An important and fun part of the youth soccer experience is playing in tournaments. These exist at various levels, from local to regional and national. Tournaments provide exposure to diverse playing styles and competition levels, enhancing skill development and adaptability. They can lead to team bonding (traveling, rooming, eating together), and participation in the bigger regional tournaments is an opportunity to get noticed by college scouts.
Our son’s teams played in several local NYC-area tournaments (outdoor and indoors during the winter months), as well as futsal (a fantastic way to hone skills – futsal is a big deal in South America and known to be one of the reasons Brazilian players are amazing dribblers/ball handlers). Tournament highlights for us were the huge EDP tournaments at Tuckahoe Turf Farm in Hammonton, New Jersey (hundreds of teams from around the Northeast), and the Jefferson Cup in Virginia, which is one of the more prestigious tournaments for higher-level travel teams on the East Coast.
When looking at clubs to trial with and potentially join, it’s a good idea to ask about how active your player’s team is likely to be in tournaments upfront, especially for athletes considering college or pro careers.
GotSoccer does a good job of keeping a calendar of most of the more important youth soccer tournaments around the country. It’s a great resource.
