Women’s Professional Soccer and its eight teams are continuing their efforts to become more relevant in the minds of soccer fans and local communities and have found success through increased ticket sales and sponsorships in 2010.
As you might imagine, my e-mail inbox is constantly filling up and a lot of that has to do with press releases. Sometimes, those can get overwhelming, but some recent emails from the Boston Breakers have caught my eye.
The first interesting thing the Breakers are doing is hosting an event Sunday at Harvard Stadium for the Boston Breakers High School Club, a group for local high school players and coaches.
Over 125 high school players and 16 high school coaches are set to attend Boston’s training session Sunday from 1:45 p.m.- 2:45 p.m., which is followed by a meet and greet with the team. That sounds like a pretty neat opportunity for local youngsters and coaches to get an inside view of the team.
The Breakers also put out some details on their promotional schedule, which includes a tribute to retired Breakers and U.S. Women’s National Team great Angela Hucles, a toy cow from some Vermont cheese makers, and a pretty sweet looking pink Puma jersey for breast cancer awareness.
Also, the first 500 fans to each Boston home game will receive a Breakers trading card. There will be 12 cards to collect – a different player each week. It just brings back the kid in all of us:
Check out the promotional schedule here:
OPENING NIGHT, MAGNET SCHEDULE GIVEAWAY – SUNDAY, APRIL18
On opening night, the first 5,000 fans of all ages will receive a magnet schedule. Also, don’t miss Flippenout Productions at halftime to see world class athletes perform an extreme trampoline show!
ANGELA HUCLES TRIBUTE NIGHT – SATURDAY, MAY1
Say thank you to Boston Breakers and U.S. Women’s National team legend Angela Hucles, who announced her retirement from professional and international soccer shortly after the Breakers 2009 season. The Boston Breakers will be honoring Hucles and reveal her banner at halftime.
WEBKINZ COW GIVEAWAY AND CABOT’S DAIRY FARMER NIGHT -SATURDAY, JUNE 5
The first 1,000 fans 14 and under will receive a Webkinz cow, presented byCabotCreamery.
BEAT THE DRUM NIGHT – JULY 11
Own a drum? Bring it to the July 11 game and join our drum sectionwith the beats led by Marcos Santos of Afro Brazil.
MAKING STRIDES AGAINST BREAST CANCER/PINK JERSEY AUCTION- JULY 31
Join us in the fight against breast cancer. Bid on your favorite player’s specialty pink jersey at the silent auction table. Winners will be announced at the conclusion of the match and allowed onto the field to have their jersey personally presented by the Breakers player. All proceeds will go to Making Strides Against Breast Cancer.
On a side note, the one other thing that stood out to me recently was Sky Blue FC’s new addition to Yurcak Field. How awesome is it going to be for the adult fan base to have a beer garden? The Washington Freedom had one last year, and it should help balance the atmosphere between youth and adult, which has always been a goal of WPS.
Preseason is almost over and WPS 2010 First Kick is just two weeks away now. Here are the remaining preseason games:
Saturday, March 27
Philadelphia Independence vs. Washington Freedom (Boyds, MD) Exhibition
Sky Blue FC vs. Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ) Scrimmage
Sunday, March 28
Atlanta Beat vs. North Carolina (Kennesaw,GA) Exhibition
Thursday, April 1
FC Gold Pride vs. Santa Clara Broncos (Santa Clara, CA) Exhibition
Philadelphia Independence vs. Penn State (Downingtown, PA) Exhibition
Saturday,April 3
Atlanta Beat vs. Saint Louis Athletica (Tulsa, OK) Exhibition
Washington Freedom vs. North Carolina (Boyds, MD) Exhibition
