The Cup Competition
The season of the year to which all soccer fans look forward to with keen anticipation has arrived. It is the season of cup competition, a series of games in which the ultimate winner is recognized as the team superior to all others in the respective competition and in the country. The American Soccer League conducts a cup competition in which the winner is recognized as the professional champion. However, the most important is the National Challenge Cup, the first round of which will be played on Sunday, and in which the lone survivor gains the title of being the National champion, a team superior to any in the country. This series of games is conducted annually under the auspices of the United States Football Association. The qualifying rounds originally got under way with 100 entrants -- 51 in the East and 49 in the west -- and at the conclusion of the first round of the competition proper the number of clubs will be reduced to 16. The ultimate winner of the competition will gain possession of the covered trophy, looked upon as the blue ribbon of the soccer world. This is the sixteenth year of the competition and will be waged with the defending champion on the outside. The New York Nationals won the title last year but since the New York Nationals are removed from the ranks of the organized clubs brought about by membership in the American Soccer League, the team is not eligible to compete.

Bethlehem Holds the Edge
Insofar as National titles are concerned Bethlehem holds the edge over all other clubs in the country. The local club drawn to meet the Canton F. C., in Baltimore, Md., on Sunday is five times winner of the National championship and bids fair to repeat this season. While opposition in the East will be fairly representative of cup classic merit with the New York Giants, Hakoah All-Stars and one or two other clubs presenting a threat, nevertheless, it is believed that the more equally distributed strength will be pronounced in the Western division where the rank of leading clubs has not been broken up by soccer warfare and harmony prevails.