NEW YORK – Relevent Sports Group announced Friday the 2019 International Champions Cup Futures tournament will be held at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. from Dec. 10-16.

The ICC Futures quarterfinal, semifinal and final matches from the championship brackets will be broadcast on ESPN. This year’s ICC Futures will debut a girls’ division, alongside the second edition of the ICC Futures boys’ division.

“The ICC Futures tournament is one of our most exciting and inspiring properties,” RSG CEO Daniel Sillman said. “In just one year, this tournament has established itself as the best international youth soccer tournament. With the development of a girls’ division, we know this will be the tournament that all kids worldwide playing soccer will dream of being a part of.”

ICC Futures was created to give elite youth players an opportunity to compete on a global stage and to provide an incredible development opportunity for players in the U.S. and abroad at no cost. The future success of soccer lies in youth development and this tournament will play a part in this initiative.

“One of the first questions I’m asked when I speak to our International Champions Cup clubs is can their youth teams participate in our Futures tournament,” RSG executive chairman Charlie Stillitano said. “At RSG, we are committed to growing the game and the first step in doing that is creating more youth opportunities and chances for our kids to play against top competition.”

The first ICC Futures was held in 2018. FC Bayern became the first ICC Futures champion when it defeated Chelsea FC, 3-1, in the final.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.