About
Surf Sports Youth Soccer Tournaments (Surf Cup Sports) centers on youth soccer tournaments and also includes events in soccer and lacrosse. The tournaments bring together youth teams to compete in organized soccer games, and Surf Sports serves more than 200,000 youth participants annually across soccer and lacrosse.
Surf Cup is widely considered one of the most prestigious youth soccer tournaments in the US and abroad and attracts thousands of elite-level teams nationwide, including top youth teams from ECNL, MLS Next, GA, DPL, N1, EA and more. Surf Cup serves as a major recruiting ground, with more than 1,500 college coaches attending Surf Sports events to recruit players and often hundreds of college coaches and scouts at Surf Cup itself. Surf Sports hosts more than 35 events in San Diego each year, and its tournaments draw the “Best of the Best” players from all over the world, with more than 490,000 people attending Surf Sports organized events in San Diego annually.
Surf Sports assumed operational control of the San Diego Polo Fields in 2012 and has invested more than $4.5 million into maintenance and renovation, including upgrading back fields and installing stadium-quality premium Bermuda across the entire complex. Surf Sports serves more than 200,000 youth participants annually and generates an annual overall economic impact of $120 million for the region, including 125,000 booked hotel rooms per year. Surf Sports is funded in part with City of San Diego Tourism Marketing District Assessment Funds and has contributed more than $7 million combined to local charities through the Surf Cup Charitable Foundation and Surf SC needs-based youth program, including more than $4 million from the Surf Cup Charitable Foundation alone and subsidies for disadvantaged youths living in south San Diego through an outreach program launched in 2012.
Surf Soccer Club, which is connected to Surf Sports, has a history from 1977 to 2024 and is internationally recognized for player development, with 15–17 National Championships and more than 157 players on National Teams. San Diego Surf Soccer Club is described as the premier youth soccer club in the nation, competes in ECNL, ECNL-RL, and the SoCal Soccer League, and since 1994 more than 98% of girls in Surf Soccer Club have received college scholarships, while the boys program has experienced a 600% increase in the last 2 years. Surf Sports is described as one of the most influential and recognized youth sporting event organizers in the nation, globally respected for Surf Cup and event management, and the nationally leading organization in elite youth soccer tournaments.
The leadership and supporters connected to Surf Sports and Surf Cup include longtime director Mike Connerley and figures such as Derek Barazza (Cal South President), Joe Terzi (President and CEO of the San Diego Tourism Authority), Jerry Sanders (Former San Diego Mayor and President and CEO of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce), Jill Ellis (Head Coach, US Women’s National Team), Max Rooke (Associate Head Coach, Pepperdine), George Kuntz (Head Coach, Cal State Fullerton), Lauren Matthias (Head Coach, Westmont College), Adam Cooper (Head Coach, Saint Mary’s University), Rob Baarts (Head Coach, New Mexico State University), Daniel Alvarez (Assistant Coach, Whitworth University), Robert Vidrio (MLS Academy Scout, LA Galaxy), Rachel Buehler Van Hollebeke (US Women’s National Soccer Team Defender), and Landon Donovan (Former U.S. Men’s National Team Player). Testimonials from these coaches and scouts describe Surf Cup as a place where they have recruited for many years, found quality players from teams all over the country, and watched high-level games on well-maintained fields, and several note long-term attendance at Surf Cup events and personal memories of playing or watching at the tournament.
Surf Sports has also expanded Surf Cup beyond its original base to Texas, Las Vegas (Southwest), Seattle (Northwest), Spain, Italy, and Morocco, and runs the Surf Nation Affiliate program, which offers free software to run clubs, hands-on marketing support, and a nationally recognized player development and coaching curriculum.
Last updated July 5, 2026.
Surf Cup is widely considered one of the most prestigious youth soccer tournaments in the US and abroad and attracts thousands of elite-level teams nationwide, including top youth teams from ECNL, MLS Next, GA, DPL, N1, EA and more. Surf Cup serves as a major recruiting ground, with more than 1,500 college coaches attending Surf Sports events to recruit players and often hundreds of college coaches and scouts at Surf Cup itself. Surf Sports hosts more than 35 events in San Diego each year, and its tournaments draw the “Best of the Best” players from all over the world, with more than 490,000 people attending Surf Sports organized events in San Diego annually.
Surf Sports assumed operational control of the San Diego Polo Fields in 2012 and has invested more than $4.5 million into maintenance and renovation, including upgrading back fields and installing stadium-quality premium Bermuda across the entire complex. Surf Sports serves more than 200,000 youth participants annually and generates an annual overall economic impact of $120 million for the region, including 125,000 booked hotel rooms per year. Surf Sports is funded in part with City of San Diego Tourism Marketing District Assessment Funds and has contributed more than $7 million combined to local charities through the Surf Cup Charitable Foundation and Surf SC needs-based youth program, including more than $4 million from the Surf Cup Charitable Foundation alone and subsidies for disadvantaged youths living in south San Diego through an outreach program launched in 2012.
Surf Soccer Club, which is connected to Surf Sports, has a history from 1977 to 2024 and is internationally recognized for player development, with 15–17 National Championships and more than 157 players on National Teams. San Diego Surf Soccer Club is described as the premier youth soccer club in the nation, competes in ECNL, ECNL-RL, and the SoCal Soccer League, and since 1994 more than 98% of girls in Surf Soccer Club have received college scholarships, while the boys program has experienced a 600% increase in the last 2 years. Surf Sports is described as one of the most influential and recognized youth sporting event organizers in the nation, globally respected for Surf Cup and event management, and the nationally leading organization in elite youth soccer tournaments.
The leadership and supporters connected to Surf Sports and Surf Cup include longtime director Mike Connerley and figures such as Derek Barazza (Cal South President), Joe Terzi (President and CEO of the San Diego Tourism Authority), Jerry Sanders (Former San Diego Mayor and President and CEO of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce), Jill Ellis (Head Coach, US Women’s National Team), Max Rooke (Associate Head Coach, Pepperdine), George Kuntz (Head Coach, Cal State Fullerton), Lauren Matthias (Head Coach, Westmont College), Adam Cooper (Head Coach, Saint Mary’s University), Rob Baarts (Head Coach, New Mexico State University), Daniel Alvarez (Assistant Coach, Whitworth University), Robert Vidrio (MLS Academy Scout, LA Galaxy), Rachel Buehler Van Hollebeke (US Women’s National Soccer Team Defender), and Landon Donovan (Former U.S. Men’s National Team Player). Testimonials from these coaches and scouts describe Surf Cup as a place where they have recruited for many years, found quality players from teams all over the country, and watched high-level games on well-maintained fields, and several note long-term attendance at Surf Cup events and personal memories of playing or watching at the tournament.
Surf Sports has also expanded Surf Cup beyond its original base to Texas, Las Vegas (Southwest), Seattle (Northwest), Spain, Italy, and Morocco, and runs the Surf Nation Affiliate program, which offers free software to run clubs, hands-on marketing support, and a nationally recognized player development and coaching curriculum.
Last updated July 5, 2026.
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