The 2019 Memorial Day Tournament sees well over a thousand teams each year, and with that number comes an equally large number of officials. A high-quality tournament like this one desperately needs world-class officiating, which is why the event draws in referees from all around the world. From Spain to New Mexico, Wales to Puerto Rico, this year’s event is going to feature referees from all over. By bringing in an extremely diverse group of referees, teams will be exposed and have to adapt to different styles of refereeing, allowing for an honest, fair match. For the full list of where our referees will be coming in from, take a look at the highlighted map and list below!
Full List of Referee Home Countries and States
| Alabama | New Brunswick, Canada |
| New York | Puerto Rico |
| Maine | Quebec City, Canada |
| New Hampshire | Montreal, Canada |
| Vermont | Netherlands |
| Connecticut | Italy |
| Rhode Island | Spain |
| Florida | Wales |
| Ohio | England |
| New Jersey | Massachusetts |
| New Mexico |
With registration now closed, GPS is delighted to announce this year’s Memorial Day tournament will feature over 1100 teams. The event is widely known as the largest one-weekend tournament in the United States as it brings in top competition from all throughout the world. This year we’re happy to be USSDA sanctioned, allowing us to host teams like the New England Revolution and Valencia C.F. Development Academies.
The event is going to be a massive opportunity for players to showcase their talent in front of over two hundred college coaches, as well compete in a world-class environment with tough competition and on 35 well-kept venues throughout the state of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Last year, we had over forty state-cup winners participate in the event.
Yesterday, the list of accepted teams for the event was released through our official tournament communication app for the 2019 event, BAND. If you are looking to see who you will be competing against at this year’s event, download the BAND app and join the 2019 Memorial Day Showcase Tournament group by clicking here. BAND is where we will be posting exclusive content such as the accepted teams list, schedule releases, and any other important updates leading up to and during the event.
We’ll see you on the field!
Thank you to all who followed along with us on social media during a tremendous Memorial Day Tournament! We appreciate everyone who shared their favorite moments with us with the #GPSMemorialDay and #GPSTournaments hashtags and we hope you will continue to follow along year after year. Make sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for photos, news, event updates, and more!
Special shoutout to the winners of our GPS Memorial Day giveaways. Lauren Gravlin won a 32 GB iPad and Julia Liu won a Playstation 4 with FIFA 18. They received the most votes among five finalists for our photo contest. Congrats Lauren and Julia, and thank you for sharing your GPS Memorial Day experience with us!
When asked what the most fun part of the tournament is, GPS South Coast U18 players Tori Shields and Erin Daniel replied, “Winning, it’s fun to win.” That’s exactly what they did on Monday when they won their division in penalty kicks to take home the trophy.
They didn’t get to the finals by accident though. Both girls said their team improved a lot over the course of the season and throughout the weekend as well. “We’ve all grown a lot as a team, which is good,” Daniel said. “We’ve developed more skills.” They were also happy to see so many college coaches watching their games. Shields said, “It’s definitely good to see coaches actually coming out and looking at the teams.”
The Fortis FC U19 team said it was a learning experience for them because it was their first time playing alongside many of their teammates. They were able to gel with their new teammates enough to reach the finals, where they were defeated by the FC Stars. “From the first game to now we’ve definitely improved a lot at reading each other’s plays,” they said.
U19 Bayside FC player Georgia Teixeira, who will be playing at Southern Connecticut State University in the Fall, preached the importance of showcase events like the Memorial Day Tournament. “We’ve always been in the top brackets so that’s good for competition and good for college coaches to watch,” she said. Although she’s committed to college already, she’s still looking to make improvements and said her focus for this particular event was on improving her communication on the field.
For more recaps and information from the 2018 GPS Memorial Day Tournament click HERE!
Everybody comes to the Memorial Day Tournament to play highly competitive soccer games, but everyone has unique goals they seek to accomplish during the weekend. Some players are seeing big improvements in their game, some are connecting with college coaches, and others simply have their eyes on winning a championship in the final go-round with their spring soccer club.
“We’re improving as a team, just our playing style against better teams,” said Devan Jessop, who plays for NEFC’s U17 team alongside his twin brother Dylan. “Winning would be a nice way to end the season.”
Declan Ryan, a U17 player with AFC was happy for the opportunity to sharpen his skills against different competition than he faces in his high school league. “There are a lot of teams that really challenged us that we might not get in our high school league. It’s always good to come up here and test ourselves,” he said. “You’re looking to get better, and if a college coach sees you that’s an extra bonus.”
The Shoreline FC Sounders U18 team won at last year’s event and they went into Monday’s games with the goal of defending their title. “The high school season built everyone up, and now we’re back with our team with great improvement from everyone,” said Ben Demaio, who came to the tournament with hopes of both winning the event with his teammates and impressing college scouts by doing his part for the team. “This event has a lot of teams and a lot of players, so I like it much more than other events I’ve been to. The level of competition is better,” he said.
If you think your team’s players would benefit from playing in next year’s Memorial Day Tournament check out the tournament website and please reach out for more information!
Players have traveled hours from home to compete at the Memorial Day Tournament, but GPS Coach Joao Barata is much further from home than most. Barata has come all the way from Portugal to gain experience coaching in the United States and the Memorial Day Tournament was a great opportunity for him to learn more about soccer in the United States.
Barata came to the U.S. to experience coaching in another country. GPS gives Barata a chance to learn more about the American soccer culture and make an impact on his players’ development in the short time he’s here. He explained that there are very few opportunities to be a full-time coach in his home country of Portugal, so he’s come to the U.S. to experience coaching in another country. GPS gives Barata a chance to learn more about the American soccer culture and make an impact on his players’ development in the short time he’s here.
This weekend Barata was coaching 08 GPS-Massachusetts, but he enjoys coaching players at all ages in different stages of their development. “I coach in Portugal between U9 and U17, so I was very fortunate to have the experience to work with different age groups,” he said. “What I like most is the development of the kids and seeing them improve.”
We asked Barata if he’s seen improvement in his team throughout Memorial Day Weekend. “Yes, of course. They work hard, which is the most important thing. They can always have fun playing soccer, but they still need to try their hardest to improve and that’s the most important aspect in my opinion. It’s a good experience for them.”
Want to learn more about what’s going on at the Memorial Day Tournament? Click HERE
Sunday of The GPS Memorial Day Tournament was a little less sunny, but everyone still brought their A game. Check out the full recap of today by clicking HERE!
Congrats to all the champions of their division! Today we held 3 press conferences with Boys U10 of Ginga Futbol Club, Girls U9 GPS Boston Elite Red, and Girls U10 GPS-MA West Elite Red! Check out our Facebook Page for full videos of all press conferences!