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WPS Sky Blue FC

Sky Blue FC Set for April 5 Season Opener at TD Bank Ballpark

December 16, 2008 - Women's Professional Soccer (WPS)
Sky Blue FC News Release


SOMERSET, NJ (Dec. 16, 2008) - Sky Blue FC - the NJ/NY entry into Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) - announced today that the team will open its first-ever season at home on Sunday, April 5, 2009. Sky Blue FC will take on the Los Angeles Sol at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, NJ in its first-ever game.

Sky Blue FC will call Rutgers University's Yurcak Field in Piscataway, NJ its home for the 2009 season but the team's home opener will be moved to TD Bank Ballpark to accommodate the larger crowd expected for the franchise debut. TD Bank Ballpark is the home of the Somerset Patriots baseball team in the Atlantic League and will seat approximately 7,000 fans when configured for soccer.

The complete Sky Blue FC schedule will be announced in late January along with the rest of the WPS slate. Fox Soccer Channel's national television schedule will follow the league schedule announcement.

"Based on the high level of demand for tickets to the Sky Blue FC home opener, we decided to move the game to TD Bank Ballpark," said Sky Blue Soccer CEO & President Thomas Hofstetter. "The Ballpark is a beautiful facility and we're very happy to have the opportunity to partner with the Somerset Patriots. The Patriots organization is a role model in community interaction and we look forward to our relationship with them extending beyond just the home opener."

The home opener for Sky Blue FC will kick off the East Coast-West Coast rivalry with the LA Sol, which drafted the rights to Brazilian superstar Marta in the WPS International Draft. Los Angeles will also take part in the "WPS Inaugural Match" when it hosts the Washington Freedom at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA on Sunday, March 29, 2009.

"Obviously the traditional East/West rivalry will be at the forefront and Marta playing for LA will create an exciting atmosphere," said Sky Blue FC Head Coach and General Manager Ian Sawyers. "Everybody wants to get on the field including me. Our team is itching to show the New Jersey and New York community the quality of the team that we're putting together. It's going to be a tremendous celebration for women's soccer."

WPS announced today the slate of home openers for all seven franchises in the new league headlined by the stand-alone "WPS Inaugural Match" between Los Angeles and Washington. The first-ever match for the league will be featured as part of Fox Soccer Channel's "Sunday Game of the Week" and will be followed by a full-slate of season-opening games on the weekend of April 4 and 5.

The week in between will feature special events, activities and WPS fan promotions to celebrate "WPS Kick-Off Week." In addition to the Sky Blue FC opener, the conclusion of the week will see home openers for FC Gold Pride (Bay Area) and Saint Louis Athletica.

"This is an exciting day for the world of soccer and professional sports on the whole," said WPS Commissioner Tonya Antonucci. "Announcing such a fantastic line-up of home openers for each of our seven WPS teams highlighted by the WPS Inaugural Match between the Los Angeles Sol and the Washington Freedom at one of the great sports venues in our country further builds on the anticipation for the 2009 WPS Season among sports fans. We hope soccer and sports fans alike are marking their calendars to cheer for their teams at the home openers or to watch on Fox Soccer Channel."

Two franchises with WUSA-roots, the Boston Breakers and Washington Freedom, open play at home on Saturday, April 11 of Easter Weekend, while the Chicago Red Stars will be the last team to play at home after opening the season with two road games. They host Sky Blue FC on April 19.



Women's Professional Soccer Stories from December 16, 2008


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