Vegas or State cup?

It appears that 2019 Vegas cup has conflicting dates with State Cup, which might force our team (G09) to choose between the two.
What is the general consensus on what experience (strictly from a soccer standpoint) is more beneficial to U9 players?
Any idea on Whether “the big dogs” (Slammers, Legends, Blues, Eagles etc) are going to play in Vegas?

The Vegas tournament is for the parents. Kids end up staying up way too late or are dragged around the strip with the adults. Parents are pre occupied with the gambling and bars.

You only get so many chances to play State Cup and there are lots of opportunities to play tournaments in Las Vegas throughout the year. Can't imagine a scenario where traveling to Vegas at u9 would provide any long term development success for a player.

There are plenty of Vegas tournaments in your future. Believe me.

Let the kids play State Cup with their friends and get the sweat shirt they will proudly wear until it gets too hot. For the parents that care, I'm pretty sure most venues have a casino within 30 minutes and there are plenty of ways to get wasted at night no matter where you are.

Fall league and State/National Cup are the 2 big competitions for most competitive soccer teams in Cal South.

I'm sure the vast majority of 2009 and 2010 SoCal club teams will be opting for State Cup and will not be in Vegas in January.

C.) Spend the time & money on a real vacation instead.

At U9 plenty of more years to travel to play tournaments and mutiple games per day.

Those travel designations like Vegas and Disney combined with a soccer tournament are becoming more popular, how about:

Venantsyo said:

It appears that 2019 Vegas cup has conflicting dates with State Cup, which might force our team (G09) to choose between the two.
What is the general consensus on what experience (strictly from a soccer standpoint) is more beneficial to U9 players?
Any idea on Whether “the big dogs” (Slammers, Legends, Blues, Eagles etc) are going to play in Vegas?

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Vegas Cup is very fun and competitive for youngers, this tournament turns crappy for older ages. I will take advantage of the Vegas environment while is competitive. Kids will remember their Vegas experiences for many years, reinforcing their soccer expectations and goals.
State Cup will be forgotten next year. At the age of your girls, creating a fun environment playing soccer is more valuable than win state cup. State Cup titles are good for coaches resumes or team rankings, no credit for players at all.
I'll go to Vegas and have fun, over State Cup. Just be responsible and use only the spare time to gamble. What I used to do in my past years at Vegas is to rent a house away from the strip and keep my players there. You can have parents and players enjoying the trip/tournament if you do it right. Enjoy either decision.

ferbert said:

Vegas Cup is very fun and competitive for youngers, this tournament turns crappy for older ages. I will take advantage of the Vegas environment while is competitive. Kids will remember their Vegas experiences for many years, reinforcing their soccer expectations and goals.
State Cup will be forgotten next year. At the age of your girls, creating a fun environment playing soccer is more valuable than win state cup. State Cup titles are good for coaches resumes or team rankings, no credit for players at all.
I'll go to Vegas and have fun, over State Cup. Just be responsible and use only the spare time to gamble. What I used to do in my past years at Vegas is to rent a house away from the strip and keep my players there. You can have parents and players enjoying the trip/tournament if you do it right. Enjoy either decision.

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As reference only. every case is different.
My team won Vegas Cup 4 years ago when they were U10. at the same time, my team got to semifinals at National Cup 2 years ago. At this current moment, my son doesn't recall any of the National Cup Games, but he remembers very well all the teams he played against from other states at Vegas Cup
I'd been requesting few times to Vegas Cup to open a DA bracket and invite academies, just to maintain the top competition for olders, but I guess its really hard to get that permit granted.
Just my experience.

I remember the miserable drive home on Monday night after making the finals... freaking nightmare. Only topped by the Sunday evening after Thanksgiving drive home from Las Vegas. The reason the olders' competition sucks at Vegas is parents catch on and no one wants to go anymore. Las Vegas tournaments vastly over rated.

forsomuch said:

I remember the miserable drive home on Monday night after making the finals... freaking nightmare. Only topped by the Sunday evening after Thanksgiving drive home from Las Vegas. The reason the olders' competition sucks at Vegas is parents catch on and no one wants to go anymore. Las Vegas tournaments vastly over rated.

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I guess every scene is appreciated differently depending on the glass quality.
Sounded like you lost some $ gambling.
Olders sucks because the best players play DA and Vegas Cup can't get DA brackets.

ferbert said:

Vegas Cup is very fun and competitive for youngers, this tournament turns crappy for older ages. I will take advantage of the Vegas environment while is competitive. Kids will remember their Vegas experiences for many years, reinforcing their soccer expectations and goals.
State Cup will be forgotten next year. At the age of your girls, creating a fun environment playing soccer is more valuable than win state cup. State Cup titles are good for coaches resumes or team rankings, no credit for players at all.
I'll go to Vegas and have fun, over State Cup. Just be responsible and use only the spare time to gamble. What I used to do in my past years at Vegas is to rent a house away from the strip and keep my players there. You can have parents and players enjoying the trip/tournament if you do it right. Enjoy either decision.

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Vegas not competitive for olders? Is that a recent thing? Did the college coaches stop going?

Multi Sport said:

Vegas not competitive for olders? Is that a recent thing? Did the college coaches stop going?

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Competition is a bit different than scouting players.
You can see club coaches looking for players at local sunday leagues as you see college coaches scouting at different tournaments.
I guess the question here is, which colleges or coaches are looking for players at vegas cup and what is the percentage of these scouted players at vegas cup in comparison with other tournaments? If vegas cup have the most demand, then i am completely wrong

My older player’s team has played Vegas Cup in the past. My younger player’s team instead played in the Oasis Cup in Palm Desert last year over MLK weekend to tune up for State Cup. Well organized, nice fields, solid competition from around the country and fun activities away from the field for players and parents. My understanding is that the event is now going to be one week earlier because of the changed State Cup dates. My guess is we would have been playing Oasis Cup again even without the changed dates because it was a better experience.

Vegas is not a place for kids. The only reason to go with them for soccer is when they are U15 and above and trying to get them exposure to college scouts. Even then you need to be in a top bracket since they spread this tournament out among many different sites and you need to be at one of the top 2-3 sites to get coaches. With the addition of DA this past year I noticed less coaches at Vegas. DA and ECNL events eat up their recruiting budgets.

Multi Sport said:

Vegas not competitive for olders? Is that a recent thing? Did the college coaches stop going?

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There are 3 Vegas tournaments I've been to.

Halloween weekend - Goes to U16. Broad spectrum of competition, but I haven't seen a top flight that was top to bottom solid. Nice break from league play if your team likes to travel
MLK weekend - CIF players can't go. Pointless for olders. Nice for youngers to go right before the state competitions.
March: That's the one for the olders to go to. Player's showcase. Olders can get some solid competition for rehashing the magic after high school.

GunninGopher said:

There are 3 Vegas tournaments I've been to.

Halloween weekend - Goes to U16. Broad spectrum of competition, but I haven't seen a top flight that was top to bottom solid. Nice break from league play if your team likes to travel
MLK weekend - CIF players can't go. Pointless for olders. Nice for youngers to go right before the state competitions.
March: That's the one for the olders to go to. Player's showcase. Olders can get some solid competition for rehashing the magic after high school.

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Both my DDs have played in Vegas but not until they were 15. No point going prior to that unless you really like Vegas.

Players Showcase, November Nights, Surf Thanksgiving are, in my opinion, tournaments where you will find College Coaches at. My DD met her future coach at Players.

Vegas Cup is a great bonding experience for families. 5 players from our current 04 team (u15) went with us when we were u9 or u10. 11 of the current 17 players went the following year. I am convinced that our team has such a strong connection because of this tournament. (And we got our butts kicked- not about the winning).
But it is a very expensive weekend and your kids will see things that they probably aren't ready to see yet. (Billboards, people walking through the casinos in various state of mind, various state of dress, drunk parents who haven't slept in 3 days, etc).
As a parent, it is an exhausting tournament. Usually play 1 game on Saturday, 2 on Sunday. Semi and finals on Monday. 45 minute drive from the strip to the fields. And staying up late doesn't help.
The casino's aren't made for kids soccer tournaments. You could probably stay off strip or get an AirBnb - But then you have to deal with a different set of issues.
If you stay on the strip expect: Long waits at valet. Early required check out times. Expensive meals (there are no kids menus at the Aria. $25 pancakes!!!). Busy and pricey activities (like bowling or casino attractions).
On top of that - you are required to book all rooms through the tournament. The rates are competitive, but there are 3 night minimums and poor customer service if you need to make any changes (I got double charged for rooms at 2 different hotels 3 years ago. Long story but the hotel pointed to the tournament. The tournament pointed to the hotel. After several hours on hold and nobody helping, I wound up filing a credit card complaint).
If you are in the upper flight and are currently dominating your age group - You might want to go for the competition. But if you are in a lower tier, you will likely wind up playing a team from your local so cal league. Or they will fill an open slot with a rec team from Vegas that you will beat up on.

Multi Sport said:

Both my DDs have played in Vegas but not until they were 15. No point going prior to that unless you really like Vegas.

Players Showcase, November Nights, Surf Thanksgiving are, in my opinion, tournaments where you will find College Coaches at. My DD met her future coach at Players.

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Can I add and might get bashed for this Silverlakes Thanksgiving.. My daughter made contact with many coaches there!

Kopi said:

Can I add and might get bashed for this Silverlakes Thanksgiving.. My daughter made contact with many coaches there!

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I think College Coaches are catching on to Silverlakes. In one weekend you could hit three venues in So Cal if you split up your staff.

Like Timbuck pointed out... getting out of Vegas is a nightmare. It's a little bit better if you go around the strip the long way... but traffic anyway you go.

At u9, Vegas is irrelevant. Yes it’s fun, but let’s be honest, no matter what you do at that age is important - win, lose, or draw.

Pay your dues, stay in lancaster, and compete in the local tourneys.

Rosters change; so very few u9s stay with the same kids forever. There’s little bonding at that age. As was said, it’s more of a thing for parents AND coaches to act a fool.

Both tournaments are a waste of money, but if you have to choose one, go state cup.