Sunday was supposed to be the day high school soccer players from New York and Pennsylvania took the field at Pitt-Bradford for the fourth annual Corporate Cup Soccer Showcase.
Of course, like all interscholastic sporting events this spring, the Corporate Cup felt the impact of COVID-19, as organizers Kris Linderman and Dave Talbot announced its postponement a month ago, April 17. But on Sunday, Linderman offered an update to media outlets in an email, saying he hopes to plan a July or early August game date, with a plan to announce that date by early June.
“We will remain hopeful and positive,” Linderman said. “The players are itching to get to play and we are hopeful for some type of return to normalcy.”
Linderman cited Pennsylvania putting McKean County in its Yellow phase for reopening, and New York heading in that direction in Western New York for his optimism in rescheduling the game for the summer.
“Of course that depends on if things keep improving. Given the green light to play, we are ready to go,” he said.
Linderman announced that the annual Media Day event was also canceled. A pack of “goodies” including the game day uniform is instead being delivered, in person or by mail, to players and coaches. Of the 95 players and 23 coaches, Linderman said only 20 remained on their list to deliver and should receive their uniforms this week.
The game program is still a work in progress, as Linderman said they still have room for more ads but “we feel that this is not the time to be approaching businesses for ads considering many of them are not open and the current climate is not conducive to it.” He added that businesses still interested in advertising may email or call.
“Once everyone has their uniform I have asked them to send me a photo of them with their uniform on and we will then use that for our game day program photo,” Linderman said. “Not ideal but it will suffice considering the circumstances.”
Further updates will be available on social media including Facebook (Mazza the Corporate Cup), Twitter (@oleansoccerclub) and Instagram (@nypa_soccer-showcase).
— The Big 30 All-Star Charities Classic football game also reiterated its intention to play on the originally scheduled date of Aug. 1. In conjunction with its final roster addition press release, the Big 30 committee stated that after meeting May 14, it determined to move forward to play Aug. 1 under New York and Pennsylvania reopening rules. “Our game, of course, will also be at the mercy of the state mandates.”
Barring any late dropouts, the Big 30 game rosters are now set.
