Excitement Builds as 2017 Cal Cup Commences Friday

MOORPARK, Calif. - One hundred and thirty-four teams from five nations will compete at the 2017 California Cup International Field Hockey Tournament starting on Friday, May 26 running through Monday, May 29. The 46th edition of one of the oldest and largest field hockey tournaments in the world, more popularly known as the Cal Cup, will feature teams from Argentina, Canada, Mexico, Taiwan and the USA, as well top athletes from Australia, Brazil, England, Germany, Holland, India, New Zealand and Pakistan. There are 13 divisions ranging from Mixed U-8 to Men's and Women's Super Divisions. Each will be competing concurrently on nine fields at three different venues: Moorpark College, Arroyo Vista Community Park and Moorpark High School. More than 90 umpires will be officiating all games. Cinthia Melli, an FIH international umpire, is appointed as the Umpires Manager for the Super Division games.

Teams are an important influx of tourism to the area with an estimated revenue of $5,000,000 and impacts all local businesses. As a result of the event's popularity, there are more than 1,500 booked rooms in 16 different hotels in neighboring cities of Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Agoura, Westlake Village, Newbury Park, Oxnard and Camarillo.

At the youth level, there are mixed teams participating in the U-8, U-10 and U-12 age groups. Typically more boys than girls compete at this level for the United States teams. Cal Cup also offers girls’ divisions in the U-14, U-16 and U-19 age groups. However, the differentiator from some other events, is the existence of boys- and men-only teams. In 2016, Cal Cup had six teams in the U-14 Boys Division, four teams in the U-16 Boys Division, five teams in the U-19 Men’s Division, five teams in the Competitive Men’s Division and eight teams in the Men’s Super Division. That is a total of 28 all-male squads.

Families can enjoy watching some of the best players from the United States compete at a high-international level. A huge draw is also the cash prize offer in the Men's and Women's Super Divisions. The winning team in each division wins $7,500. There are also Mixed Social Divisions offering competition to players of all levels.

For registration, schedules and directions to the venues, please visit: www.calcup.com.                 

USFHA media release

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