The second annual International Champions Cup (ICC) Futures Tournament kicks off Wednesday in Bradenton, Florida. There is a Boys and a Girls competition and the inaugural U15 girls division will look like the ECNL vs. The World at the IMG Academy. Four ICC All-Star teams with ECNL players, and 4 top club teams from the ECNL, will face off against Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, and Manchester City. The ECNL teams chosen to compete on the girls side include Concorde Fire, Player Development Academy (PDA), LAFC Slammers and Heat FC Nevada. ICC Futures U15 Girls Tournament
The ICC All-Star teams are split into four regions, with an East, Midwest, South and West team. Each team was selected through a series of open tryouts, where any player in the country was eligible for selection. A total of 66 current ECNL players will be representing their respective regions, making up 86% of all players competing on the four ICC All-Star teams.
St. Louis Scott Gallagher is well represented on the Midwest All-Star team, starting with Head Coach Ralph Richards and his Goalkeeper Coach David Comens. Six girls, listed below, join a group of eighteen on the team.
There are three groups of four in the competition and the Midwest team will face Heat FC Nevada, Paris-St. Germain and FC Barcelona in the group stage. The girls will play a pair of games on Wednesday and one game on Thursday. Followed by a rest day, the semifinals will be played on Saturday and the Final on Sunday. All of the games are being televised and you can find the schedule for our girls below as well as a few other games I thought might be of general interest.
| ICC Futures | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | CY | Team | Notes |
| Zoe Cuneio | SLSG Missouri | ||
| Taylor Gardner | 2006 | SLSG Missouri | |
| Autumn Jackson | SLSG Missouri | ||
| Langley Mayers | SLSG Missouri | ||
| Kaleigh McPherson | 2005 | SLSG Missouri | |
| Jordan Gary | SLSG Illinois | Collinsville |
Photo via Ralph Richards @SLSGMOECNL
From left: Zoe Cuneio, Kaleigh McPherson, Langley Mayers, Taylor Gardner, Jordan Gary, Ella Sanchez, Autumn Jackson
The full roster for the Midwest Team can be found on the ECNL website
Another player who formerly played locally while her father Mario Sanchez coached the SIUE Cougars is Ella Sanchez who returned to the Kentucky Fire as the family chose to return to Louisville following David’s four year stint at SIUE.
Midwest ICC All-Stars lose 2-1 to Barcelona@Michigan_Hawks@EclipseSelectSC@SLSGsoccer@slsgilgirls and Internationals. Good luck tomorrow vs PSG #DreamBig @theECNL pic.twitter.com/NCZMAO19JU
— Michigan Hawks (@Michigan_Hawks) December 12, 2019
Would you believe it if I told you I played @FCBarcelona at @IMGAcademy today? I can't believe it either. This must be what heaven is like. #ICCFutures pic.twitter.com/Is4ZXeGkUm
— Taylor Gardner (@TaylorGK18) December 12, 2019
| GIRLS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Time | Match | TV.Result |
| Wed | 11:55 | ICC Midwest vs. FC Barcelona | ESPN3 |
| Wed | 14:55 | Manchester City vs. LAFC Slammers | ESPN3 |
| Thu | 12:25 | ICC Midwest vs. Paris Saint Germain | ESPN3 |
| Thu | 18:25 | PDA vs. LAFC Slammers | ESPN3 |
| Sat | 17:00 | Semifinal: LAFC Slammers vs. FC Barcelona | ESPNnews |
| Sat | 19:00 | Semifinal: ICC West vs. PDA | ESPNnews |
| Sun | 14:00 | Final: FCB v PDA | ESPNnews |
Watching Barca 05 vs what I am told the best 05 ECNL team PDA. 17 pass goal In the first minute pic.twitter.com/r4txJvESow
— randomblackrain (@randomblackrain) December 17, 2019
Team Bonding at @ICCFutures!@FCBfemeni 🤝 #ICCMidwest pic.twitter.com/7bnIJ7Naa0
— Women's ICC (@iccwomen) December 11, 2019
Congratulations to the #ICCMidwest girls on a very successful @ICCFutures tournament. 1️⃣ defeat to the Champions @FCBfemeni & 4️⃣ W’s vs @HeatFCNV @PSG_Feminines @AtletiFemenino & #ICCSouth
So proud of these young ladies who brought it everyday.
Congrats CHAMPS @FCBfemeni pic.twitter.com/qEuQ08448h
— Ralph Richards (@SLSGMOECNL) December 15, 2019
The Boys competition is for U14 boys and consists of 24 teams (rather than the 12 competing in the girls tournament). There are 11 foreign clubs represented along with four MLS teams and an additional four Academy teams. There are four All-Star teams that are made up of primarily ECNL teams with a note on the ECNL site indicating Academy players were prohibited from playing per US Soccer rules. There seems to be a fairly loose interpretation of that rule as the one St. Louis representative, Braydon Sellers, has played 11 games with SLSG Missouri Academy this Fall.
With 24 teams, the boys will play group games on Wednesday and Thursday followed by Quarterfinal games on Saturday. Sunday will see a pair of semifinals and then the Final.
Braydon is back row, 2nd from left player, and he played as a 10,starting the game I watched. Also captained a game.
| BOYS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Time | Match | TV.Result |
| Wed | 09:15 | Juventus U14 vs. ICC Midwest | ESPN3 |
| Wed | 18:25 | Inter Miami vs. FC Barcelona | ESPN3 |
| Thu | 09:25 | North Carolina FC vs. ICC Midwest | ESPN3 |
| Thu | 13:25 | Tottenham Hotspur vs. New York Red Bulls | ESPN3 |
| Thu | 13:55 | FC Barcelona vs. LA Galaxy | ESPN3 |
| Sat | 08:00 | Quarterfinal: AS Roma vs. Real Madrid | ESPNnews |
| Sat | 10:00 | Quarterfinal: New York Red Bulls vs. Paris Saint Germain | ESPNnews |
| Sat | 13:00 | Quarterfinal: Vasco Da Gama vs. Chivas | ESPNnews |
| Sat | 15:00 | Quarterfinal: FC Barcelona vs. SL Benfica | ESPNnews |
| Sun | 08:00 | Semifinal | ESPNnews |
| Sun | 10:00 | Semifinal | ESPNnews |
| Sun | 16:00 | Final | ESPNnews |
Match Length: Games consist of 25 minute halves with a ten minute halftime (whistle to whistle). No overtime period will be played during any game. If the score is tied at the end of regular time in the knockout stages, kicks from the penalty spot will be used to decide a winner. A two minute break will be used between the end of the game and the start of penalties. This procedure will apply to all boys and girls matches.
