For much of Choate’s history, there has been an annual boys’ dorm softball tournament known as President’s Cup, or P-Cup. Over the years, there have been many attempts at getting a girls’ competition started, though none have ever been successful. This year, a new girls’ dorm soccer P-Cup initiative hopes to become a tradition in its own right. The date set for the first round of games is Sunday, May 21, but that is subject to change based on the amount of interest.
Cici Curran ’20, a member of Choate’s Varsity Girls’ Soccer Team, was chosen by Ms. Alexandra Long, Assistant Director of Athletics, to organize the event. Not long ago, Ms. Long sent out an email asking if anyone wanted to help out with the girls’ soccer tournament, and Curran took her up on this opportunity. “Soccer is something I’m very passionate about, so I thought I’d give it a try,” Curran said.
A student brought up the idea last year and talked to Dean of Students Mr. James Stanley about it. Since then, Ms. Long has been working to launch the initiative, working alongside Curran to plan organization and logistics. They have weekly meetings talking about how to ramp up the appreciation and advertisement of the event, attempting to draw school-wide attention to the tournament.
Early in the term, an all-school email was sent with an online sign-up sheet for all the girls’ dorms who wanted to participate. At first, the opening date was before Long Weekend, but it was moved. Similar to the boys’ P-Cup softball tournament, the event will feature soccer competitions between girls dorms, occurring each weekend until a winner is announced. Every dorm that signs up will have all of the girls in that dorm play a game of soccer against another girls’ dorm, just like in the boys’ President’s Cup. The prize for the champions is a pizza mug night.
“It’s been hard getting it started, as this is the first year. A lot of people don’t understand that it’s supposed to be kind of a universal sport, and a lot of people haven’t been open to the idea of playing the sport. A lot of people just want to watch the boys’ P-Cup instead,” Curran said. The initiative has had a bit of a slow start in terms of sign-ups, but there has been talking and discussion with dorm advisers about participation. “We really hope this will work out and more people will sign up,” Ms. Long said.
Years ago, there was a Presidents’ Cup for every sport, with participants signing up for any of the competitions within their interest. However, as the tradition developed, participation dwindled, leading to the current P-Cup system as a boys’ dorm softball tournament. Introducing a new sport as well as a new gender demographic, the girls’ dorm soccer P-Cup aims to strengthen community bonds and provide an entertaining spring activity for many.
Curran said, “If this doesn’t work out, I just want people to know for next year that this isn’t supposed to be super intense — it is supposed to be fun. A lot of people are afraid that they need to be experienced players. Again, soccer is a pretty universal sport, so you shouldn’t have to worry about being good to participate.”
