To celebrate the highly anticipated summer of soccer, New York City Football Club (NYCFC) today announced that it will host New York City Football Cup (NYCFCup), a soccer tournament for fans of all skill levels. The tournament will begin on Monday, June 18 and will culminate with the final on Saturday, July 14. The tournament, which will be open to the first 480 fans to sign up, will run throughout the City with the initial rounds taking place across various New York City Soccer Initiative (NYCSI) community mini-soccer pitches.

32 teams composed of 15 players will battle each other on weeknight evenings on pitches located in East Harlem, Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx to see who will make it to the finals. The winning team will be invited to watch NYCFC take on Columbus Crew on July 14 at 7:30 p.m. in a suite at Yankee Stadium.

The 5 v. 5 tournament will connect New Yorkers from all walks of life through the power of soccer, the most popular sport in the world. Based on availability, fans that sign up will have the opportunity to select which nation they choose to represent throughout the tournament. Teams will be configured to be inclusive and competitively balanced.

Each team will be represented by an honorary coach. Honorary coaches include NYCFC Sporting Director and former USMNT Captain Claudio Reyna, NYCFC Head Coach Patrick Vieira, Club Captain David Villa, current and former NYCFC players, Men in Blazers, among others.

The tournament will begin with a kickoff party on Wednesday, June 13 where teams will come together and meet their coaches and teammates.

Fans and media are invited to cheer on the teams at each match throughout the tournament. Youth games will take place before select matches, giving young soccer fans a chance to partake in the soccer celebration.

Through peer-to-peer fundraising, the tournament will raise funds for City in the Community (CITC), the charity proudly supported by NYCFC, that will go directly to maintaining the NYCSI pitches which provide free soccer programming to thousands of local youth each week.

NYCSI is a commitment from NYCFC and its partners from the Mayor’s Fund to Advance NYC, the U.S. Soccer Foundation, adidas and Etihad Airways to build and upkeep 50 community soccer pitches over the next five years with the aim of providing safe spaces for underserved New York children and teens. NYCFCup is another City-wide initiative made possible because of this ongoing partnership.

NYCFC President, Jon Patricof, said:

“We are excited to be kicking off this city-wide tournament to celebrate the summer of soccer. We will have over 400 players representing all parts of the five boroughs who come to play on the soccer pitches that we have worked with the Mayor’s Office and our partners to help build. On top of that, we have an all-star lineup of honorary coaches from World Cup winners to local New York soccer heroes who will be leading the teams.”

Honorary NYCFCup Spanish captain, David Villa, continued:

“It amazes me to see how soccer has grown in our City. New Yorkers love soccer and the City has great fans and players, so winning the NYCFCup will be a great honor.”

Executive Director of the Mayor's Fund to Advance NYC, Darren Bloch, also commented:

“When the City and Mayor's Fund joined with several great partners – New York City Football Club, adidas, the U.S. Soccer Foundation, and Etihad Airways – to launch the New York City Soccer Initiative, the aim was to support and energize some of the city's vibrant but long under-invested neighborhoods. As we celebrate the Initiative’s first full season we're thrilled to see the NYCFC launching the New York City Football Cup.

"Sport and play are powerful tools to bring people together, and the tournament will be a great way to engage the most international city around the most international of games."

Registration to participate is now open, click here to sign up. Players must be 18+ years of age, but all are invited to attend the event. Join the conversation on social using #NYCFCup and #32Nations1City and by visiting NYCFC.com/NYCFCup.