You’d be hard pressed to find someone who is more of a Independent Cup fanboy than myself. The competition, which kicked off for the first time during the heart of the pandemic, is preparing for its fourth iteration. This week, NISA announced some of the specifics regarding this year’s competition and there’s plenty of changes that have fans excited.

The biggest change in the tournament this year is the addition of three Mexican professional clubs (Miguel Auza FC of Zacatecas, Orizaba FC of Veracruz, and Soly FC of Matamoros). Matt Morse, NIC Tournament Director, spoke about the international expansion of the tournament in the league’s press release. “We are thrilled with the expansion of club participation to bring the largest field to date. This tournament continues to be an outstanding opportunity for NISA Nation, NISA-affiliate clubs, and independent amateur clubs to test their mettle against professional clubs. Leveraging NISA’s affiliate relationship with LPF MX also is a game changer.” When asked if the field would include amateur Mexican clubs (to compete with the Mexican professional sides) or if the LPF MX clubs would be playing in American regions, Morse took a wait-and-see approach, “Regions and format will be announced next month. We haven’t set the location for the finals yet for the Mexican clubs.”

Much like previous version of the tournament, this year will continue amateur round robin tournaments in each region (using a 10 point system) with the amateur winner playing a professional side for the regional crown. For some, including myself, this change to the format, which happened in the second version of the competition, is a negative move, as it limits the amount of amateur/professional clashes. Morse defended the move when asked about it, “There are critical reasons this changed from the first year of the tournament format. The first year of the NIC there was no USOC that year, and there was also not a full pro season. The NIC has evolved into what it is today due to many factors - length of season, player safety, roster management, potential USOC matches. It is our goal to build something that is sustainable and can grow over time. We discuss this every year with the NISA Pro teams and as a NISA staff.”

The tournament will kick off play in late June and extend through the end of July.

Group Stage week 1 – June 17/18
Group Stage week 2 – June 24/25
Group Stage week 3 – July 1/2
Group Stage week 4 – July 8/9
Group Stage makeup/alternate – July 15/16
Finals – July 22 / 23 (makeup/alternate July 24)

All 9 professional NISA clubs will be participating this year, with the amateur field being drawn from across the country. Full club participation, regional assignments and match dates will be announced at a later date, though Morse clarified that he expected the amateur club announcements to begin in May. The entire tournament will be streamed on Eleven Sports. While prize money specifics have yet to be announced, they are expected to be “similar to last year.”

The announcement of the 4th installment of this tournament, unique in many ways in the United States, is exciting for fans of independent soccer. It’s a great way for amateur clubs to grow their audience while testing their quality against professional sides. Plenty of players that have shined in the NIC have gone on to professional contracts. I’d expect this year to bring even more players to the forefront.

by Dan Vaughn