Manchester United’s delegation leader and Assistant Academy Director Paul McGuinness is excited about returning to Dallas next year, this time with his Under 12 team. McGuinness states, “The under 12 group is ideal for our academy to educate the players both on and off the field in such a prestigious tournament. From our previous visits, I know that the tournament can be a life changing experience in terms of the player’s football and social education. Several of the players who won the under 12 Dallas Cup championship in 1998 were in the England Youth Cup winning squad last season and some have gained international honours for England. The Dallas Cup helped them to realize the work required to succeed in the professional game and their success in the ’98 tournament helped to give them the belief, confidence and motivation to become professional players.”
Dallas Cup Executive Director Gordon Jago could not be more pleased. “The return of Manchester United lets us know that what we are attempting to accomplish with the Dallas Cup in providing the most positive atmosphere in youth football is in fact happening. There are other outstanding tournaments that they could go to during the Easter period but they keep coming back to the Dallas Cup” says Jago.
Tournament Manager Randy Jones is also getting excited about the potential for Dallas Cup XXV (April 4-11, 2004). “The confirmation of Manchester United today just tops off a phenomenal response over the past couple of weeks. We have received many on-line applications and inquiries in the different age groups from countries such as Germany, England, Norway, France, Spain, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mexico, Israel, Canada and more. This on top of those already received from the top teams in the USA. The application deadline for USA teams is fast approaching on November 26th and the international deadline follows shortly thereafter”.
