Adult Soccer Tournaments

Adult soccer tournaments have become big business in the United States as generations of soccer-playing kids have now grown up and chosen to keep playing into their adult years. You know that must be the case when no less a marketing power than Disney decides to get in on the act. (The Walt Disney World Classic runs in January and is growing year-by-year).

Adults, of course, tend to be more mobile than children, owning such things as cars, credit cards and the like, so tournaments are often held in exotic locales like Orlando, Las Vegas, and even Iceland. In fact traveling internationally for adult tournaments is very doable, particularly to Europe, where, of course, adults have made up a large subset of the tournament industry for many years.

Games are more likely to be small-sided affairs (6v6 or 8v8), since getting 22 able-bodied 40-somethings on one field at the same time can often be something of a challenge.

There are a couple of things to look out for when doing your research. Pay close attention to the demographic that the event is targeting. Some events are designed as family affairs, offering Over-30, Over-35 and Over 40 divisions that are tacked onto larger youth soccer tournaments as an additional “Moms and Dads” activity.

Others cater very much to the twenty-something crowd and stress social events and post-game parties as much as they do the soccer. If, for instance, a tournament web page advises you to “bring your own alcohol as it’s cheaper than hotel prices” as one of our listed events does, then you might want to think about leaving the kids at home.

The other thing to watch out for is the level of competition, which can range from Recreational to Open, the highest level. Don’t let your ego determine which division you enter. Open divisions often feature former college players, or even former pros, who probably won’t be shy about telling you if you don’t belong. While most adult tournaments forbid slide tackling, the higher divisions can still be pretty intense affairs, and novice players competing out of their depth can risk injury.

Besides the aforementioned Disney, some of the bigger players in this growing field include Soccer Resort, Bear Foot Sports, which operates the Soccer Six Tournament Series, Eurosportring, and, perhaps surprisingly, MLS, which runs the MLS Futbolito program in Hispanic communities across the country.

See the link below for our list of adult soccer tournaments both in the US and overseas.

Adult Soccer Tournaments

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