Pacific Premier League Announces Umberto Abronzino Cup
OAKLAND, CA (April 4, 2023) – The Pacific Premier League is proud to announce the new Umberto Abronzino Cup, honoring one of the pioneers of the game in the Bay Area.
The Umberto Abronzino Cup will feature five clubs in its inaugural tournament, which is set to begin next weekend.
“The Umberto Abronzino Cup is the perfect culmination of community and timing and we’re excited to honor this amazing man with a new tournament,” Southwest Premier President Matt Morse said. “The Umberto Abronzino Cup is an incredible idea that has come to fruition through the hard work and commitment of the clubs to communicate and create a high level tournament that will draw the attention of the Bay Area’s top clubs every year.”
The 2023 Umberto Abronzino Cup will feature Bay Area United, Sporting Santa Clara, Los Banos FC, JASA RWC U23s and Hayward FC.
An initial play-in match between JASA RWC U23s and Hayward FC will take place April 15 or 16. Semifinals will be played April 22-23 and the Abronzino Cup Final will be held May 6-7.
Umberto Abronzino was born in Italy in 1920 and emigrated to Connecticut as a teenager. He played for a later coached several teams in the Hartford, CT, area before moving to the West Coast and settling in San Jose, CA, in the 1950s.
In 1957, Abronzino helped organize the historic Peninsula Soccer League and spent most of his life involved with soccer in Northern California, serving on the U.S. Soccer National Amateur Cup organizing committee and as an Ambassador for Italy at the 1994 World Cup.
The Peninsula Soccer League was operated out of Abronzino’s barber shop in San Jose for decades, and the league had as many as 60 teams at its height. Abronzino died in 2006 at age 85.
Abronzino was voted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1971, and the soccer facility at Watson Park in San Jose is named the Umberto Abronzino Soccer Bowl. Fundraising is underway to build a clubhouse with locker rooms and a community center for thousands of youth and amateur players every year.
