The 2018 Dallas International Girls Cup (DIGC) was a huge success!
The 2018 Dallas International Girls Cup (DIGC) concluded on Sunday, April 1 with final matches that lived up to the excitement of the tournament all week. This year the tournament had 141 teams participate and welcomed athletes from 11 nations including South Africa, Australia, Mexico, Sweden, Denmark, England, Germany, The Netherlands, Colombia, Canada and the United States. The tournament featured top clubs from all over the U.S. and top international teams including the U15 Mexican National Team and teams from pro clubs like Blackburn Rovers, Millwall FC, Preston North End, Swindon Town (all from England), Esbjerg FB and Ballerup Skovlunde Fodbold from Denmark, SV Blau Weis Hohen Neundorf from Germany and UNAM Pumas from Mexico. Almost 100 college coaches were in attendance during the tournament scouting and recruiting domestic and international players.
The tournament kicked off on March 26 with our official international opening ceremony in a packed Curtis Culwell Center with more than 8,000 spectators, including teams from the IberCup USA boys tournament, the “brother” tournament of the Dallas International Girls Cup. The opening ceremony included a parade of nations, a country western dance group, a show band and featured guest speaker, Dave Van Den Bergh, Head Coach of the U16 U.S. Youth National Team.
On Wednesday, despite the rainy weather, tournament games started and in the evening the tournament hosted a reception for all the international team coaches and managers. During this event, international and out of state teams were recognized by the Mayor of Farmers Branch, Mayor Robert Dye, and Ahmed Ashmawy, Director of Coaching of the Dallas Texans, the tournament host club.
Tournament games continued Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and 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.
Dallas International Girls Cup Finalists were:
U12: Solar 06G JDL Academy vs. Dallas Texans 06G South (both from North Texas)
U13: Dallas Texans ECNL U13 (North Texas) vs. San Jose Earthquakes Pre-DA 05G (California)
U14: FC Dallas U14 Girls DA vs. SOLAR USSDA U14G (both from North Texas)
U15: Dallas Texans U-15 GDA vs. D'Feeters '03G ECNL (both from North Texas)
U16: Sting '02 ECNL (North Texas) vs. Mexico Women's National Team
U17: Dallas Texans GDA U17 (North Texas) vs. Rio Rapids 01G (New Mexico)
U18: Blackburn Rovers Ladies 00 (England) vs. Solar SC ECNL Composite U18/19
Winners for each age category were:
U12: Solar 06G JDL Academy
U13: Dallas Texans ECNL U13
U14: FC Dallas U14 Girls DA
U15: Dallas Texans U-15 GDA
U16: Sting '02 ECNL
U17: Dallas Texans GDA U17
U18: Blackburn Rovers Ladies 00
Many of the international teams that came to the tournament were able to do so because they were hosted by local teams who accommodated the international players in homes of the team’s families. The teams that participated in this homestay arrangement got to experience a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and many made lifetime friends with fellow soccer enthusiasts across the globe! A HUGE thank you goes out to the local host families for being great hosts and opening their homes to these international players and making this a lifetime experience for them.
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!
