Ninth Annual Continental Cup International Youth Sports Festival Begins 4th of July Weekend
The Continental Cup International Youth Sports Festival returns to Cleveland July 3-6 for its ninth consecutive year. Since 2006, the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission has hosted the event for a total of 1,900 teams from 37 different countries.
Teams from all over the world compete in the different events the Continental Cup has to offer. The Opening Ceremony beings today at Baldwin Wallace University and consists of many activities for athletes, including an entertainment festival, parade and fireworks.
Athletes can visit various exhibitor tents from top name sports brands and teams, including AC Milan, adidas, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Dick’s Sporting Goods.
Following the Opening Ceremony on Thursday, the event will be packed with youth competitions for soccer, basketball and baseball.
Soccer kicks off Saturday with a World Cup-style bracket, ending with a championship game for boys and girls teams ranging from ages 9 to 18. Since this year’s events fall in line with the World Cup, the international soccer youth competition will be even more special. AC Milan Junior International Teams will compete in the soccer bracket, along with teams from Kenya, Nepal, Colombia, Canada and the United States.
Baseball games run all weekend and end with a triple header on Sunday to determine the champion in three age brackets. More than 60 baseball teams will compete, including many teams from Canada and the United States, and even a team from Indonesia.
The basketball tournament offers games for boys and girls from grades four through 12. Along with teams from New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, the 8th grade men’s Mongolia National Team, The National Basketball Academy of Greece 7th grade boys team, and the Girls Kenya High School team will be in attendance.
The 2014 events will host more than 3,200 youth athletes, who will compete in 550 games on more than 40 fields/courts in the Cleveland area throughout the weekend.
This article originally appeared on STACK.com: Ninth Annual Continental Cup International Youth Sports Festival Begins 4th of July Weekend
