Repeat after me: 12U player finds USA CUP medallion, again!

Patrick Tennison was running out of time.

“I only had about 15 minutes before my game,” Patrick said. “So, I decided to give it one last check.”

Patrick’s first priority at Target USA CUP was playing for Joy of the People in the Boys 12U Silver division. But Patrick was also intent on finding the seventh annual USA Cup medallion, and clue number five, plus the fact that there were other treasure hunters in the area, made Patrick feel like he might be on to something.

“Clue number four talked about two songs that made us think it was a food truck, and today’s clue was about the color blue,” Patrick noted.

The ‘us‘ Patrick is referring to is his family. It turns out that the Tennison’s happen to be experienced treasure hunters.

“We’ve looked for the St. Paul Winter Carnival Medallion,” Patrick said. “And in Wisconsin, where they hide a key.”

Not just experienced treasure hunters, the Tennison’s are pretty good at it, too.

“2019 was my first year,” Patrick said. “I mean, our neighbors had played in USA CUP, so we’ve been coming out here for years, and I watched. But 2019 was my first year playing, and my sister Ellery and I were looking for something to do between our games, so we decided to search for the medallion.”

It took Patrick and Ellery eight clues to find the medallion in 2019, but on this morning, Patrick was on his own. At least until his teammate Matiyas Telahune arrived and decided to join him on his quest.

“The clue said focus on blue and re-tire,” Patrick said. “So, I decided to check underneath, and it was taped to it.”

The medallion was taped underneath the National Sport Center’s Big Blue food truck. Perhaps, because it was not the first time Patrick found the treasure, let’s just say he’s taking his repeat win in-stride.

“We were fairly excited, but we had a game in 15 minutes, so I quickly turned it in and went to our game.”

And how did that go?

“We won 2-1,” Patrick said. “We scored a goal fairly late to put us into the winner’s bracket.”

Was his coach upset that he was almost late to his game?

“Well, my dad is my coach, so he was fairly happy that we found it.”

It seems like all the Tennison’s are a low-key bunch as Patrick said that Ellery wasn’t upset that he found the medallion without her, either.

“She wasn’t sad or anything, she was fairly happy that we got it.”

So, while Patrick could fully concentrate on soccer after finding the medallion, he said his treasure-hunting family will be back at Target USA Cup next year to go for the “three-peat.”

“I would like other people try to find it because there’s not a lot who do,” Patrick said. “And while I like to find it, more people should get involved.”