COPA LATINA'S HISTORY
1993 - 2007
1993
The Copa Latina tournament “kicked-off” in 1993 in Miami, Florida. It became an immediate success within the multi-ethnic communities of Greater Miami. Nearly 20,000 spectators attended the inaugural tournament. The El Nuevo Herald, one of America’s most prominent daily Spanish language newspapers, signed as a strategic partner. The El Nuevo Herald’s long-term plan and commitment was to utilize the Copa Latina to reach the multiethnic communities. Copa Latina enabled the El Nuevo Herald to position itself as the paper for all Spanish speakers.
1993 Champion: Sports Complex - Brazil
1994
In 1994 history was made as the World Cup was played in the U.S. The excitement generated provided Copa Latina with the perfect place to celebrate the true spirit of the Hispanic’s number one source of entertainment, soccer.
1994 Champion: Seleccion Haiti
1995
The Copa Latina tournament inaugurated its Parade of Nations, which has become integrated as part of the traditional Copa Latina Opening Ceremonies. In 1995 Copa Latina continued to grow breaking the previous year’s attendance by attracting over 30,000 enthusiastic spectators. The media exposure also expanded with the “Game of the Week” radio broadcasts in Spanish with Portuguese and Creole broadcasts on a game by game basis.
1995 Champion: Seleccion Haiti
1996
The Olympic Games in 1996 brought the excitement of world class international soccer to Miami. As a promotional and marketing partner of Olympic Soccer in Miami, Copa Latina further expanded its media coverage by producing the first ever “Game Of The Week” TV broadcast. As a result, Copa Latina reached hundreds of thousands of additional households throughout South Florida boosting both Copa Latina and the Olympic Soccer attendance. Copa Latina continued its growth in 1997 as the attendance tallied nearly 40,000 spectators. This was the fifth consecutive year that Copa Latina achieved a new attendance record.
1996 Champion: IBC Courier - Peru
1997
In addition, a new dimension of coaching education was brought to the Copa Latina as the United States Soccer Federation utilized Copa Latina as a vehicle to license Hispanic coaches.
1997 Champion: Seleccion Haiti
1998
In 1998, Mayor Alex Penelas recognized January 30 as the Official Copa Latina Day of Miami-Dade County. A Copa Latina attendance celebration again occurred as the 200,000 spectator passed through the gates of America ’s most prestigious amateur soccer event.
1998 Champion: Jamaica F.C.
1999
The Copa Latina surpassed all expectations with a sold out, standing room only, final match of nearly 10,000 spectators. International live coverage back to Haiti along with national and local radio and TV broadcast reached millions as Haiti beat Ecuador in this thrilling final.
1999 Champion: Seleccion Haiti
2000
In 2000, the Copa Latina again moved to new heights as the event moved into New York for a test market expansion. The addition of the 5 vs 5 Fiesta Cup during the second weekend of play created an additional vehicle to reach the youth soccer players and their families throughout each Copa Latina market.
2000 Champion: Seleccion Uruguay
2001
2001 saw the first partnership with the local MLS Miami Fusion. IBC Peru became the Copa Latina Champion for the second time and the MLS rookie of the year, Rodrigo Faria, was found playing in the Copa Latina by the NY Metro Stars.
2001 Champion: IBC Peru
2002
Copa Latina 2002 entered a new level with the celebration of its 10th Birthday. The 300th game was celebrated with several new National Sponsors and a TV Broadcast agreement with TVC Television that brought Copa Latina into more than 661,000 households in South Florida.
2002 Champion: Team Hialeah
2003
The 2003 Annual Copa Latina final-four weekend was highlighted by great soccer rivalries, entertainment and promotions, including a 110-foot-tall, hot-air balloon, soccer ball giveaway and the Budweiser Futbolito soccer table tournament Finals. But the most unusual happening that has taken place during the Copa Latina was the marriage of Copa Latina President Tom Mulroy to his long term fiancee Paola Marcenaro during the halftime at midfield of the Championship game.
2003 Champion: C.D. Cortez - Honduras
2004
2004 saw the first ever qualifying tournament for the Copa Latina as 32 teams competed in the fall 2003 for the chance to automatically qualify the top 3 teams into the 2004 Copa Latina in a single elimination tournament at Amelia Earhart Park’s new Four Field Soccer Only Complex.
2004 Champion: Seleccion Haiti
2005
The 2005 Copa Latina saw C.D. Cortez win their second Copa Latina championship. The 2004 for 2005 2nd annual Copa Latina Qualifier produced two of the 3 qualifying teams from across the state both USA Orlando & Toluca from central Florida clearly proved that the Copa Latina reputation reaches far beyond the South Florida area.
2005 Champion: C.D. Cortez - Honduras
2006
The 2006 Tournament introduced a new “Nationality Minimum Number of Players Rule” When a team is representing a country, at least 13 of the 18 players appearing on the day of game roster must be of the nationality the team is representing.The 2005 for 2006 3rd. annual Copa Latina Qualifier saw 54 teams compete for two spots in the 2006 Copa Latina as well as the champion five star represented Miami in the Copa Lowe’s national tournament in Los Angeles . Both the qualifying tournament, as well as the Copa Latina 2006 were rescheduled due to the aftermath of Hurricane Wilma.
2006 Champion: Seleccion Ecuador
