Coming Back Stronger Than Ever And With Safety Protocols
Well known as one of the most popular hallmark events of the youth soccer summer, Surf Cup’s tag line is “The Best of the Best” and focuses on creating opportunities for college-bound players to connect with college coaches.
The announcement confirming Surf Cup for Summer 2020 on May 20 was one of the first during the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic … yes, 2020 Surf Cup is on for this summer — as long as State and Local restrictions allow.
The News that Surf Cup is on is like a bright Ray of sunshine in a Gray Sky.
With all the unprecedented cancellations because of the Coronavirus COVID-19, the news of the 2020 Surf Cup being planned for this summer was received well. Even with revised dates later in August, this tournament becomes an even more important tool for college recruiting than ever before— for both players and collegiate coaches.
Since the lockdown began in mid-March, every soccer event, at every level of play, has been canceled due to the pandemic.
US Club Soccer, US Youth Soccer, Elite Clubs National League (ECNL), all canceled events, and the U.S. Soccer Development Academy (DA) closed on April 15, thereby canceling its 2020 Allstate Development Academy Spring Cup, the 2020 Allstate U.S. Soccer DA Summer Showcase and Playoffs, as well as its Championship.
For 40 years, the highly respected Surf Cup has served to provide players with opportunities to play in front of college coaches, and the is a prevailing and palpable joy that this event will be held this summer.
“We are super excited to cater to the needs of college coaches and the players who have lost a sizeable chunk of recruiting process.”
Brian Enge, CEO of Surf
Offering college coach exposure is one of the key tenents of Surf Cup Sports and many youth soccer players with dreams of being on collegiate rosters have really lost a significant amount of time to be seen,” said Brian Enge, CEO of Surf.
For The Good of The Game & The Players
The 2020 Surf Cup will be held exclusively at the Surf Sports Park in Del Mar over four weekends.
Usually, Surf Cup is held over two weekends, with the “Olders” and the “Youngers” competitions played on consecutive weekend utilizing both Surf Sports Park and the SoCal SportsComplex in Oceanside.
“While the Surf Cup competition is going on in Del Mar, other traditional Southern California summer tournaments from the Rebels SC, Albion SC, and other youth soccer clubs will be held simultaneously at SoCal Sports Complex,” said Enge.
“Surf Cup Sports is trying to get all the summer tournaments scheduled in the shortened summer.”
Brian Enge, CEO of Surf
“We are able to balance all of this and help all these tournaments have fields space — for the good of the game — assuming the phased opening of San Diego Return To Play happens on schedule.”
This is the first time since Surf Cup launched in 1980 that there will be other youth soccer competitions held on the same weekends at a facility they manage, but as Enge points out, “This is the only way all these tournaments can be played this summer and this is what is best for the players.”
Of course, this event, like all others, will look different this year and will be held depending on the impact of the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. The safety of the players, coaches, and families will be a top priority. As the guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Center for Disease Control (CDC), and other medical experts on the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic are constantly updated, the exact protocols will be announced closer to the event.
Surf Cup Sports will be working closely with the government and health officials to determine the appropriate safety protocols for the tournament.
Surf Cup Sports‘ tournament director Michelle Chesters says, “We really wanted to make sure we could pull off Surf Cup this year. It’s such an important fixture on the soccer calendar not only for all of the teams and families but for college coaches too. It’s important that we move forward safely and with guidance, so moving all of the dates into August provides us with the opportunity to do just that.”
And, yes, the Surf Cup Photo Booth is planned for the event, so come by and take your free pictures to share with your friends.
Today, Surf Cup Sports‘ Michelle Chesters announced:
After careful consideration, acknowledgment of the phased re-opening and input from our partners, government officials, and college coaches, the decision has been made to change the dates for our Summer Surf Cup events.
Surf Cup is known as the premier summer event for college recruiting, and by moving our dates, it will allow college coaches to plan and budget their attendance at the event.
With the delayed fall start and, even in some cases, the postponement of fall soccer into the spring at the college level, college coaches can now be available to attend the event in August instead of having to be back on campus on August 1st.
Many coaches have indicated that because of the COVID19 situation, they are behind in recruiting and that changing the dates for Surf Cup helps them with recruiting. College coaches will have restricted budgets and limited events to attend this year.
Additionally, this will allow teams more time to hold tryouts and finalize rosters for the upcoming season and enable families to make travel arrangements for lower costs.
With that said, here are the date changes and updated registration deadlines for 2020 Surf Cup:
In the event of cancellation due to COVID-19, all registration fees will be issued a full refund minus credit card processing fees.
OLDER BOYS (2006 & OLDER)
DATES: August 1 – 3, 2020 (Sat – Mon)
Registration deadline July 1, 2020
Teams will be notified of acceptance by July 6, 2020
OLDER GIRLS (2006 & OLDER)
DATES: August 7 – 9, 2020 (Fri – Sun)
Registration deadline July 4, 2020
Teams will be notified of acceptance by July 9, 2020
YOUNGER BOYS & GIRLS (2007 & 2008)
DATES: August 15 – 16, 2020 (Sat and Sun Only)
Registration deadline July 12, 2020
Teams will be notified of acceptance by July 17, 2020
YOUNGEST BOYS & GIRLS (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)
DATES: August 22 – 23, (Sat and Sun Only)
Registration deadline July 15, 2020
Teams will be notified of acceptance by July 20, 2020
Note: This article was updated 5/27/20
