State Cup Overview
The NorCal State Cup has become the largest State Cup competition in the United States and is the premier soccer event for teams of all ages and levels in Northern California. Featuring over 3,000 teams playing across up to 9 months of competition, the NorCal State Cup is a one-of-a-kind knockout competition that gives teams of all ability levels a chance to lift a Cup!
Purpose
In contrast to a traditional State Cup, the NorCal State Cup was created to serve teams of all levels and provide meaningful, knockout competition to every team! While we believe that player development should often be placed ahead of winning individual games, we also acknowledge the importance of players learning to play in knockout games where there can only be one winner. Not only is learning to play in this environment important, but these games are often the most exciting and entertaining of the season. The NorCal State Cup aims to provide every team and every player in NorCal with an opportunity to experience these types of games each season.
Competition Structure
The NorCal State Cup has different structures at different ages, as the importance of winning shifts depending on the age of the team. In our youngest ages, teams are guaranteed more games and are moved into different divisions based on their results, instead of being eliminated. As teams get older we shift to a more traditional group stage followed by knockout stages. Additionally, the NorCal State Cup features multiple levels of play and divisions. Teams are placed into divisions of like competition based on their historical results, and their own division requests.
U9-U10 Divisions
In the youngest age groups, our structure guarantees a minimum of seven (7) games for all teams. Teams will be seeded and placed into groups where they will play three group-stage games. These first group-stage games are hosted by clubs at their home fields. Once the first group stage is complete, teams are re-ranked and placed into new groups, where they will play opponents who have finished in similar positions within their groups. Teams will play three, second group stage games at NorCal-hosted sites. Following the second group stage, every team will play a Quarterfinal, which is the first knockout game. Teams that win their Quarterfinal will move on to the Semi-Finals, followed by the Finals.
Because teams are re-seeded based on their results, there are multiple divisions in each age group and gender which play out to a Final. This results in over 20 teams per age group and gender (varies based on the total number of teams in the age group) being crowned as their division champions at the State Cup Finals in November!
U11-U12 Divisions
The U11-U12 Age Group is split into two distinct competitions, with the State Division operating on a different timeline than the Gold, Silver, Bronze Divisions (GSB). However, both of the competition structures are the same. The State Divisions compete from August through February, while the GSB Divisions end in December. Teams in the U11-U12 age groups are guaranteed 6 matches, with teams playing three club-hosted group stage games, then moving on to Round of 32, Round of 16, and finally a Quarterfinal match. Like the U9-U10 divisions, the Quarterfinal is the first knockout stage of the U11-U12 State Cup. Teams that loose in the Round of 32 or Round of 16 matches are reshuffled to play against other teams who have lost. In this way, as the competition goes on, games will get more and more competitive as teams play more like opponents.
As with the U9-U10 State Cup, because teams are placed into different divisions based on results in the Round of 32 and Round of 16 matches, there are over 20 Champions crowned per age group and gender in the U11-U12 State Cup.
