FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution’s youth development program has accepted an invitation to play in the 2012 Future Champions Gauteng Tournament, which will be held Monday, March 26 through Saturday, March 31, in Johannesburg, South Africa. The elite international competition features 12 youth clubs from five different continents. The Revolution will represent North America in the tournament field.
Other teams participating in the tournament include: Aspire Academy (Qatar), Clube Atletico Mineiro (Brazil), Club Nacional de Football (Urguagy), FC Nania (Ghana), Gaborone Young Zebras (Botswana), K-Stars (Zambia), PSV Eindhoven (The Netherlands), and four South African teams that will be determined during the Future Champions Guateng Cup, held Saturday, March 17, and Sunday, March 18.
“We’re proud to accept the invitation to be the North American representative in this tournament,” said Revolution Director of Youth Development Bryan Scales. “This will be a special trip for our players and our club. The opportunity to compete against the youth teams from other top clubs from around the world will be a terrific experience for our kids. This will be an experience they will never forget.”
The Future Champions Gauteng Tournament will begin with a group stage, with each of the 12 participating teams divided into four groups of three. Each team will play every other team within the group, plus one crossover game with a team from another group. The group stage matches will take place from Monday, March 26 through Wednesday, March 28 with one game each day. The playoffs and placing games are scheduled for Friday, March 30 and Saturday, March 31.
A full game schedule and group information will be available following the draw, which will take place on Monday, March 19 in Johannesburg. The Revolution is expected to travel to South Africa on Saturday, March 24.
For up-to-the-minute information on the Revolution, visit the team’s official web site at revolutionsoccer.net, or follow the team on Twitter at @NERevolution, or on Facebook at facebook.com/NERevolution.
