US Club Soccer picks Palm Coast for National-Level Tournament

This New Years event will showcase the Palm Coast metro to 72 high school age girls teams, their coaches, parents and college scouts, almost all from outside Florida

Palm Coast, FL – August 27, 2014 – Palm Coast's sports venue initiative will provide another opportunity for folks from outside the area to visit here. The City of Palm Coast’s Indian Trails Sports Complex has been selected as the host site for a prestigious, national-level soccer tournament for US Club Soccer, to be played Dec. 31, 2014, through Jan. 2, 2015. The National Premier League Showcase to be played here is for U-15, U-16 and U-17 girls.

“This is a huge one for us!” said Rich Weber, Vice President of the Competitive Program for PDA Florida, the Palm Coast soccer club that proposed the new tournament. “The NPL Showcase Series is for high-level teams across the United States, and many college coaches and scouts will be here to see these talented athletes play.”

The tournament to be held at the Indian Trails Sports Complex is a new tournament within US Club Soccer’s NPL Showcase Series. US Club Soccer has partnered with the Surf Club in San Diego, California, and the Jefferson Cup in Richmond, Virginia, to provide top NPL teams slots at both events in 2015.

The NPL Showcase Series provides NPL players with opportunities to participate in premier national showcase events while competing against top teams from across the country. A recent news release from US Club Soccer announced the 2014-15 NPL Showcase Series as follows:

     • NPL Showcase (Girls): Dec. 31, 2014 – Jan. 2, 2015 in Palm Coast, Fla. | Open to U-15 through U-17 girls
     • Jefferson Cup (Boys): March 6-8, 2015 in Richmond, Va. | Open to U-16 through U-18 boys
     • NPL Showcase (Boys): Early March 2015 in Las Vegas, Nev. | Open to U-16 through U-18 boys
     • Surf Cup (Boys, Girls): Summer 2015 in San Diego, Calif. | Open to U-16 through U-18 boys and girls

“Palm Coast is an ideal setting for the NPL Showcase (Girls),” said Bill Sage, US Club Soccer Executive Director. “The fields at Indian Trails Sports Complex are top-notch for competition, and the nearby beaches are great for when teams and attending college coaches have some free time.”

The Palm Coast tournament over New Year’s will have 72 teams. Almost all of the players, their coaches and families will come from outside Florida, and many are expected to arrive early and stay beyond the end of the tournament, Weber said.

“The timing is perfect. It’s cold up North, and this is the deadest week of the year for hotels and retail for us,” he said.

Commitments to the tournament are coming in steadily, with the latest soccer clubs to register being from Oregon and California, said Tyler Heffernan, Communications Manager for US Club Soccer. Teams from nine states have registered, so far. For more details on the NPL Showcase and where the teams will visit from, go to NationalPremierLeagues.com/NPLShowcase.

PDA Florida and PDA New Jersey worked together to propose the new NPL Showcase event to be held in Palm Coast. The Indian Trails Sports Complex has been growing in reputation among regional and national sports leagues in recent years. The American Collegiate Rugby Association recently selected ITSC for its December national championship tournament for women’s rugby – Palm Coast’s first collegiate and first national championship.

Attracting sports tournaments is a key goal of the City’s Prosperity 2021 strategic economic development plan. Palm Coast prides itself on the high quality and condition of the fields at the Indian Trails Sports Complex. Construction has just been completed on two new soccer/lacrosse/rugby fields, and they are now undergoing final preparation for play by mid-fall.

“We truly appreciate the hard work of PDA Florida to attract this prestigious NPL Showcase event,” said Luanne Santangelo, Director of Palm Coast Parks & Recreation. “This is the second national-level tournament we’ve scheduled at our sports complex this year, and we’re very excited to show off our community to these talented athletes and their families.”