With the National Women’s Soccer League season a little over a month away, the Sky Blue FC will begin its 2015 preseason camp on Monday morning at The Atlantic Club in Manasquan, NJ. The opening of preseason camp officially continues an ongoing partnership with The Atlantic Club, which will serve as a premiere indoor training facility for the team.
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“When it comes to preseason, the build-up takes everyone to a point where you cannot wait to get going,” said Jim Gabarra, Sky Blue FC Head Coach & Technical Director. “Preseason has finally arrived, and it is really exciting to see our players coming into market. Now it is time to pull the team together and get to work.”
The official Sky Blue FC preseason roster will be announced on Monday, concurrently with the opening of camp at The Atlantic Club. The team will play four preseason games in March, and the Sky Blue side will open the regular season on the road when it travels to FC Kansas City on Sunday, April 12th. The team will then play its home opener at Yurcak Field (Rutgers, Piscataway) on Saturday, April 18th, at 7:00 p.m.
“We are very pleased to extend our partnership with The Atlantic Club into the 2015 season,” commented Tony Novo, Sky Blue FC President & General Manager. “Their facility is a top notch indoor training environment for a professional club, and they have truly embraced our organization. We look forward to continuing this relationship well into the future.”
In conjunction with the announcement of the opening of camp, the team also finalized its four preseason matches. Their opponents are St. John’s University, Penn State University, University of North Carolina and Rutgers University.
“We are fortunate in that our location allows us to play against some top teams in the preseason,” said Jim Gabarra, “We continue to have annual matches with Penn State and North Carolina. To also add two top local teams in St. John’s and Rutgers creates a really good preseason for us. We only have a short period of time to get ready for our regular season, and having these opponents in our local market helps to build the overall excitement for the upcoming year.”
The first game of the 2015 Sky Blue FC Preview Series Presented by Meridian Health will be against St. John’s University on March 14th at Wexler Field, which is located on the campus of Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. Kickoff is slated for 2:00 p.m. Sky Blue FC will then play the University of North Carolina on March 21st at Mercer County College Soccer Stadium in West Windsor, New Jersey. Kickoff for that game is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. Next up on the preseason campaign will be Penn State University on March 25th, and an 8:00 p.m. kickoff is slated to occur at In the Net Sports Complex in Palmyra, Pennsylvania. The final preseason match for Sky Blue FC will be against Rutgers University on March 29th, with that 7:00 p.m. contest to be hosted on the school’s Piscataway campus.
For the town of Scotch Plains, hosting a major event such as this is a big deal ,“This is a great opportunity not only for SPFSA(Scotch Plains-Fanwood Soccer Association), but all soccer players in the area,” says SPFSA President Chris DeMaria. “To have some of the best female soccer talent in the world playing on same field as our kids will be a very special experience for them. We want to thank Sky Blue for bringing this event to town.” The Scotch Plains -Fanwood High school annually produces some of the top boys and girls teams in the state, and its house, travel and inter-county programs is host to hundreds of boys and girls.
For Gabarra and his squad, improving upon their 9-8-7 mark from a year ago, but must do so without stalwart goalie Jill Loyden, her announced her retirement earlier this year. Later this month, I will be taking a deeper look at the Sky Blue during my team by team NWSL preview.