Schwan’s USA CUP International Youth Soccer Tournament: July 20, 2011

Tremendous transformation from stage to cauldron: Opening Ceremony

07/20/2011, 6:38pm CDT

By Tiffany Willits

Who would have thought that building a cauldron for opening ceremony would be such an interesting task? For the first time ever, Schwan's USA CUP decided to make the cauldron from scratch. Brandon Radeke, facility operations manager and Paul Erickson, executive director had the idea to build a cauldron that would be owned by the National Sports Center. In the past it had been borrowed from Minnesota Special Olympics.

Facing the heat - International teams adjust to play through the unpredictable Minnesota weather

07/20/2011, 5:42pm CDT

By Karly Wallack

This year Schwan's USA CUP, presented by PUMA, has brought with a variety of weather conditions, including everything from heat and humidity to severe storms and lightning delays. The ever-changing Minnesota weather can at times be unpredictable and teams must learn to adjust to the conditions facing them throughout the tournament. With an unusual amount of weather concerns this year has been even more of a challenge for the incoming teams as they've played on through the diverse conditions of each day.

Worst weather in the World?

07/20/2011, 4:45pm CDT

By Karly Wallack

Schwan's USA CUP has battled unusually severe weather this year. It started with lightning and heavy rain on Friday, transitioned to intense heat and humidity on Saturday and Sunday, and then looped back to a severe thunderstorm on Tuesday.