DC SCORES Celebrates 20 Years of SCORES Cup with a Record-Breaking Tournament

This year’s SCORES Cup was the largest in the tournament’s history Photo: Brandon Williams

SCORES Cup 2023 was truly special, as DC SCORES marked the 20th anniversary of the tournament, and hosted the largest number of teams in the tournament’s history.

This year’s Cup was held on June 17th, 2023 at the Fields at RFK Stadium, with 50 corporate teams coming together to play soccer just along the Anacostia River.

Leading up to the 20th anniversary tournament, the DC SCORES team shared memorable stories from previous years, including the first ever tournament —originally known as “Sharks v. Suits”—hosted in 2003. See the SCORES Cup Scrapbook in this blog post! In addition, DC SCORES teamed up with custom jersey designer Olive and York to create a special kit to commemorate the 20th anniversary.

The 20th Anniversary Jerseys were given to the captains of the original teams from 2003. Photo: Brandon Williams

Competitive and Law Divisions

The Competitive and Law Divisions kick off the tournament bright and early. Six teams participate in the Competitive Division, including long-time participants from Clark Construction. See photos from their first SCORES Cup in 2015 on the DC SCORES Flickr. This year’s Competitive Division Winner was DC SCORES community partner The Washington Spirit!

The Washington Spirit Lift the Competitive Division Trophy. Photo: Aya Takeuchi

The Law Division is an expansion of the original brackets in the “Sharks v. Suits” days – “Suits” being lawyers while consultants were the “Sharks”. As more teams joined, the tournament expanded to include corporations in tech, finance, real estate, government, and more.

New tournament sponsor EagleBank hosted a commemorative coin-toss with their mascot “Kash” to start off the Law Division matches. This year, the Law Division featured two brackets of six teams, with Crowell & Moring coming out on top after their championship match against Akin Gump. It took extra time plus penalties to determine the winner!

Crowell & Moring pose with the Law Division Championship trophy. Photo: Aya Takeuchi

Casual and Intermediate Divisions

The Casual and Intermediate Divisions kicked off in the afternoon with the largest brackets in the tournament’s history.

Newcomers RLAH with the Intermediate Division trophy. Photo: Brandon Williams

Congratulations to this year’s Intermediate Division winners RLAH! Their journey started with a 4-0 win against CoStar Group, and they ended their undefeated run of clean sheets with a 1-0 win against defending champs Appian.

The Casual Division champs this year were JP Construction, who also went on an undefeated streak and clinched the title with a 2-1 win against PwC.

JP Construction pose with the Casual Division trophy. Photo: Brandon Williams

A Thank You to Our Partners

The tournament could not have been a success without the support of DC SCORES partners and sponsors. This year, community partners such as DC Water and The Washington Spirit brought tents and activities for participants to take part in between matches. D.C. United will also host all tournament participants at their September 20th match against Atlanta United, and will be honoring the division champions on-field.

The DC Water squad had a hydration tent set up along with their mascot, Wendy. Photo: Brandon Williams

ESPN 630 were a new addition to this year’s tournament as the official media sponsor. Read about the partnership here!

The ESPN 630 tent included video games and goalscoring target practice. Photo: Brandon Williams

As always, the tournament is not complete without the signature beer garden featuring brews from Atlas Brew Works and food provided by Kam & 46, Whole Foods, and Mexitrachos. Events DC sponsored the entire fan zone, and Fields at RFK operators CRYSP ensured we were all well supported throughout the venue all day long.

District Sports teamed up with Atlas Brew Works to bring the beer garden to life. Photo: Brandon Williams

Finally, a huge thank you to District Sports, our longtime partner and the largest adult recreational soccer organization in the city, for their invaluable expertise and tournament operations work.