Needham Memorial Day Tournament History
- In the early 1970’s legendary Needham High School Varsity Coach Don Brock initiated the origins of the Needham Memorial Day Tournament with 4 U12 teams coming down from Beaconsfield area of Canada (outside Montreal) and playing U12 teams from Needham, Wellesley, Weston and Winchester. Games were played on Cricket Field and Memorial Park in Needham.
- In 1976 the tournament was formalized and started inviting local Boys and Girls U14 – U19 teams from Massachusetts and all over the USA and Canada, creating the Needham Invitational Memorial Day Tournament.
- Besides teams coming from all 6 New England States other noted early teams came from Arlington VA, Northport NY, North Babylon NY, Buffalo NY, Cow Harbor NY, Bayville NJ, Ontario/Quebec Canada and Kirkwood DE to name a few…
- By 2005 the tournament grew to 260 teams and we reorganized the event by introducing online technology.
- In 2008 the NMDT re-branded our U15 – U19 Age group and introduced our College Showcase Division, we grew to 444 Teams. College Coaches went from 25 to 70.
- In 2010 we partnered with New England Revolution.
- Between 2014 – 2016 we grew again to be the Largest Soccer Tournament in the North America with 1128 Teams.
- 2017 was our 41st year – Nike became our Apparel Brand. Yokohama became our Title Sponsor and through their connection with Chelsea FC we are visited by their coaches who initiate Clinics, Training’s and Promotions.
- In 2022 Northeast Rush became our College Showcase partner. “Northeast Rush is honored to be a partner in the NMDT as it is one of the most well-respected and longest-running youth soccer tournaments in the country,” said John Salvatore, Northeast Rush board member. “We look forward to making the Showcase a great experience for future college soccer players.”
What People Are Saying About the History of the NMDT
“I just wanted to take a moment to congratulate you and your organizing team on a great job. Our team travels every month to participate in a tournament and we have never been in a tournament that is so well organized, friendly staff, great fields, and a very high competition level. This is the most competitive competition we have ever been at for a tournament. We are already planning our return along with more of our club teams for the 2018 edition. Keep up the great work.” – Rui Sousa, Coach at Saint Laurent Soccer Club Canada
“Thanks again for another great year. My teams had a wonderful time and the facilities were tremendous as usual. We were sending photos back home to the teams that stayed local and they regretted their decisions!- – Francesco Notaristefano, Coach at New Rochelle FC
“On behalf of the CFC Real, thank you very much! We had a great time both on and off the field, and although we did not live up to our own expectations on the field, we were all very impressed with the field locations, scheduling, timing, competition and… refereeing. All was great, so again, thank you very much. We all look forward to coming down again next year.” – Steven Carneiro, CFC Real Owner
“ I can’t thank you enough for our conversation and will continue to commit teams to your tournament in the future. It is a top notch tournament that I would recommend to all in the Western NY area.” – Jesse Myers, Director of Competitive Soccer at Lakefront Soccer club
“The NMDT meets our needs more so than any other tournament we could find at home in England or further afield in Europe. Excellent support from the Tournament Directors has enabled us to come back year after year since 2009. Our boys are amazed at the sheer scale and size of the Tournament and love competing against teams from ‘across the pond’. Their experiences will last a lifetime. I cannot recommend it highly enough and hope to be back once again in 2018.” – Richard Jones, Athletic Director, Codsall High School, UK