Thursday, October 20, 2005
Tampa, FL -- United Soccer Leagues is pleased to announce the addition of the USL Players’ Village to the 2005 USL SoccerFest. The Players’ Village is presented by Fox Soccer Channel (FSC)
, the nation’s premier soccer channel.
The SoccerFest includes USL’s two largest annual events, the USL Annual General Meeting (AGM) October 28-31 and the Super Y-League North American Finals November 18-22. One of the new events that will be going on in conjunction with the Super Y-League Finals is the Village which will be open on Friday, November 18 from 4-8pm, Saturday, November 19 from 8:30am-8:30pm and on Sunday, November 20 from 8:30am-1pm.
The Players’ Village will be an interactive area open to all tournament participants, family, friends and members of the Tampa community. Fox Soccer Channel will showcase its programming by bringing in live feeds that include the Barclays English Premier League and Italian Serie A. In addition to displays set up by FSC and other companies, the Players’ Village will include free games and contests, a FIFA 2006 video game tournament, and a free raffle for amazing prizes including a jersey autographed by former SYL player and current DC United midfielder Freddy Adu.
“Fox Soccer Channel is pleased to join our partners, United Soccer Leagues, in sponsoring their inaugural SoccerFest event, and also show support for the nation’s young soccer talent,” said Veronica Alvarez, Director of Marketing and Communications for Fox Soccer Channel.
The Players’ Village will be the sole location to sign up to win the autographed Adu jersey as well as soccer balls signed by Central Florida Krush and US Women’s National Team forward Danielle Fotopoulos and Major League Soccer defending champion DC United. Entries for all prizes will be accepted on Friday from 4-8pm and on Saturday from 8:30am-6pm at the Players’ Village. USL strongly encourages everyone to sign up early as there is sure to be a last-minute rush to get entries in. Multiple entries by the same person will be disqualified, and the winner must be present when their name is drawn at halftime of the USL showcase game which kicks off Saturday night at 6:30pm at the Ed Radice Sports Complex. The showcase game will feature the Vancouver Whitecaps FC U16 Boys against the Chicago Magic U16 Boys.
“The USL Players’ Village will be the focal point of this event and provides an opportunity for soccer fans of all ages and cultures to come together,” said USL Director of Business Development James Ward. “We’re excited to be partnering with Fox Soccer Channel to bring this new dimension to the Super Y-League Finals and we look forward to welcoming members of the Tampa Bay community.”
In addition to the Players’ Village, Fox Soccer USA, a 30-minute weekly show on FSC, will be taping segments, interviews and background footage during the Finals. Fox Soccer USA profiles weekly soccer trends in the emerging soccer nation to engage viewers in everything they need to know about the beautiful game.
The 2005 Super Y-League North American Finals looks to draw over 7,500 visitors to the Ed Radice Sports Complex and the University of South Florida as 128 teams compete in 10 age brackets (U13-U17 Girls and U13-U17 Boys). The brackets were completed this past weekend as Miami Strike Force became the 128th and final team to earn their place in the tournament. In addition to showcasing the top one percent of youth soccer players in North America, the Super Y-League Finals will also have an economic impact of close to $3 million on the Tampa Bay community.
The 2005 USL AGM features 250 team executives converging on Tampa to attend meetings regarding scheduling, operations, FSC broadcasts and much more. The weekend gives USL teams the ability to brainstorm and discuss issues pertinent to the development of soccer in North America.
The USL SoccerFest has been brought to Tampa as part of a multi-year partnership between USL and the Tampa Bay Sports Commission, in conjunction with the Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department.
