The United States Soccer Federation Development Academy Summer Showcase

Greensboro is the host city for two important and prestigious youth soccer events in June and July that have national reputations resulting in significant economic impact locally and regionally. The United States Soccer Federation Development Academy Summer Showcase brings 128 boys teams to Greensboro’s Bryan Park Soccer Complex today through Monday and will return in 2009. The Score Showcase will be at Bryan Park for four day runs on consecutive weeks in July (19 – 22 & 26-29) with over 300 teams participating including boys and girls. The Score event will be at Bryan Park for 10 years.

“These nationally known youth soccer events come to Greensboro because of Bryan Park. The hard work of Greensboro Youth Soccer, the Carolina Dynamo, Greensboro Parks and Recreation Department along with the Greensboro CVB and Sports Commission has put Greensboro in position to host such events. They are very high profile, probably top 5 summer youth soccer events and bring major economic impact to our hospitality community. Direct expenditures and additional spending result in millions of dollars in the community. 15,000 to 20,000 hotel room nights are booked” according to Henri Fourrier, President/CEO of the Greensboro Area CVB.

Adds Steve McBride, Executive Director of Greensboro Youth Soccer who run the Bryan Park Soccer Complex, “this is a tremendous opportunity for Bryan Park to be seen on a national scale, these showcase events are very important in the summer months for youth soccer. The players and teams that participate are some of the best from across the country and our soccer complex is an excellent venue for them, we benefit from having them here as does Greensboro and all of the Piedmont Triad. The affiliation with USSF is exciting”.

“June and leading into July has been a very active time for the Sports Commission working with the CVB and other groups in bringing youth and amateur sports to Greensboro: The North Carolina High School Athletic Association Baseball Championships, AJGA Footjoy Boys Invitational, TYLA Laxfest – Lacrosse, USSSA Basketball National Championships, Nike Outdoor HS Track & Field National Championships, South Atlantic League All-Star Game, State Games of North Carolina. With the USSF Academy Summer Showcase followed by July’s Score Showcase and the annual North Carolina Coaches Association Clinic and All-Star Games – a busy couple of months with a strong financial impact on the community”, says Marc Bush, President of the Greensboro Sports Commission.