BLAINE, Minn. – (July 14, 2016) – Every July the world descends on Blaine. For ten days Blaine becomes the center of the youth soccer world with more than 2,500 games being played across 74 soccer fields.
“This is the 32nd Schwan’s USA Cup and this year we will have a record number of teams, 1,178 teams representing 19 countries and 19 states. 550 referees from 12 different countries and 15 different states. We have referees from countries we don’t have teams from,” said National Sports Center chief communications officer Barclay Kruse.
Each year Schwan’s USA Cup welcomes new teams from new countries or states. The National Sports Center campus has also evolved over the history of the tournament and this year is no different.
The tournament is about much more than just soccer. Some of the off-the-field activities for players and spectators are where many of the lasting memories are made.
“We have instructional clinics, we have a hub area with inflatables and things to do, we have two different dances for the kids next week, opening ceremonies of course on Tuesday is probably the marquee event for kids to do in addition to soccer. It’s the only time during the tournament everybody is in the same place. Theres about 16,000 people in the stadium. Over the last two days we’ve been brainstorming how to somehow work Pokemon Go into the tournament and I think we’ve got some good ideas. We’ll be having kids for sure, we have a Pokemon Gym at our Super Rink and we have Pokemon here on campus so their is going to be people catching them, meeting other people which is what we do a lot here at the tournament is putting kids together from other parts of the world and if we can use Pokemon as a way to do it, we’re all over it,” said Kruse.
With thousands of soccer players and fans in Blaine for the tournament; stores, hotels and restaurants will be packed. “$33.4 million of economic impact. The bulk of that falls on the city of Blaine and the area around us in Anoka County because everybody comes here. Not everyone comes to Bloomington or Roseville when they come to USA Cup but everyone comes to Blaine so it’s a huge economic boost,” said Kruse.
