It’s finally that time of year again as the NorCal Premier Soccer State Cup kicks off this weekend at various sites all throughout Northern California.

While most teams will wait another week to begin play, all U9 and U10 squads will start their campaigns as well as the U11 and U12 sides in the Gold, Silver, and Bronze divisions.

Overall, more than 3,300 teams will take part in the competition, making the 20th anniversary of NorCal’s State Cup the largest competition of its kind in the entire country.

“When NorCal was founded, it had the vision of creating a cup competition that everyone could participate in that would provide teams with matches against similarly skilled opponents in order to foster player development,” said NorCal State Cup Coordinator Brian Voltattorni. “We expect the 20th edition of the NorCal State Cup to be the best one yet.”

This year, NorCal is instituting a few minor scheduling changes for several of the age groups in order to optimize each team’s schedule based on feedback received.

Like last year, the U9 and U10 age groups start play this weekend, with the knockout stages commencing in October for U9s and November for U10s. The finals for those two age groups will be played the second weekend in November.

Meanwhile, the schedules for the U11 and U12 Gold, Silver, and Bronze divisions also remain unchanged, with the action beginning this weekend before the knockout rounds start in November. The finals for those categories are set to be played in early December.

A major change coming, however, is pushing back the dates for the U11 and U12 State and Premier divisions, which will now kick off their elimination phases in late January for the boys and early February for the girls, giving teams more time to prepare for the stretch run after winter break.

The U11 and U12 State and Premier finals will now take place in late February.

Another change coming revolves around the U13 and U14 age groups, which will now take place at the same time, starting with knockout round games in March. Unlike the older ages, however, the U13 and U14 divisions will now conclude the last weekend of April.

“We’ve received an enormous amount of valuable feedback from Directors of Coaching, coaches, teams, and parents that has helped us create a State Cup calendar that makes more sense for each team involved,” Voltattorni said. “We’re looking to continue making changes that will only help better the experience for our member clubs.”

Lastly, the U15-U19 divisions will remain virtually unchanged, with group stage play slated for the fall and a knockout round that will conclude on May 31 and June 1.

For more information on the NorCal State Cup, click here.