Sunday, June 5, 2022 - Grand Park, Westfield, IN. The Indiana Soccer Memorial Cup kicked off to a great start on Saturday, June 4, at Grand Park, Westfield Indiana. Thanks to the great efforts of the Indiana Soccer Association staff, this was another successful post-Covid-19 event.
Grand Park was a beehive of activity with coaches, managers, players, and parents traveling from across the state to have their athletes participate in the exciting Memorial Cup weekend games. The turnout was great with 155 teams, 1,860 players, over 4,500 spectators, and nearly 100 referees participating in the weekend activities.
Despite the warm weather, the tournament went well with 248 games being played throughout the two-day event. For the first time in the history of the Memorial Cup, games officiated included referees that were recently certified under the Small Sided Referees Program launched by the association in 2020 to mitigate the shortage of officials. The newly certified young officials did an excellent job of putting into practice the skills they learned during the state-wide Small-Sided Referee Certification Program facilitated by Steve Franklin – Director of Coaching Education and George Perry – ISL Commissioner.
“To me, the best part of the event is that we don’t keep score. These young players come to play just because they love the game. We start the weekend off with a moment of silence in memory of those we lost too soon, and to reflect on how fortunate we are to be able to bring our children out to play. It is a gift we should not take lightly.” -- Angel Hall, Indiana Soccer Memorial Cup Director
This event also impacts the families of those we play to remember. Indiana Soccer receives so many thank you’s from those families with comments like this: “Thank you for honoring those who loved the game and those they left behind.” “I’m grateful that Ben’s name and all the others will continue to be acknowledged. It’s a reminder to everyone how precious life is….no guarantees…” “This is a great thing you folks do! “
“It is a privilege to assemble and serve the Indiana Soccer family as we memorialize those who were an active part of our soccer family and who are no longer with us.” stated Dave Guthrie, Indiana Soccer’s Executive Director. “The Memorial Cup is the highlight of the year for me as kids are competing and playing for the love of the game; coaches are facilitating play, allowing the players to compete at their own pace and intensity, and parents are able to sit back and enjoy a weekend of wholesome competition.” Guthrie added.
About The Memorial Cup
The Indiana Memorial Cup was inspired by the loss of Rachael Fiege, who began her soccer career at the early age of 5. When permission to name the cup after Rachael was requested, her parents, Rick and Angela Fiege, stated that they would be honored but asked that the event be expanded to honor all of Indiana’s youth soccer players and referees who are no longer with us. As a result, Indiana Soccer is honored to provide the Indiana Memorial Cup to pay tribute to those players, coaches and referees whom we have lost much too soon.