Ironbound SC to Host La Liga Promises 2017! Premier International Under 12 Boys Tournament to be held June 23rd-25th in Newark, NJ The United States Soccer Federation today granted Final approval for the Ironbound SC to host the La Liga Promises 2017 International Under 12 Boys Soccer Tournament! The tournament is organized by La Liga and the Jose Ramon De la Morena Foundation both of whom are based in Spain, with Ironbound SC providing all necessary local support as Host. The event is widely considered the Premier U12 Tournament in the World, and this year will feature 12 teams from 6 countries and be held on June 23rd-25th in the Ironbound Section of Newark. The teams that have accepted invitations to participate are: Spain (6): Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, Valencia, Villarreal Portugal (1): Benfica Italy (1): Inter Milan Mexico (1): Club America Colombia (1): Nacional de Medellin United States (2): NYCFC, Ironbound SC The tournament will consist of three groups of four teams each. After preliminary round robin games on Friday and Saturday morning, the top 8 teams advance to the Quarter-finals on Saturday early afternoon. Semi Finals and the Championship Final will be held on Sunday Morning. In between the semi-finals and finals match, there will be an All-Star game amongst players not participating in the Final with the presence of a couple world class Men’s players to be announced. All games, which will be played 7v7 format, will be held at two Essex County Parks System locations: Independence Park and Riverbank Park in the Ironbound Section of Newark. Riverbank Park will be temporarily transformed into a “mini-stadium” with seating for 3300 people, a LED electronic advertising system around the field, and a giant scoreboard. All games at Riverbank Park (location for preliminary, all Quarter’s, semi’s, and Final) will be televised live in Spain and broadcast to 65 countries! Independence Park will have additional seating as well for the preliminary games on Friday and Saturday morning. The moving force behind this event is Mr. Jose Ramon De La Morena, a renowned Radio sports personality in Spain whose Foundation started and has run this tournament for over 20 years. The event gained such a following worldwide, and especially in Spain, that LA Liga, the giant professional sports organization that organizes the Spanish Professional Soccer league with same name, decided to partner with him 3 years ago, and now runs the event from the competition side of things. In addition to the competition, which is intense, all the Spanish Teams, take part in a cultural learning component to the event. This year’s group will take a guided boat tour around Manhattan and visit Essex County’s turtle back zoo. The Morena Foundation intent is to foster sportsmanship and friendship at a young age to youngsters with tremendous talent and who have tremendously “PROMISING” careers ahead of them. World Famous players who have participated in this event in the past include Iker Casillas, Gerard Pique, Juan Mata, Cesc Fabregas, Fernando Torres, and Thomas Mueller to name a few. Juan Millan, a Spanish American Businessman who is a close friend of Mr. Morena, has served as the Morena Foundation’s representative in the United States and is the de facto “producer” of this year’s event, Mr. Millan said: “Soccer is an integral part of the fabric of Spanish and Portuguese People lives, it is literally in their DNA. When Jose Ramon asked me to help solve the issue of this year’s tournament given difficulties in finding a NYC location, I knew there was no better place to host this event than in the Ironbound Section of Newark. This community lives and breathes the game! We thank the Ironbound SC and Essex County Government for their assistance in making this year’s event a reality. We are looking forward to a great event.” Albert Coutinho, Chairman of Ironbound SC said: “It is an Honor for Ironbound SC to host this prestigious event. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for our kids, club, and community. We are humbled by the trust that La Liga, one of the finest professional sports organizations in the world, and the Morena Foundation have placed in us.” John Soares, Director of Operations for Ironbound SC said: “We have a lot of work ahead of us, and our entire “family” of coaches, managers, players, and parents are fully engaged to make this a memorable event. We simply couldn’t be more excited” Steven Amorim, Ironbound SC Director of Coaching is coordinating all aspects of the specialized training program put in place to give the Ironbound SC U12 Tournament team the best chance to maximize this historic opportunity. The Ironbound SC technical staff for this event also includes Nick Lavrador (Head Coach), Anthony Tavares (Trainer), and Jorge Gonzalez (Asst. Coach). Amorim said: “The players we have selected from within our club have demonstrated a total commitment to work harder than ever to make the most of this opportunity. They are inspired to represent the proud history of our club, and community against some of the most talented young players in the World.” Chairman Coutinho added: “At this historic moment, we must thank our local government officials who played a deciding role in making this event possible. We would NOT be hosting this event but for the collaboration of Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo’s office. Phil Alagia, Executive DiVincenzo’s Chief of Staff, immediately and enthusiastically offered to do whatever was necessary to have the event here in Essex County. Mr. Alagia delivered the necessary assurances from the Essex County Parks Department, and Sheriff Armando Fontoura to comfort La Liga and Foundation representatives who had serious problems when trying to host the event in NYC, which was there original plan. Furthermore, we are thankful to Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Councilman Augusto Amador who are also collaborating with the event”. Director Soares added : “Sheriff Fontoura’s office will be the lead agency in coordinating security for the event. The Newark Police Department, together with private security hired by the organizers, and Ironbound SC volunteers round out a comprehensive plan that has been put in place from the day that teams arrive in the United States, June 21st till the temporary facilities are cleared on the 26th.” Soares continued: "A specialized parking plan for the event is being finalized and will be available on Ironbound SC’s websitewww.ironboundsoccer.com prior to the event. Folks traveling from outside the Newark Area are advised to use Mass Transit as the Stadium Field (Riverbank Park) is walking distance from Newark Penn Station." SPARK, the official citizen friends group of Riverbank Park, and the Ironbound Community Corporation are also working with Ironbound SC to highlight the beauty of the historic facility and to have the event go as smoothly as possible with minimum impact to the neighboring community. Anyone traveling to this historic youth sporting event and needs a place to stay and is looking for other events to fill out their visit are encouraged to visit the Newark Tourism and visitor’s bureau atwww.newarkhappening.com. For updates on this event, please visit www.ironboundsoccer.com