On Saturday July 14th, Street Soccer USA hosted its 5th Annual Times Square Cup, bringing together over 250 adult players, nearly 100 SSUSA youth, celebrities, local government officials and thousands of spectators from around the world for the city’s premier street soccer competition.
The largest iteration of the event to date, the 2018 Times Square Cup took place across two city block-long plazas on two SSUSA fields which were erected, used and broken down in the heart of NYC, all within just 24 hours. The event featured games between 32 teams in Open and Corporate Cup formats and included a celebrity “Kyle Martino King of the Court” battle, a Youth Showcase of Street Soccer USA program participants representing their neighborhoods and a City Council Match. New York City Speaker Corey Johnson served as the honorary Marshal of the event and rousing speeches from Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and Council Members Menchaca and Rodríguez alongside diverse players embodied the spirit of community, family unity and teamwork that SSUSA stands for. For the second year in a row, NY Ecuador FC was named Times Square Cup Champion.
SSUSA was proud to welcome Corporate Cup teams from longtime as well as new supporters including ESPN, MLS, American Express, Teng Yue, Cyndx, NY Cosmos, UPS, Sachs Policy Group and Lenox Advisors. Lunch for the Youth Cup participants was generously donated by Pret A Manger and event sponsors included Allstate and Lepore Taylor Fox LLP. All gear for the Times Square Cup, as well as the entire Cup Series, was provided by long time SSUSA partner UNIQLO.
