Avery High School student and soccer player Forrest Sickler has spent the past several weeks in Sweden playing for the U.S. youth soccer team in the Gothia Cup. The Gothia Cup is a youth association soccer tournament held annually in Gothenburg, Sweden, open for both boys and girls of ages 11 to 19 years. With respect to the number of participants, it is the world's largest soccer tournament. The Cup was started in 1975 with 275 participating teams.In 2009, the tournament witnessed 1,547 participating teams and 35,200 players representing 71 different countries. Since the tournament’s inception, 133 nations have sent teams to the event. The Gothia Cup involves over 4,500 matches played on at least 110 soccer fields. And annually brings over 295,000 visitors to the town of Gothenburg.
Sickler played as a member of the USA Revolution U-18 squad organized by 365 Sports in Durham, NC. The team lost a close 2-1 match to a team from Laos to begin tournament play and fell to a strong team from nearby Norway. Sickler was the lone player from North Carolina, with teammates from states as far away as California, New York, and Ohio, in addition to players from Virginia and South Carolina.
Forrest’s team was one of 93 U-18 teams in this year’s tournament. Similar to the World Cup, teams play three group games with the top two teams advancing into a knockout round.
“The opening ceremonies were very impressive and inspiriting. There were 70,000 people in attendance as a great stage show and fireworks highlighted the presentation of teams from all over the world,” Forrest’s father Skip stated regarding witnessing the tournament firsthand. “Lots of chanting and cheers radiated from the stadium. A strong theme of friendship and interconnectedness was present, as well as a celebration of different cultures.”
