Wisconsin Soccer Central

Madison United's annual President's Cup indoor tournament, which will take over the turf fields at BreakAway Sports Center in Madison and Keva Sports Center in Middleton this weekend, presents an interesting dichotomy.

On one hand, one of the big reasons players and teams keep coming back to the event is its incredible consistency: It's well organized, usually runs on time and is always full of quality teams.

But on the other hand, another thing that makes the tournament so much fun is the unknown.

Teams don't have to file rosters until they check in for their first match, so there's plenty of uncertainty when it comes to trying to get a handle on the strength of teams. For example, a team might have struggled at the President's Cup in the past, but bolstered its roster for this year's event. Or maybe it's the opposite and some key players aren't available this year. Sometimes it's something as simple as a name change. And, of course, there are always new teams making their debut.

While it all usually makes for plenty of intrigue, it makes things challenging for the tournament organizers – specifically Keith Binns and Jamie Brud, who have the task of dividing the 84 teams into competitive groups.

"It's tough balancing out these teams," said Binns, who oversees the three men's divisions. "In the old days, I used to rank the teams A, B and C. Well, now, there's no C teams. There's a ton of As and Bs. First, I try to do it geographically – Madison, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Chicago. Spread it around. I go back two years and try to make sure they don't play a team they've played before. And then I try to balance them out – we want to give everybody a chance. I put a lot of thought into it."

Inevitably, though, there are surprises.

In 2012, Fox in the Box advanced to the Men's Open final. The next year, the two-time defending champion Madison Fire played in a group with the Cosmos and Zizou, both unknown to tournament organizers. The Cosmos ended up beating the Fire in the final and Zizou, which didn't get out of group play, turned out to be a team from Milwaukee Sport Club - which has won the past two Wisconsin Soccer Leagues Major Division titles.

"We had no idea who they were," Binns said. "So you just never know."

Newcomers in this year's Men's Open field include Touch Play Move, Austin Galaxy FC, Rangers, Girthworms and Club Soccer UW, which plays in the Madison Soccer Association.

"It's kind of exciting to see these new teams," Binns said.

While Chichitas won seven consecutive Women's Open titles from 2003 to '09, the division has provided the most parity in recently: Five teams have won over the past five years. One of those sides, 2012 winner Megna Financial, joined forces with the former Peanut Gallery team to create the Madison 56ers MPG entry this season. Another interesting new team is Women's Soccer Chicago, which Binns said is essentially an all-star team from a league in the Windy City.

"There will be some tough teams – I think it's going to be real tough this year," Binns said of the division.

In the Over-30 competition, the teams that met in the 2013 final are in the same group – with new names. GOL FC formerly were known as FC Tipsy, while The Odd One Out previously was Smoky's Blue Rockets.

The tournament kicks off at BreakAway at 8 a.m. Saturday, and the final matches should conclude at approximately 7 p.m. at both locations. Play starts again at 8 a.m. Sunday at both sites, with the finals at Keva beginning at 6 p.m.

Each team will play two pool matches Saturday and one more Sunday before the single-elimination playoffs – half of the teams in each division qualify for the knockout rounds. This year's field features 32 teams in the Men's Open competition, 24 in Women's Open, 16 in Men's Over-30 and 12 in Men's Over-38.

There are some rule changes for this year's event, the biggest of which involves red cards. While any player who is sent off still will be out for the rest of the game and the next match, his or her team will only have to play down a player for 5 minutes rather than the remainder of the game. The change was in part due to a situation in the Men's Open final last year, in which the teams played 4-on-4 for the majority of the 25-minute game after matching red cards in the 4th minute.

The other rule changes include requiring numbers on players' shirts (though some teams were granted exceptions for this year), moving free kicks for ball played into the nets 2 yards off the wall and editing the rule about slide tackling to explicitly prohibit it. Goalkeepers are still allowed to slide inside their goal box.

President's Cup champions

Pool scoring format: Win – 6 points. Tie – 3 points. Goals – 1 point, maximum of 3 per game.

Defending champion: Croatian Eagles I (def. Milwaukee Bavarians 4-0 in final)

Playoff schedule: Round of 16 - 1st Lincoln vs. 2nd Adams, 1 p.m., K1; 1st Adams vs. 2nd Lincoln, 1 p.m. K2; 1st Jackson vs. 2nd Jefferson, 1:30 p.m. K1; 1st Jefferson vs. 2nd Jackson, 1:30 p.m. K2; 1st Tyler vs. 2nd Monroe, 2 p.m. K1; 1st Monroe vs. 2nd Tyler, 2 p.m. K2; 1st Madison vs. 2nd Washington, 2:30 p.m. K1; 1st Washington vs. 2nd Madison, 2:30 K1. Quarterfinals, 4 and 4:30 p.m., K1-2. Semifinals, 5:30 p.m., K1-K2. Final, 7 p.m., K2.

Groups

• Monroe: Red Dogs, Madison United Tigers, Team Northwoods, Austin Galaxy FC
• Washington: Galloping Ghosts, Croatian Eagles, Oshkosh Black, Rangers
• Adams: Fox in the Box, Madison United Lions, Oshkosh Gold, Team Miller
• Jackson: Hrvatski Orlovi, Madison Fire, Girthworms, Wings SC
• Jefferson: Kuykenstrong Dinos, Milwaukee Bavarians, Racine, Club Soccer UW
• Lincoln: FC Magic, Polonia SC, Paradigm, Touch Play Move
• Madison: UWO Alumni, Madison United Blues, QC Iowa, Hamm's Special Light
• Tyler: Cosmos FC, Fire SC, KFBR 392, Madison Fire II

Defending champion: Valley Magic (def. Madison United 3-2 in final)

Playoff schedule: Wild card matches (four games), noon and 12:30 p.m., K1-K2. Quarterfinals, 3 and 3:30 p.m., K1-K2. Semifinals, 5 p.m., K1-K2. Final, 6 p.m., K1.

Groups

• Hillary: Valley Magic, FUKO, WSC Majors, 99 Problems
• Jackie: UW-Oshkosh, CRUSA, Duhawks Alumni, Madison 56ers MPG
• Eleanor: FC Barrington, Badgerland Supply, OGT Strikers, WSC MKE United
• Nancy: UWL, Merilappi United, WSC MKE Wave, Antique Tap
• Martha: Madison United, Knights, Hasbeens, Women's Soccer Chicago
• Michelle: The Lost City, Ten, UWO Alumni, UWW Alumni

Defending champion: Keeper Goals (def. Madison Fire 2-1 in final)

Playoff schedule: Quarterfinals - 1st Reagan vs. 2nd Ford, 3 p.m. B1; 1st Clinton vs. 2nd Roosevelt, 3 p.m. B2; 1st Roosevelt vs. 2nd Clinton, 3:30 p.m. B1; 1st Ford vs. 2nd Reagan, 3:30 p.m. B2. Semifinals, 4:30 p.m., B1-2. Final, 6:30 p.m., K2.

Groups

• Reagan: GOL FC, Beer FC, The Odd One Out, Vilas Rangers FC Vipers
• Clinton: Smoky's Red Rockets, Chivas, Milwaukee Kickers SC, DC Menace
• Ford: Keeper Goals, Bottoms Academy, Vilas Rangers FC, Smoky's United
• Roosevelt: Madison Fire, Rock Vegas, VSLT FC, Luigi's Pizza Menasha

Defending champion: Milwaukee Bavarians (def. Forest City Kickers 6-2 in final)

Playoff schedule: Wild card matches (two games), 2:30 p.m., B1-B2. Semifinals, 4 p.m., B1-B2. Final, 6 p.m., K2.

Groups

• Bush: Bares United, Madison United, St. Charles Celtics, Hooligans
• Eisenhower: Milwaukee Bavarians, FC Gherkin, LG Celtics, Juventus
• Carter: Forest City Kickers, Keeper Goals, OFL Chicago, Inter Madison