The Cambridge World Cup returns this weekend for the 11th year, taking over Danehy Park with the final tournament for the city’s youth soccer recreational league. The friendly competition and city spirit make it an event everyone looks forward to, program director Jason Targoff said.
The North Cambridge fields will be packed with games, families and tents. Targoff estimates the crowd will hit 3,000 on Saturday alone, when games kick off; Sunday is for semifinals and finals, capping a season with 1,300 kids from third through eighth grade, making up 89 teams across boys’ and girls’ divisions.
“We call it the World Cup because it started with the younger age group – and the kids get to play for different countries,” Targoff said. “We have Team USA, Team Nigeria, Team Ethiopia, Team Italy, we have all the countries. So, at the end of the year we have a big World Cup tournament, and it’s awesome.”
Participation grew with a change put in place a few years ago. “Typically, recreational soccer and travel or club soccer are two different pathways, and the kids who do one don’t do the other. We have a different setup,” Targoff said. “Everyone who plays in Cambridge Youth Soccer plays rec soccer – and then some of those kids also play on a travel team.”
Unlike typical travel leagues, Cambridge’s club-level teams play Sundays so kids can still participate in Saturday rec games with their friends, teammates and classmates.
“It’s really one big intramural family competitive event. So they all really look forward to playing with one another,” Targoff said.
The tournament’s success is also rooted in how accessible and welcoming the program has become for kids of all backgrounds, even granting free participation to about 25 percent of players. “Soccer in Cambridge used to be not all white, but a predominantly white sport,” Targoff said. “And since we’ve done the rec model, it looks more like all the schools of Cambridge.”
For Targoff, the event captures everything youth sports should be. Though the tournament is about competition, it’s never just about winning.
“You don’t want coaches who all they care about is winning,” Targoff said. “There’s something wrong with that. But you want the kids to care about winning, because trying to win is important. And part of the value in youth sports is to try and get better at something. It’s all about balance.”
“It’s very pure and beautiful, and that’s what’s so exciting about this,” Targoff said.
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