WS Chronicle

The Bryan Soccer Complex, part of the Greensboro Sports Commission, played host to the 38th annual Wrangler/McDonald’s Youth Soccer Classic this past Memorial Day weekend.  There were over 340 teams from seven different states.  Of those teams 123 were from the Triad area ranging from 8 to 19-year-olds.

The Greensboro United Soccer Association (GUSA) has been hosting the tournament since 1979.  This year, 73 different soccer clubs traveled to the Triad to participate. 

The Bryan Soccer Complex is one of the most elite youth soccer facilities in the state and the coveted center of the Wrangler/McDonald’s tournament.  Games were in and around Greensboro.

“Each year, thousands of excited players and their families come from all over the country to play in the Wrangler/McDonald’s Youth Soccer Classic,” GUSA’s Executive Director Pete Polonsky said.  “We have had a long running relationship with McDonald’s spanning several decades and they have been a very good partner.”

The Bryan Soccer Complex also unveiled five of its new full-sized playing fields for the 2017 event.  The complex is continuing to expand and will house 20 full-sized fields by the end of the summer. 

The expansion and success of the tournament has continued to help build the Triad as a premiere event location as the facility has attracted the attention of the U.S. Youth Soccer program, which intends to host both the 2017 and 2018 USYS Regional II Championships at the complex.

Triad McDonald’s restaurant owner and operator Jim Smith says, 38 years ago Triton Management Company helped build the fields at Bryan Park and McDonald’s was a part of the tournament at the time and the relationship has blossomed from there.

“We are proud to be a part of the tournament, and youth sports is kind of foundational with McDonald’s as we want to keep people healthy,” said Smith.