Tournament Details

Quick Tournament Info:

Dates: Saturday, December 3 and Saturday, December 10, 2022
Location: St. Catherine of Siena outdoor field 4800 Convict Hill Rd, Austin, TX 78749
Minimum Number of Games: 3 games, two 20-minute halves a game
Ages: U7-U9 (ages 6 to 8) will play on December 3. Teams can be co-ed.
Ages: U10-U12 (ages 9 to 11) will play on Decmber 10. Teams can be co-ed.
How Many Players Should be on a Team?: 7-10 players is suggested (5 play on the field at once)
Who Coaches?: You will need to find yourself a volunteer coach/parent coordinator. Please designate this person ahead of time.
Uniforms: We will provide pinnies for all players for the games. We ask that all teammates wear the same color of soccer socks (purchased on your own). If your team wants to get together to coordinate jerseys/t-shirts to wear, go for it!
Cost: $30 per player, plus one canned food item (Bring your canned food item with you on the day.)
Prizes: The first-place team will win Austin FC gear, plus have their team photo and trophy on permanent display in the Parish Center.
Every player will get a customized soccer cinch sack to take home!

Other activities:

There will be a photo booth with props for soccer photos and memories
A soccer speed kick booth where you get to kick the ball as hard as you can to see how fast you can kick
An accuracy challenge where you gate to pass the ball into 6 different nets from close range and long range
The top three winners of these games will also receive fun prizes!

Did You Know?

This tournament is to benefit Abiding Love food Pantry and Community First! The food pantry at Abiding Love Lutheran Church serves the needs of many hungry families in Austin, and Community First! is a one-of-a-kind village in east Austin that assists people in overcoming homelessness.

More Info

The FIFA World Cup has been an ongoing soccer celebration for almost a century now. The first ever World Cup was held in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1930 with, the host, Uruguay being crowned world champions over the runners-up, Argentina. Fast forward to today and only 8 countries worldwide have been able to call themselves the champions of the world.

How it Works:

Every four years, six continents battle with each other in attempts to solidify their tickets to the next World Cup. Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceana and South America enter the races amongst themselves competing head-to-head to find out which countries will make the lucky group of 32 to compete in the glorious World Cup. Only four from South America, three from North America, four from Asia, five from Africa and thirteen from Europe can make it with several playoff opportunities for countries placing just outside qualification spots.

After Qualification: The Group Stage

After the 32 teams have qualified, they will be randomly placed into eight groups of four. Of these groups, each team will play each other once. For each game, the winner will be awarded three points, if both teams tie, they both are awarded one point, and the loser is awarded zero points. Once all teams have played each other, the two teams with the lowest amounts of point will be eliminated altogether from the tournament and the two teams with the most points will advance to the knockout stage of the World Cup.

The Knockout Round

At this point in the tournament the stakes are high. It’s simple, you win, and you advance, or you lose, and you’re eliminated entirely. The number of teams left will be cut in half to 16. Of these 16, each are put against another team. It goes from the Round of 16 with 16 teams to quarter finals with 8 teams left to semifinals with 4 teams left all the way down to the last 2 teams to survive, The Finals.

How the St. Catherine’s 5v5 2022 World Cup Tournament Will Work:

Once you’re fully registered you will be able to participate in all the action!

You’ll be on a team of at least 5 players (make sure to list the buddies you want on your team when you register). Once all the teams are registered, each team will play a minimum of 3 games. Each game you win will give your country 3 points, each game you tie will give your country 1 point and each game you lose will give you 0 points. At the end of your first 3 games, the top 4 countries with the most points will go on to the knockout round starting with the semi-finals. The 2 winners of the semifinals will advance to the finals and battle it out for the chance to be crowned CHAMPIONS OF THE 2022 WORLD CUP!!

As there is only one field on the St Catherine’s grounds, don’t even worry about getting bored! There will be food and beverages, other activities, World Cup games to watch in Johnson Hall, and a real-time scoreboard so you can keep track of where your team standing is!

Rules of the Game

If you want to know the general rules of soccer or would like to brush up on the specifics, here is a quick and easy video for you! However, trim it down to 5 players against 5 players and on a smaller field.

For our tournament, each country will have a minimum of 5 players on their team. Your team can have more than 5 but any extra players will be substitutes and can switch at any point with a player on their team, however, you can only substitute players while the ball is out of play. There will be 4 field players and one goalkeeper per team. There will be two 20-minute halves per game, with a 5-minute halftime to rest, drink water, and strategize. Each player has to have shin guards, long soccer socks to hold the shin guards, and athletic shoes (preferably soccer cleats). The church is not responsible for any injuries that might be sustained before, during and after the games.

It is very important that each team knows at which specific times their games are. With having only 1 field, the games will go fast and rotate quickly. If your team is not present 5 minutes past the scheduled kick-off time, you will forfeit that game with a 1-0 loss.