Our SCORES Cup 2018 Champions: US Bank, Morgan Stanley, and AT&T!
On Saturday, July 7th, America SCORES New York held the 12th annual SCORES Cup at Pier 40 on Manhattan's west side, a day of soccer and networking for a good cause.
Showing true commitment to the game, almost 500 players on 36 soccer teams came out on a beautiful sunny day instead of staying home to watch the two big World Cup quarter-final games on TV.
Check out our team photos taken by Luis Fonseca (Division 1, Division 2, and Division 3 and also the best of our action photos taken by John McCreary), Kim Kirnan, and Tom Weis). Our photographers also caught some of the rest of the color from the day and those photos are gathered here.
SCORES Cup is New York's biggest corporate soccer tournament and America SCORES New York's largest fundraiser, where all proceeds go to support our soccer, poetry and community service after-school programming, impacting almost 1,000 poet-athletes in Harlem, Washington Heights, Brooklyn, and the Bronx.
In addition to our corporate sponsors who took the field on Saturday, Pepsi and Subway generously provided refreshments for the day, while NYC Footy and New York Red Bulls respectively equipped us with goals and game balls.
Special mention also to our amazing jerseys sponsor 4point4 whose extremely professional designs and vivid colors had all of the players looking really well when they took to the field. We are also very grateful to Maria Davenport's New Jersey-based Designs Advantage who helped us out with some last minute customization orders.
The day started with our incredible staff and volunteers, who helped set up fields, registration, and refreshments for the teams who began arriving at 8 AM for registration.
Every player was eager to be involved and the opening speeches given by Executive Director Shannon Schneeman, Board member Adrienne Reininga, and high school program participant, Eric, everyone was raring to start! With the encouragement from New York Red Bulls DJ Frank and our incredible MCs Zach Zimmerman and Meaghan Strickland, the games began!
The teams of Division 1 started the day off strong, but in the end, only US Bank and Thomson Reuters remained. After a well-played final, US Bank emerged victorious as SCORES Cup 2018 champions with a 2-1 win!
The Division 2 teams that made this our largest division worked tirelessly for the Challenge Cup. In the end, it came down to Deloitte and AT&T, with AT&T clinching the victory in a tense penalty shootout!
For the second year, Division 3 saw teams compete for the recreational honors and the KICKER! Cup, named for our annual national publication. The competition was just as fierce as the other divisions, and after some close games, Morgan Stanley overcame Oppenheimer in a well-played deciding game
Throughout the day, we kept the scoreboards updated, as well as our Team Fundraising Leaderboard. This is the first year that we've incorporated team fundraising in a competitive way and it went incredibly well!
This incredibly successful day would not have been possible if it weren't for our tireless group of volunteers. Many joined us as early as 6 AM and stayed throughout the day, encouraging teams and helping the day run as smoothly as possible. We couldn't have done it without you!
The volunteer referees organized graciously as ever by our amazing supporter Bruce Mandel worked hard all day in the heat to keep games on an even keel - without their experience and support, this would be impossible.
Many thanks to DJ Frank and MCs Meghan and Zach, who kept us entertained throughout the day, and all of our photographers Luis Fonseca , John McCreary,Kim Kirnan, Tom Weis, and Nate Reininga who captured every minute!
Finally, a huge thank you to our corporate sponsors! This event could truly not be a success without your commitment and your passion. Because of your dedication, we are able to put over $200,000 into our program and continue to change the lives of poet-athletes throughout New York City!
Executive Director Shannon Schneeman cites SCORES Cup as one of her favorite days of the year! "SCORES Cup is an incredible gathering of some of the most amazing people in New York City," she mentioned. "From the staff that has been preparing for the past 6 months, to the volunteers dedicating their entire Saturday, to the companies and employees donating both money and time to support the youth of NYC...it was all so inspiring and I can't wait until SCORES Cup 2019!"
