The Dallas International Girls Cup 2017
The 2017 Dallas International Girls Cup (DIGC) and IberCup USA concluded on Sunday with final matches that lived up to the excitement of the tournament all week. Between the two tournaments, almost 200 of the best teams from around the world came together to compete and make unforgettable friends and memories. This year the tournament welcomed participants from 17 nations including Guatemala, Mexico, Sweden, Denmark, England, Finland, Australia, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Colombia, Panama, Chile, South Korea, Canada and the United States. Almost 100 college coaches were in attendance during the DIGC tournament scouting and recruiting domestic and international players.
Kicking off the tournament on April 11 was our official international opening ceremony in a packed Alfred J. Loos Arena with more than 7,000 spectators. The opening ceremony included a parade of nations, a country western dance group, a show band and guest speakers. This year our featured guest was Jane Campbell, who was the youngest Goalkeeper to ever be called up to the United States Women’s National Team, at age 17. Campbell commented on her experience playing at Stanford and recently being drafted to the Houston Dash, as well as her time spent with the Women’s National Team.
There were also spectacular performances from the Big D Marching band and the Wild Cat Wranglers, Texas’ own amazing line-dance/stunt group showing the visiting countries how we dance in Texas. But one of the highlights of the DIGC opening ceremonies was the parade of all countries. From Korea to The Netherlands back to the United States, all countries had an opportunity to show their colors with pride!
On Wednesday, the tournament officially began followed by the coaches reception in the evening for all the international team managers. During this event, international and out of state teams were recognized by the Mayor of Farmers Branch, Mayor Phelps and the Ahmed Ashmawy, Director of Coaching of the Dallas Texans the tournament host club. Local Dallas teams hosting international teams were in attendance and were given recognition for volunteering their homes to athletes from other countries, providing a true Southern Hospitality experience.
On Sunday, the tournament concluded with the finals for each group and most of the games lived up to the billing as they were fiercely competitive games between great teams. The Dallas International Girls Cup Finalists were:
U12: Dallas Texans South 05 Girls and Solar Chelsea 05 Pulpaneck U13: Dallas Texans South 04 Girls and NTH Top Hat 04 ECNL U14: FC Dallas 03 ECNL and Solar Chelsea 03 ECNL U15: Lonestar 02 ECNL and Solar Chelsea 02 ECNL U16: Dallas Texans 01 ECNL and Solar Chelsea 01 Wells U17: Dallas Texans 00 Fort Worth and Dallas Texans 00 ECNL U18: IF Lyseng (Denmark) and Solar Chelsea 99 Composite
Winners for each age category were: U12Dallas Texans South 05 Girls
U13 NTH Top Hat (GA)
U14 Solar Chelsea 03 ECNL
U15 Dallas Texans 01 ECNL
U16 Dallas Texans 01 ECNL
U17 Dallas Texans 00 ECNL
U18 Solar Chelsea 99 Composite
The Dallas Texan’s girls’ teams defended their home turf winning 4 of the 7 age categories. Solar Chelsea, another local Texas team also fared well winning 2 age categories. NTH Top Hat from Georgia won a tightly contested championship game against a strong Dallas Texans South team.
IberCup USA Finalists were: U9: PSG (TX) and Continental FC (PA) U10: EFF Bagoso (Panama) and Manchester City FC (England) U11: Dallas Texans 06 Dallas and RSC Anderlecht (Belgium) U12: FC Dallas and Atletico Madrid (Spain) U13: Club Menedy (Guatemala) and Liverpool FC (England)
The teams from pro-clubs Manchester City, RSC Anderlecht, Atletico Madrid, and Liverpool FC dominated the competition and all won the championships in their age categories with the U9 Continental FC team being the lone U.S. team to win a championship.
However, the top USA teams in the IberCup did not leave empty handed, as the best U.S. team in the U9-U12 age groups won a free travel package to an international IberCup tournament in Portugal, Spain, Denmark and Japan!
The top U.S. teams included: U9: Continental FC - won a travel package for IberCup Estoril in Portugal U10: PST Attack – won a travel package for the IberCup Scandinavia in Denmark U11: Dallas Texans – won a travel package to the IberCup Japan U12: FC Dallas – won a travel package to IberCup Costa Del Sol in Spain
Helping to make this tournament possible were our amazing sponsors such as NIKE, the City of Farmers Branch, Gatorade and many others. What makes these tournaments a once in a lifetime experience and not just great soccer tournaments are the events that take place off the field that create a lifetime of memories for these young athletes!
