Hey there soccer fans,
Here’s a very cool event happening next week within 90 mins of Marbletown.
MLS NY Red Bulls vs Charlotte FC in the Hunter Lamar U.S. Open Cup
* May 25, 2022 at 8:00 PM at Montclair State University-Montclair, NJ
* Tickets are only $10.00 per person
What’s the H Lamar U.S. Open Cup (aka the Open Cup), and why is it so cool?
It’s the only tournament in the US where amateur teams get a chance to complete against the pros. That means lower division teams from any league, like the Kingston Stockade, can enter to compete against even MLS clubs, to crown a true national champ. This is a proper competition and this is how it’s done in Europe, South America and elsewhere.
There’s more.
The winning club earns $300k and the highest ranking amateur team takes home $25k. That’s significant money for your local, hometown team. (You can almost build a mini-pitch with that money :) )
It’s also the oldest tournament in the US, dating back to 1913/14. A team from Brooklyn won that year and World War I hadn’t even happened yet.
It’s true that MLS teams have won almost every year since entering the tournament in 1996. But in 199, the amateur club, Rochester Rhinos, walked away national champs. So it can happen.
In, our time when we are desperate for examples of what used to be a common mantra in the US — it doesn’t matter where you came from, the skies the limit — here’s a real example to point to.
So get out and see local-ish hero Christian Fuchs and his team, Charlotte FC, go head-to-head with one of New York’s top teams.
Follow this link to purchase your tickets via ticketmaster.