Barboursville, Kanawha County awarded with 2022 US Youth Soccer tournaments

BARBOURSVILLE, W.Va. — Two of the country’s premier youth soccer tournaments will be returning to West Virginia in 2022.

Leaders in the Kanawha Valley announced on Monday that the 2022 US Youth Soccer Eastern Regional Championships and Eastern Presidents Cup have been awarded to Shawnee Sports Complex and the Barboursville Soccer Complex. These competitions are in addition to the 2021 USYS Eastern Regional Presidents Cup that had already been awarded to Shawnee Sports Complex and Barboursville.

The facilities were set to host the same events in 2020 but they were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Given the hardships our communities have faced over the past year, U.S. Youth Soccer wanted to support our communities by renewing their commitment to host the premier events in 2022,” West Virginia Soccer Association President Len Rogers said during a Zoom press conference.

The Shawnee Sports Complex and the Barboursville Soccer Complex co-hosted both the Presidents Cup and the Eastern Regional Championship in 2019. In 2019, just the Eastern Regional Tournament brought around 4,500 athletes on 260 teams from 13 states to the area. The teams in the tournament traveled from a dozen states including Maine, Delaware, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia.

Kanawha County Commissioner Ben Salango said in previous events they nearly had 50 hotels sold out spanning several counties in West Virginia. He estimated the economic impact of these annual tournaments are $28 million.

The dates for the tournaments are Presidents Cup, June 17-21, 2022, and Eastern Regional Championship, June 24-30, 2022.

Barboursville Mayor Chris Tatum said the partnership between his village and Kanawha County has worked well. He believes more events will come to the area, especially as Barboursville completes a $1.8 million investment at the Barboursville complex including synthetic turf, lighting upgrades, and other improvements.

Chris Tatum

Barboursville has hosted the regionals in 2009, 2010, 2015, and 2016 but Tatum said having Shawnee open was a gamechanger.

“This partnership was a natural to bring more people to the area. We like to show off and put our best foot forward for the folks that visit here,” Tatum said.





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