Competitors Set for Super-20 Finals

Super-20 League News Release

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

TAMPA, Fla. – The Super-20 League announced today the teams that will participate in the 2012 Super-20 League North American Finals presented by Umbro, and the opening round draw for the group stage which opens at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida on Thursday, July 19. Sixteen teams from the men’s division and eight teams from the women’s division have endured a tough season against the top U20 teams from across North America and will have the chance to claim the title of champion on Sunday, July 22.

Two-time defending champions the Crew Juniors lead the men’s division, and they are joined by fellow Midwest Division clubs Chicago Fire and Waza FC. The new Mid South Division will have three teams making the trip to Fla. – Alamo SC San Antonio, Texas Football Club, and the Laredo Heat, while host IMG is joined by Tampa Bay United, the VSI Tampa Flames and Orlando City Juniors from the Southeast Division.

First-year program Knoxville Soccer Academy, FASA of the South Atlantic Division and Ottawa Fury of the New England Division will also enjoy the first-class facilities of IMG Academy. The Mid Atlantic Division contingent is made up of three teams, with the Westchester Flames, Ironbound SC, and Potomac SC heading to Florida.

For the first time in the Super-20 League Finals’ existence, a club from Colorado will be in attendance, as the Colorado Rapids U20 women have accepted a bid after a competitive 10-game season in the Rocky Mountain Division. Reading United AC of the Mid Atlantic Division and Triangle FC of the South Atlantic Division were last year’s two finalists and will continue their rivalry this year, as both clubs won their respective divisions.

D.C. United Women and TSF Academy, also of the Mid Atlantic Division, and FASA of the South Atlantic Division will accompany their rivals in Bradenton. Another new program to the Super-20 League is the Midwest Division’s Force Football Club Academy, which did not lose a game and earned a bid as the division winners. The New England Division’s Ottawa Fury will join their men’s squad in making the trip from Ontario.

Teams will check in on Wednesday, July 18 with group play beginning Thursday morning and running through Saturday. There will be four groups of four for the men’s tournament and two groups of four for the women’s, with the draw for each group available below. Each group was drawn randomly, with the provision that two teams from the same qualifying group could not be paired together in the opening round.

The Super-20 League Championship Games will take place on Sunday, July 22 at the IMG Soccer Academy Stadium. A kickoff celebration for the participants will be held at IMG Golf & Country Club on Thursday evening, and players, coaches and families will spend their down time at the elegant Hyatt Regency Sarasota, the Super-20 League’s headquarters hotel for the 2012 Super-20 League North American Finals.

The 2012 Super-20 North American Finals will also serve as an important player identification event for the PDL and W-League, as well as for U.S. National Teams. PDL and W-League coaches will be in attendance to scout talent, along with USL National Technical Director Peter Mellor, a longtime USSF Staff Coach. Head Coach Steve Swanson and the U.S. U20 Women’s National Team will share the facilities at IMG Academy as they prepare for the 2012 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup, which kicks off on August 19 in Japan.

The seventh-annual Super-20 League North American Finals found a new home this year at the world’s largest and most advanced multi-sport training and education complex at IMG Academy. For the next three years, the Super-20 Finals and Super Y-League North American Finals will both be held at the Bradenton complex, an amazing opportunity for some of the best talent on the continent.

For more than 30 years, IMG Academy has helped countless youth, adult, collegiate and professional athletes reach their full potential in and out of sport, by providing world-class coaching, tailored programs and professional facilities within an energetic environment across a 450-acre campus.

Super-20 League Finals Group Stage