This past weekend New York City FC hosted the first annual Columbus Day Invitational featuring 25 different youth clubs from the tri-state area, including New York City’s 11 Youth Affiliates. Over the course of two days, the tournament saw participation from three different age groups, a total of 92 teams, and over 1,000 youth soccer players at World Class Soccer Club in Orangeburg, NY. First team players Mehdi Ballouchy and Ryan Meara came out to support the initiative by signing autographs for kids and taking in some of the matches.
NYCFC Youth Technical Coordinator Rodrigo Marion said:
“We are thrilled to bring our ever-expanding youth soccer community together at an event like this free of cost to all of the participating clubs. Youth player development is at the heart of everything we do, and as we continue to build our football club at home we greatly look forward to working with all of our youth affiliates in the area and creating the best possible environment for our kids to grow on and off the field.”
