OpenText Waterloo hoists the R+T Park Tech Cup for the second year

Toronto and Vancouver weren’t the only Canadian cities buzzing with soccer players and fans this summer. “The beautiful game” came to Waterloo on Thursday, July 9 at the second annual Tech Cup, hosted by the David Johnston Research + Technology Park.

“It’s a very light-hearted event that we can all rally around and bring people together.”

– Lindsay Verheul, Captain, SAP

It was a hot and humid day at the University of Waterloo’s Warrior Field as OpenText Waterloo, OpenText Richmond Hill, and SAP Waterloo laced up their cleats. In the day’s first round robin game, Waterloo took on Richmond Hill. It was a defensive game with the only goal from OpenText Waterloo coming at the 14:50 mark in the first half. The game remained scoreless in the second half with OpenText Waterloo earning the first win of the day.

In the next game, SAP Waterloo took the field in their brand new kit against OpenText Waterloo. It was back and forth through the first half and to the 9:24 mark with the game tied 2-2. As the two teams battled it out, one young UWaterloo camper watching from the sidelines had other things on his mind, shouting, “Where’s Messi?” Unfortunately for SAP Waterloo, Messi was training for Saturday’s World Cup game and OpenText Waterloo went on to score three goals in a row to win the game 5-2.

After an ice cream break provided by OpenText, SAP Waterloo was back at it against OpenText Richmond Hill. SAP opened it up at 12:10 with a solid goal. It would be their only goal of the first half, with Richmond Hill scoring three before halftime. In the second half, SAP scored again at 10:40, but ended the game with a 3-2 loss.

With the round robin games complete, OpenText Waterloo and OpenText Richmond Hill took the field for the championship game. As clouds started to gather on the horizon, both teams gave it everything they had. But even with the packed crowd of OpenText and SAP fans and UWaterloo campers, Richmond Hill couldn’t beat the hometown favourite with Waterloo winning 6-0.

“This year’s cup was so much bigger! I don’t want to say it was because of the World Cup, but obviously we got more fans this year. We got more teams out.”

– Luis Chavez, Captain, OpenText

OpenText Richmond Hill’s captain Christian Kischner said while it wasn’t the outcome they were hoping for, the team will be back next year.

“We’re a bunch of guys that are passionate about soccer. We’ll be back,” he said.
For SAP Waterloo captain Lindsay Verheul, the Tech Cup is an opportunity for people to get to know each other across different teams and different companies.

“It’s a very light-hearted event that we can all rally around and bring people together,” she said.

OpenText Waterloo’s victory was bittersweet for last year’s captain Luis Chavez. A midseason injury kept him off the field, but he brought the energy as the Tech Cup’s emcee and DJ.

“This year’s cup was so much bigger! I don’t want to say it was because of the World Cup, but obviously we got more fans this year. We got more teams out,” Chavez said.

““We’ve got so many great companies here in the R+T Park and across the region,” Dawe said. “I’ve already had some conversations with a few companies that not only want to play—they want to win the whole thing.”

– Jenn Dawe, Manager, R+T Park

Chavez and R+T Park manager Jenn Dawe are already at work planning the 2027 Tech Cup. Dawe said she hopes more companies across the Waterloo Region tech ecosystem will put teams together to expand the tournament.

“We’ve got so many great companies here in the R+T Park and across the region,” Dawe said. “I’ve already had some conversations with a few companies that not only want to play—they want to win the whole thing.”

That expansion might not be limited to Waterloo Region either.

“Being a Canadian company, we have really doubled down on investing in Canada,” said Chavez. “Maybe in the future we’ll have offices from different provinces coming to Waterloo to compete.”