It was just a month or so ago when the NPSL cancelled their season due to the pandemic. Around the same time, the WPSL followed suite, while UPSL and UWS decided to go on hold for the foreseeable future. USL League 2 had cancelled the month before, while the rest of the pro leagues, including USL, MLS, and NISA took steps to either close down for the year or look for modified approaches to the season. Soccer was going into hibernation in this country, while the vast majority of the country was at home with little distraction from the news of death and sickness that filled social media platforms.

Sometimes a moment picks a person, not the other way around. For Joe Meyer, a high school senior from Albany, NY, it was his time to shine. “I'm a huge sports fan, so once I realized that it would be at least a few months until live sports could return, I began to look at eSports as an innovative alternative. Originally, I had planned for 12-16 clubs, so to see the rapid growth of the tournament was amazing.” The competition’s growth certainly was amazing, going from his planned 12-16 competitors to 120. Those clubs and supporters groups provided “a total of 153 entries across the three consoles (78 PS4, 67 Xbox, 8 PC). These clubs came from 26 different leagues, stretching from professional leagues to the third and fourth divisions of local amateur leagues, and everywhere in between.”

In a short interview with Joe, we got feedback on the entire experience. “By far the biggest challenge was the launch. I only had ten days from when I first put the eCup on twitter until the group stage draw. That meant ten days to not only market the cup and process over 120 clubs, but also develop a streaming strategy, business plan, format, rules, and everything else that goes into a tournament/league. Everything else came down to adapting on the fly and working to make the event better every day.” So in some ways, just like most lower leagues.

The massive success of the Lower League eCup brought some profiteers into the picture, including one individual who attempted to create his own league (with a similar name and branding as Joe’s competition). We’re happy to report that, at least for the moment, the backlash was enough for this individual to shut down entirely.

The competition ended this week with the resulting champions:

Xbox One - In the Xbox One Final, the Oly Town Artesians took down fan-favorites Minneapolis City SC, who were represented by center back Jonah Garcia. Oly Town’s Angel Trejo ran the table, going 10-0 and set the tournament record for goals in a single match, putting 22 past a supporter from the Cal United Strikers in the group stage.
PS4 - Deiver Lopez of FC Motown held off a late comeback by Providence City FC’s Chris Moura to claim the title. Motown certainly benefited from having a professional FIFA player in their club, Lopez qualified for the FIFA20 World Championships this winter, and I’ve been told he already has an offer to join a major European club as an official eSports player.
PC - Finally, Metro Louisville took down Oakland County FC for the PC championship, winning 9-4 on aggregate. Supporter Wyatt Weeks led the NPSL expansion side to the title, winning every match along the way.

And of course, success breeds more success, as Joe has already begun to plan for the 2021 version of the competition. “I'm excited to announce that the eCup is transitioning to an annual event to be held every year from January-mid February! My perspective is that the Lower League eCup can be an extremely valuable asset to the lower league community as an annual tournament that brings together supporters, players, and clubs from across the country. Furthermore, by playing in the offseason, it provides clubs with a platform to grow their brand on a national level, engage with their supporters, and stay relevant in their communities!”

Our favorite response to any question was Joe’s enthusiasm for his favorite memory of the tournament, “The Xbox One Final between Minneapolis City SC and Oly Town Artesians certainly has a compelling argument for the most memorable night of the tournament. Still waiting on confirmation, but between the streams of both clubs, we had over 100 viewers tune in to that match (official number will be released soon). That amount of viewership is incredible for a FIFA tournament, and I am willing to assume that the Minneapolis City stream had the best viewership numbers of any club or league across the several leagues and tournaments that are currently ongoing. It’s a testament to the success and popularity of this event, and the hard work and dedication of the staff at Minneapolis City and Oly Town for helping promote and broadcast the event!”

“Thank you to all of the players, clubs, supporters, and sponsors who helped make the event so special. I appreciate that all of you were willing to take a chance on this event, and I couldn’t be happier with the way it turned out! Stay tuned to the Twitter page as there will be some commemorative merchandise available next week, and a few promotional activities that will keep the eCup active on social media! Registration for 2021 will open in November, and I can’t wait to see everybody back in January!”

— Joe Meyer

Joe Meyer saw a gap and filled it. Not for profit or fame, but with a solution that was “designed to be a platform for clubs and supporters groups to compete in some form of competition and engage with their fans during an extremely difficult time, while also helping bring the lower league community together.” The moment picked Joe and he responded.

Follow Joe Meyer and the Lower League eCup on Twitter.

- Dan Vaughn

Editor’s Note: While Protagonist Soccer did not create or run this tournament in any way, we did provide financial sponsorship.

With no sports and specifically no soccer, what is there to do with our time? Well, I spoke with Joe Meyer, who is setting up the Lower League E-Cup, a FIFA 20 competition to help fill the soccer void we are currently in. Meyer says that he “thought that this would be a good way for lower league soccer to come together and help pass the time until the leagues can resume” and that “it will allow supporters and clubs from across the country to square off that wouldn't normally be able to.”

According to Meyer, the league is “designed for supporters of lower league clubs” but is also open to “any players, owners, etc. who would like to get involved” and more specifically “representatives from clubs in NISA or any amateur, semi-pro, or women’s league.”

Each real-life lower league side can have one representative in the PS4 and Xbox leagues, but can change their representative each week. A PC league may be being added, but at the moment it is too early to tell if there will be enough interest. Meyer does ask that if a lower league side has a supporters group that the representative come from the supporter’s group rather than directly from the club. Meyer’s said two-players representing a side in a single match is also going to be allowed.

The league will consist of a four to five match group stage followed by a knockout stage that will be played across two back-to-back legs to find a winner. With this, the potential is there to start as early as next week having one match for each team per week all the way up to a final in mid-May, around the time of the end of the CDC’s current recommendation of 8 weeks of no public gatherings.

When asking Meyer about how which teams will be used will be decided he explained the following: “Two options, I’ll leave it up to a vote. Either way, it will be on online friendly mode, not ultimate team. One option is that representatives will either select a club from the 3rd or 4th division from England or Germany. The other option is to use the option on FIFA20 friendlies that gives each team an 85 overall rating. This would allow supporters to play with clubs that have a connection to their club like FC St. Pauli, Union Berlin, Wolfsburg, Fiorentina, etc. Either way, we’ll ask each supporters group/club to stay with the same club for the entire tournament.”

If you are interested in competing, reach out to the league on Twitter (@lowerleagueEcup) and try to find a club to represent.

And if you either do not have FIFA 20 or are not much of a gamer, do not worry. The league plans to “work with our players to make sure we stream as many matches as possible,” so there will be some sort of lower league soccer for everyone to watch and support throughout the spring.

No matter whether you plan to take part or simply watch the event, it is exciting to see some form of lower league soccer return to our screens during this crazy time, even if it is a digital version.

- Aarik Long

Note: This week, Protagonist Soccer stepped in as a sponsor for the league.