This mailing list has been established to facilitate discussion on the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (USOC). Any discussion, opinions, results, articles, pictures or news regarding the USOC are welcome.

Sir Thomas Dewar, of the Scots Whisky family, wishing to develop Anglo-American relations through sport, donated a trophy to the United States Amateur Football Association to be annually competed for by clubs of all levels. Dewar wanted this to be a competition where the 'ordinary' recreational soccer player would have a chance to play against the best players in the world.

The USOC is an annual competition and is recognized as U.S. Soccer’s National Championship. The competition is open to all senior division teams (amateur and professional), registered with the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF). This cup competition dates back to 1914 and is the oldest lasting soccer/football tournament in the United States and one of the oldest in the world. The beauty of the USOC is that it is a single-elimination tournament where true underdogs, amateur and lower division clubs, have the opportunity to beat the big clubs.

Within the USOC framework, teams compete in one of the following four categories: professional outdoor Division I (Major League Soccer), Division II (USL First Division) or Division III (USL Second Division); or Amateur Division (USL Premier Development League and U.S. Adult Soccer Association). The team that advances the furthest from each level, except Division I, earns a $10,000 cash prize. The runner-up takes home $50,000, while the champion collects $100,000. The winner also will have the team’s name engraved on the historic Dewar Cup, the oldest trophy in American team sports, which is housed in the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta, N.Y.

• U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF)
• USOPENCUP.COM