2011 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup

The 2011 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup was the 98th edition of the USSF's annual national soccer championship, running from June through early October. Seattle Sounders FC, who entered the competition as the two-time defending champions, successfully defended their title again. They became the third team in U.S. Open Cup history to win three straight U.S. Open Cups (the others being Stix, Baer and Fuller/St. Louis Central Breweries from 1933 to 1935 and Greek American AA from 1967 to 1969 — this excludes the run of Fall River Marksmen in 1930 and 1931, as the team that won in 1932, New Bedford Whalers, was the result of mergers of teams that included Fall River). As winner of the Open Cup, the Sounders earned a place in the 2012–13 CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage (the Preliminary Round will be eliminated from the CONCACAF Champions League starting from 2012–13). The farthest advancing USL Pro team was the Richmond Kickers.

Like the previous edition, the Open Cup featured 40 clubs from across the five tiers of the American soccer pyramid. This season, due to late provisional sanctioning, the North American Soccer League was not allowed to send its clubs to the tournament. The event featured eight clubs from Major League Soccer, with six automatically qualifying based on their league position in the 2010 season and two qualifying through a play-in tournament. They entered the tournament in the third round. All 11 USL Pro League clubs based in the United States, nine clubs from the USL Premier Development League, four clubs from the National Premier Soccer League, and eight United States Adult Soccer Association qualifiers began play in the first round.

2014 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup

The 2014 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup was the 101st edition of the oldest ongoing competition in American soccer. Qualification began in November 2013 in the fifth tier. The USSF announced the tournament format on April 24, 2014.

The defending champions D.C. United were eliminated in the 4th Round by the Rochester Rhinos. Seattle Sounders FC defeated the Philadelphia Union 3-1 (after extra time) to claim their 4th Open Cup championship in 6 years.

The cash prize amounts remain the same as last year. The champion receives $250,000 and the runner-up receives $60,000. Also, the team from each lower division that advanced the furthest received $15,000: Laredo Heat (USL PDL), Rochester Rhinos (USL Pro), and Atlanta Silverbacks (NASL).

Qualification

All United States Division I (MLS), Division II (NASL) & Division III (USL Pro) teams qualify automatically.

United States Olympic Committee

Founded in 1894 and headquartered in Colorado Springs, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) is the National Olympic Committee for the United States. In addition, the USOC is one of only four NOCs in the world that also serve as the National Paralympic Committee for their country. The USOC is responsible for supporting, entering and overseeing U.S. teams for the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Youth Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Parapan American Games and serves as the steward of the Olympic and Paralympic Movements in the United States.

The Olympic Movement is overseen by the International Olympic Committee. The IOC is supported by 35 International Federations that govern each sport on a global level, National Olympic Committees that oversee Olympic sport as a whole in each nation, and National Federations that administer each sport at the national level (called National Governing Bodies in the United States).

Similarly, the National Paralympic Committee is the sole governing body responsible for the selection and training of all athletes participating in the Paralympic Games.