TUE., JUNE 16 | 12:50 PM MT | SEE YOU IN VIRGINIA BEACH
The inaugural National Cup Denver Regional has come to a close here at the Gates Soccer Complex, with three championship games this morning closing out the four-day event.

Champions were crowned this morning in the U-13 boys' and U-15 boys' and girls' age groups. The Utah Avalanche 94 Black captured the U-15 girls' championship with a narrow 1-0 victory over Real Colorado Olympico in exciting fashion, with a late second-half goal by Alexis Selman. She was happy about it:

 "I was really happy I was there," Selman said. "I just got a foot on it and it went in the lower left corner. It was probably the happiest thing that has ever happened."

A complete list of champions and photos can be found by clicking here.

Once again, congratulations to all winning teams! We look forward to seeing you in Virginia Beach!

MON., JUNE 15 | 12:25 PM MT | USA VS. ITALY
The semifinal and championship games aren't the only ones we are looking forward to today, as the U.S. Men's National Team is about to kick off against reigning World Cup champion Italy as part of the FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa.

The United States is undoubtedly looking forward to a rematch of their second group game of the 2006 World Cup against the Italians. We're excited for the contest as well, but we will have to resort to occasional updates from U.S. Soccer's MatchTracker instead of watching it on TV. After all, we are running a tournament of our own.

MON., JUNE 15 | 8:28 AM MT | CHAMPIONS TO BE CROWNED
Two Denver Regional champions were crowned yesterday, and six more will receive their trophies today. The U-16 girls' winner and U-16 and U-17 boys' champions will be determined at the 1 p.m. game slots, while the U-12/13 girls' champion may be determined during the 11:15 a.m. or 4:30 p.m. time slot, depending on the outcome of the earlier game.

U-12 and U-14 boys' champions will also receive their medals, and the other age groups will battle for their position in tomorrow's championship contests.

SUN., JUNE 14 | 10:30 PM MT | DAY 2 IN THE BOOKS
When all was said and done, the Denver Regional experienced four weather delays on Sunday, but due to some quality contingency planning, games in the last time slot of the day (5:15 p.m.) started just 30 minutes later than the original start time. Kudos to the Colorado Storm for assisting us in making use of additional fields at Gates Soccer Complex, allowing the 2:15 p.m. and 3:45 p.m. games to be played concurrently and minimizing the delay for the 5:15 p.m. games.

A pair of champions were also crowed this afternoon, in both the boys' and girls' U-11 divisions. The local host club's Colorado Storm '98 Girls Royal claimed the title on the girls' side, while the boys' championship went to Real Colorado National.

There is a great amount of parity among the remaining divisions, which should make for an entertaining day of play tomorrow as teams look to punch their ticket to the Region K championship.

SUN., JUNE 14 | 2:05 PM MT | ANOTHER WEATHER DELAY
We're 0 for 2 in escaping the daily Colorado afternoon storms.

UPDATE [2:26 p.m.]: That was quick. The "it's safe-to-go-back-out" siren just wrang so teams are headed back to the fields. Game on!

UPDATE #2 [2:35 p.m.]:  Wait...not so fast.  More lightning, and weather delay #2 of the day.

SUN., JUNE 14 | 11:02 AM MT | MLS / VOLKSWAGON MOBILE MARKETING TOUR HAS ARRIVED
As part of US Club Soccer’s partnership with Major League Soccer, the MLS/Volkswagon Mobile Marketing tour will be on-site at several National Cup VIII events this summer, including our Denver Regional.

Their crew of staffers showed up on Saturday in style, with five new cars and all kinds of extras.

As you can see, it was a very happening place

There are a couple different offerings that are part of the tour. There is the cargo load, which is an adult vs. kids competition to see who can pile soccer equipment into the trunk of a Jetta Sports Wagon the quickest.

Cool prizes are awarded, of course, and the score as of this morning is as follows:

In case you were wondering, the fastest time the cargo load staffer has ever seen? Four seconds.

“You get two big guys with long arms and they can just scoop the equipment up in four seconds.”

The MLS/Volkswagon crew is also running a twin-and-win game in which individuals sign-up at a tent, are given a number, and the objective is to find the other person at the event who has the same number.

The first winners

The afternoon was full of matching persons coming to the tent to claim the prize of their choice.

“The van will work,” remarked a winning patron in reference to the new automobile displayed on-site.

She ended up with a t-shirt.

Also available is a soccer tennis court…perhaps there will be time for a little staff competition later!

SAT., JUNE 13 | 4:15 PM MT | WEATHER DELAY

The fields have been cleared

Just when we thought we would escape the daily afternoon thunderstorms of Colorado, lightning in the area proved us wrong. As such, we are currently in the midst of a weather delay.

However, it's not raining and it seems that the storms are headed away from us, so hopefully we'll be on track for a quick restart of the last games of the afternoon.

SAT., JUNE 13 | 2:37 PM MT | MID-AFTERNOON UPDATE
Everything is in full-swing at the National Cup VIII Denver Regional, including scouting of boys born in 1996-97 and girls born in 1995-96 for US Club Soccer's id2 player identification and development program.

id2 scouting in progress

In one of the most-anticipated games of the tournament, the New Mexico Rush Nike 94 played to a 0-0 stalemate with Nebraska's Toro SC Bravo in U-15 girls' action on field 2 this afternoon. The back-and-forth, evenly-matched game was what you would expect of the notoriously-successful squads. Stay tuned to the Denver Regional Online HQ to see what transpires over the next few days.

SAT., JUNE 13 | 7:53 AM MT | SET FOR A MILE-HIGH START

The third weekend of National Cup VIII competition is beginning here at the inaugural Region K tournament at Colorado's Gates Soccer Complex in suburban Denver. Two other Regionals are also being held this weekend - Dallas and Modesto (girls). In addition to teams from Colorado, squads have traveled to the Denver Regional from New Mexico, Utah, Nebraska, Arizona, Nevada and Texas.

Games will run from 8 a.m. to approximately 7:30 p.m. as teams try to get a step ahead on this first day of competition.

[back to Denver Regional Online HQ]