A lot of you have asked how a club in its first season is playing in the oldest tournament in American soccer. It is a fair question.
The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup has been running since 1913. It is a single-game knockout, open to professional and amateur teams alike, and it is the only competition in American team sports where a team like ours can be drawn against professionals in a match that counts.
Most amateur clubs have to come through months of qualifying rounds to get in. We did not have to.
PDL clubs earn Open Cup places based on the previous season's results, and the Ocala Stampede won the Southeast Division in their final season. Because our team is considered a rebranding of theirs rather than a brand new entry, that qualification came with it.
So in our first competitive season, we are in the U.S. Open Cup.
First round is at home versus Kraze United FC.
