Region to host U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships

LAKEWOOD RANCH —U.S. Youth Soccer has announced plans to hold the 2021 U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships in July at the Premier Sports Campus in Lakewood Ranch.

The tournament, to be held from July 20 through July 25, will take place at the 140-acre sports complex, which features nearly two dozen FIFA-regulation Celebration Bermuda grass fields, according to a statement. 

“This unique Florida location, amid sand and surf, will make our National Championships even more memorable for our teams and guests,” says U.S. Youth Soccer CEO Skip Gilbert in the statement.

“We look forward to delivering another top-flight programming experience for these elite teams. Given the heritage and history of the USYS National Championships, we are excited to see our players challenge themselves given the enormous hurdles they’ve faced this past year.”

Elliott Falcione, Executive Director of the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, says the area will make the annual event a memorable one for players, coaches and families. “We are honored to host this historic youth soccer championship in Lakewood Ranch and are thrilled to work with US Youth Soccer to make this event memorable for the athletes and attendees,” Falcione says, in a statement.

US Youth Soccer, the largest youth sport organization in the country, registers nearly 3 million players annually. The US Youth Soccer National Championship Series is the country’s oldest and most prestigious national youth soccer tournament, involving in all roughly 185,000 players on more than 10,000 teams.

The championships date to 1935 and are capped off by the annual presentation of the McGuire Cup.