Since 1989, winners of the Pima Cup were able to receive awards. But, they weren't abe to put their name on the tournament trophy.
It was missing.
That was until newly elected Pima County Junior Soccer League President Ted Schmidt saw he was scheduled to pay a monthly charge for a storage unit.
"Nobody could tell me what was in the storage unit," said Schmidt. "So, I went over and looked. I found a it full of boxes and back in the corner was the trophy."
The trophy called the Dick Giebner Pima Cup Trophy. It's now on display at Beyond Bread's east side location. Engraved are the winning teams, like the Nogales Apaches, from 1980 to 1989. Many of the clubs listed on the trophy are still active today.
"The folks who have been involved in youth soccer longer than I were just thrilled to find out we rediscovered it," added Schmidt. The trophy is important because it documents the history of the most important youth soccer league in town, and a very important individual."
That individual, Dick Giebner, was instrumental in advancing youth soccer in Tucson. He passed away in 2007 at the age of 96, but now his legacy, and a piece of Tucson soccer history, lives on.
