance on such a trip.
Prior to our trip we will be educating the boys on the history of Dalian and China and of local customs. The boys on this team are a great class of people who have always shown sportsmanship and encouragement to each other. They now have a chance to spread peace and brotherhood.
When Wei Zhang met the families of the selected team he said these words;
“You as children will always remember this trip. And when you have your own children you will tell them about it and about the club that sent you there. You will always remember how hard your parents and coaches worked in order for you to have this chance. And it is my dream that you will do for another child what these people have done for you.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Diane Scavuzzo: How are you planning on raising funds?
Steve Yorke: Sponsorship and donations. We have been very lucky so far that more than 50% of this trip is covered. The Asian American Affairs Association and The City of Dalian have been very generous to us. We are talking to our uniform sponsors and suppliers and also other corporations who have expressed interest.
The shirts that we play in will display our sponsors who will be thanked at every opportunity.
There are very few clubs that are offered this kind of a trip to a country which had not been so readily accessible in the past. Our sponsors have an opportunity to show their support to FC Heat both in the media in the US and China. All games are televised nationally in China and press conferences are planned with full newspaper, magazine and internet coverage of the occasion.
Diane Scavuzzo: How can people make a tax-deductible donation?
Contact myself at 760-522-2209 or stevefcheat@gmail.com or Dr. Peter Minkoff at 760-522-4449 or peter.minkoff@gmail.com.
