Victory Beyond the Cup in New York State: The Power of Partnerships

An African proverb states, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Several churches and organizations in the Hudson Valley Area of New York state experienced the power of these words on Saturday, June 20 during a community-wide outreach called 3v3 Soccer Tournament. The event took roots from the Victory Beyond the Cup strategy of equipping believers to become key players who can turn a shared moment, like the 2026 global soccer tournament, into a meaningful connection. 

Saturday’s tournament event ran from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and welcomed hundreds from the local community to compete and connect through soccer, while also engaging beyond the game. Sponsors for the outreach included the Fellowship of Christian Athletes® (FCA), 12th Rock Sports, Craigville Bible Church, Upstate Metal Sales, Echo Grace Church, Transformation Church, H.O.P.E. Daylee USA, Harmony Ministries, NYC Christian Athletic League, Curasi Realty, Mill Pond Church, Calvary Assembly of God, Village Grind, Grace Community Church, and Erick Fred Architect.

Each soccer tournament division included competitive and recreational brackets that will lead to qualifiers for a state championship tournament this summer in late July 2026. The event also featured a presentation of the gospel, raffles, free food, music, and watch parties for two soccer games featured in the global event that took place that afternoon. Each attendee was also given an evangelistic bracelet called The Four®, that explains through four symbols how to know God personally. 

The churches in partnership for Saturday’s outreach aimed to invite the local community to a dynamic event centered around a shared love for sport through soccer. Through that love their goal is to create "on ramps" of continued connection for the parents, their children, and their families to get to know multiple churches in the Hudson Valley area who were present at the event. 

More than 5 billion people worldwide will tune into the global soccer tournament filling arenas in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico from June 11 to July 19. The opportunity this sporting event holds to unify people is significant and strategic, especially within the body of Christ. 

Vincenzo Pepe, FCA Hudson Valley NY Multi-Area Director, recognizes the impact of sports in spiritual connections with people. 

“The influence that athletics has on an individual’s life, but also the [tournament] is having 5 billion people tuning in to watch this one game over the next couple weeks. This event is a testament to people — whether they are going to a church or a Christian or not — they’re coming because they want to partake in this event that happens once every four years.”  

The ways these churches in Hudson Valley have come together in partnership is galvanizing them in their ministries to the community and relationships with one another.

Joey Nieves, Youth and Young Adult Director at Transformation Church in Middletown, said his church’s whole goal was to collaborate with other churches through Victory Beyond The Cup and the 3v3 Soccer Tournament.

“I believe that God is gonna move in New York in such a powerful and mighty way and in the Northeast and New England areas in general, and I believe that all we have to do is persevere, be faithful, but the biggest thing is collaborate. We can’t be a church divided. We have to be church together, and that’s why events like Victory Beyond the Cup are great stepping stones for building church relationships. And that’s why our church wanted to be a part of that.”

Seeing that each member in the body of Christ has their part to play in opportunities like Saturday’s event encourages Greg Jaloszynski, the Executive Director for 12th Rock Sports, which hosted the tournament on their property. He’s also a local pastor at Echo Grace Church. He shared that he’s been trying for 25 years to see ministry collaboration happen in the area between churches. 

“I think the collaboration piece is so huge because if we’re all talking the same language of ‘hey, let’s do relationship with these people and find out where they are in life,’ they get to also see outside the church building how church people interact and we’re competitive and we like to have fun.”

Pray for the follow-up from Saturday’s event, for each individual who heard the gospel presentation and responded. Pray for those who didn’t make a decision but have a spiritual seed of curiosity towards God planted in their life. Pray that the churches who partnered together would connect well with one another and continue building relationships. Pray that they can be safe spaces of spiritual care for attendees who are interested in learning more about their church communities.

If you’re interested in hosting your own Victory Beyond the Cup event, check out this website to download your free host kit. 

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