The 2015 U.S. Soccer National Amateur Championship takes place this weekend. It features champions from the USASA Open Cup (Maryland Bays), the USASA Amateur Cup (NY Greek Americans), and the Premier Development League (Michigan Bucks).
Naturally, you would assume that the fourth amateur champion, the New York Red Bulls U23s who won last year's National Premier Soccer League championship, would be participating.
You would be wrong with that assumption.
Instead of including the true champion of the NPSL (and thus making this a real National Amateur Championship comprised of four national amateur champions), the tournament features Chattanooga FC. Chattanooga FC being the team that lost, 3-1, to the New York Red Bulls U23s last season in the NPSL Championship match.
The champion of the USASA Open Cup, the champion of the USASA Amateur Cup, the champion of the PDL, and some team that didn't win the NPSL. One of these teams doesn't belong. So is it a true "National Amateur Championship" or is it "three champions and a runner up competing for a thing in a place"?
The NPSL was asked to send a team for this tournament. The Red Bulls U23s moved from the NPSL to the PDL this off-season and this kept them from competing in both the Open Cup and now the National Amateur Championship. Should the league decide which teams they will send to competitions? Sure, but it's disingenuous not to include their champion from last year (who went 14-0 during the regular season) in multiple tournaments and for the tournament to claim that it includes the best of the best merely because a team switched leagues.
The 2015 National Amateur Championship will be played Friday and Saturday in Chattanooga, Tennessee at UT-Chattanooga's Finley Stadium (that's convenient). The teams will be competing for the Hank Steinbrecher Trophy.
Friday May 29
NY Greek Americans vs Michigan Bucks - 5:00pm
Chattanooga FC vs Maryland Bays - 7:30pm
Saturday May 30
Consolation - 5:00 pm
Championship - 7:30pm
So they can have their "National Amateur Championship." However, if they would like to crown a true champion, they should send the winner of their four-team soccer festival up to the Red Bulls Training Facility in Hanover, New Jersey. They should send this "National Amateur Champion" up to Hanover and have them play against the New York Red Bulls U23s. And make sure they bring the trophy because you damn well know our U23s would win it.
