I see where BC, NW, Ft. Mill and Aiken will be playing in this tournament next year. Sound like a big time tournament.
Winthrop University is having a great tournament next Spring at the new Manchester Meadows Soccer Complex in Rock Hill. College teams: Winthrop, College of Charleston, Old Dominion, USC, Clemson, Davidson and UNC Wilmington. The Wilmington Hammerheads will also be there. There are four high schools teams also: Northwestern, Brookland-Cacye, Ft. Mill and Aiken.
www.winthropeagles.com http://www.winthropeagles.com/default.asp?section=6&type=story&id=3524
If Posipanko is involved with it I can tell you it will be first class. He has some very good teams in the field.
Forgive my ignorance, but I didn't realize that high school teams could play in the same tournament as a college team. Are there not SCSHSL rules against that? There seems to be rules for everything else.
thats awesome i never knew you could do that
If you look at the schedule there is two high school games between the two college sessions. They are not playing each other. Besides the NCAA no longer allows college teams to play club teams.
These games will be non-region matches. The high school teams are not part of the tournament.
NHSXCOACH -- You are correct. The high school games are simply one match only and part of our regular season non-region schedule. B-C is excited to have this opportunity versus the 4A State Champions! Should be a great atmosphere for soccer.
Well stated coach. The two HS games should be very competitive and exciting. We here in Region 3 look forward to the competition.
Look for more high school games and tournaments to be scheduled at Manchester in the future. It's a great venue.
I drove past it a while back and WOW!!! It is tremendous!! The championship field is brilliant, as well as the rest of the complex. Should bring exposure and $$ in for the York County area!
Yea...I didnt think they would let any high school team play colleges like these...half the team would come off with a broken leg or something.
Here is something from the newspaper about it.
New park ready to kick off
Complex called "The premier soccer facility in the Southeast"
DENNY SEITZ - Charlotte Observer
An eight-field complex intended to be the soccer equivalent of Cherry Park will be unveiled Sunday.
About 5,000 people are expected Sunday for the opening of the Manchester Meadows complex.
"We think it's the premier soccer facility in the Southeast," said John Taylor of the Rock Hill Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism. "We did a lot of research across the region and across the nation and think this one is unique and stands alone."
The $12 million project, built on 70 acres off Dave Lyle Boulevard about a mile west of Interstate 77, consists of six grass fields, two artificial turf fields, a pavilion, concessions, a lake, playgrounds, picnic areas and walking trails.
City officials hope the economic impact will be comparable to that of the softball fields at Cherry Park, which generates about $5 million per year for the local economy, Taylor said.
Winthrop men's soccer coach Rich Posipanko already has seen an impact.
"As soon as people started hearing about Manchester Meadows, they were calling me about playing in a tournament there," Posipanko said. "It's not close to being one of the biggest complexes, but you'll have a tough time finding a place with more amenities. This place could be top-of-the-list as far as looks.
"If you were going to build a dream eight-field facility, this is it."
Robert Thomas, sports marketing director for the Rock Hill/York County Convention and Visitors Bureau, expects the fields to attract thousands of visitors each year.
"It will have a huge impact on the hotel industry in the area," Thomas said. "It's perfectly suited for family and friends to come to town with soccer players and watch them, then eat, sleep, shop, sightsee, play on the playground. Everything is centrally located."
The wear and tear of soccer on a field is much greater than that of softball, so midweek games will be limited, Thomas said.
The complex has been talked about for years. Posipanko, who began coaching at Winthrop 18 years ago, said he heard about it when he was first hired. Now that it's here, he's ecstatic.
"It gives us a venue where we can do a large-scale tournament," Posipanko said. "When I knew I had this facility, it took me two hours to fill a lineup for a tournament that has top-notch teams. I had to turn Furman and West Virginia down."
For Posipanko's tournament on March 31 next year, he limited invitations to college teams that had been ranked in the national top 20 in the past four years, such as South Carolina and Clemson, and high school teams ranked in S.C. top 15 last season, such as Northwestern and Fort Mill.
"These are the kinds of tournaments you can get here," he said, "now that you have this facility."
Want to Go?
WHAT: Grand opening of the Manchester Meadows soccer complex, with soccer demonstrations, self-guided tours, a scavenger hunt and live music. The rain date is Tuesday at 5 p.m.
WHEN: 3-6 p.m. Sunday
WHERE: 337 E. Mount Gallant Road, Rock Hill
INFORMATION: rockhillrocks.com or (803) 329-5620
I was looking at the info on the Manchester Cup for this Spring. On Posipanko's web site is now a virtual tour of the Manchester Meadows Soccer Complex. It is very impressive, I saw the complex for the first time last week. For those of you who have not seen it:
www.birdnest.org/posipanko Click on Manchester logo and you will see the virtual tour link.
Sorry. Correct web site:
www.birdnest.org/posipankor then click on Manchester logo and then on the virtual tour link.
Sorry for being lazy.. but.. this is THIS Sunday?
Manchester hosted the Kick-It 3v3 tourny this past weekend and had a pretty good turnout. The facilities are excellent. and best of all they have slides at the playground. keeps my daughter busy.