It’s hard to miss the MLS Preseason nowadays thanks to events like the Desert Diamond Cup hosted by the PDL’s FC Tucson, the Tampa Bay Rowdies’ Suncoast Invitational, and the Portland Timbers’ Preseason Invitational at Providence Park.

But back in 2004, none of the preseason tournaments was close to being on the landscape when the Charleston Battery unveiled the inaugural edition of the Carolina Challenge Cup.

“We’d always brought Major League Soccer teams in for a single exhibition game before the season started. We’ve been doing it for as long as I’ve been with the club,” recalled Battery President Andrew Bell. “I think when we won the A-League championship in 2003, Wilmington had also won the USL D-3 championship that previous year, and we thought there might be an opportunity to start a tournament in the Carolinas with us, Wilmington and a couple of MLS teams.”

That opportunity turned into the MLS Preseason event that arguably set the course for all of those that followed. D.C. United, and offseason signing Freddy Adu, were the star attractions in the tournament’s opening year, and the then-youthful starlet scored the first goal as D.C. defeated the Battery 2-1 in the first game at what is now MUSC Health Stadium.

The addition of the club’s soccer-specific stadium in 1999 provided the impetus for the event, with the club looking to add more events to the USL games that were the staple throughout the summer. Opened a few weeks before the opening of the CCC’s inaugural winner Columbus Crew SC’s MAPFRE Stadium, and the first of its kind in the United States, MUSC Health Stadium has been the backdrop to many memorable contests and championship games in its history.

“It was great for the club, and it was great for the players, to be here as a player was fantastic,” said former Battery player and current Head Coach Mike Anhaeuser. “You had your own place to play, it was the best in the league – I still think it is – and I still think it’s just as good as any of the MLS stadiums. It was a tremendous accomplishment for the club, it only helped us grow, being able to bring in players and also to grow the club.”