2016 Regional Tournament Schedule Released

NOTE: This article was updated on 3/31 to include the location of the Eastern Regional Tournament.

Last season the USAFL Regional Tournament Series brought together more than twenty clubs for fierce competition at three different locales across the country as they jostled for position ahead of the National Championships.

This year, they’ll go at it again, showcasing some of the best the league has to offer from its East, Central, and Western regions.  The tournaments will take place over the course of five weeks during this summer in the thick of USAFL league play.

“The USAFL, in partnership with local convention and visitors bureaus, will fully support these regional tournaments by covering umpires’ fees, field rental, and other costs,” said the league in a statement.  “This is in line with our vision of creating more quality competitions and products for clubs and members alike.”

While attendance at these regional tournaments is not compulsory, the results of these tournaments will play a large role into seeding for Nationals.

CENTRAL REGIONALS: Saturday, June 11th – World Sports Park, Indianapolis, Indiana

EASTERN REGIONALS: Saturday, June 25th – Tibbetts Brook Park, Yonkers, New York

WESTERN REGIONALS: Saturday, July 16th – Capital FC Timber Sport Complex, Salem, Oregon

All three regional tournaments are scheduled to have men’s and women’s divisions compete.  In addition, all three weekends will include women’s national team training camps on Sunday morning.  The camps will help determine the USA Freedom and Liberty squads for next year’s International Cup tournament in Melbourne.

The series kicks off at the brand new Indianapolis World Sports Park, which opened in 2014.  The IWSP contains facilities for cricket, soccer, rugby, hurling, Gaelic football, and basketball.  It played host to the International Cricket Council’s World League in 2015 and is under consideration to host matches from this year’s Caribbean Premier League competition.

Two weeks later, the Eastern Regional championships will commence at Tibbetts Brook Park in Yonkers, New York.  Tibbetts Brook Park has been the longtime home of the two time Division I National Champion New York Magpies, and is located just a short drive from Manhattan.

Following the holiday for Independence Day and another two weeks’ rest after that, the regionals series ends in Salem, Oregon, just about an hour’s drive south of Portland.  The Capital FC complex features over 700,000 square feet of field space and is home to one of the largest developmental programs for soccer in the country.

Orange County (West), Austin (Central), and Ft. Lauderdale (East) are last year’s defending regional tournament champions.  Sacramento and Dallas took home hardware in Division 2 play while San Francisco and New York/Columbus were women’s division winners.

For more information about each individual tournament, email Mike Sheppard (East VP), Steve Grandfield (Central VP), or Seb Aguiari (West VP).

For more info about the USA Freedom camps, e-mail women’s coordinator Drea Casillas.