EDMONTON, AB - FC Edmonton of the Canadian Premier League (CPL) will be promoting the importance of women and girls involved the sport of soccer at an upcoming home match, the club announced today. In past seasons FC Edmonton has selected one home match per season to highlight, promote and demonstrate support for women and girls involved in the sport of soccer, and in sports in general. Due to the past popularity of the theme game, and the wake of the recent success of the Canadian Women’s National Team winning the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, and the increase in women getting involved at the game all over the world, the club was determined to bring the theme game back after being forced to take the 2020 season off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This season’s “Girls in Soccer” match will be on Saturday, September 4 as the Eddies take on CPL western rivals Pacific FC. The night will feature a free t-shirt giveaway to the first 500 women and girls at the match, a chance to meet players on the Grant MacEwan Women’s (GMU) Soccer Team, and a chance for one youth team to win a free clinic featuring FC Edmonton and GMU players and coaches. "FC Edmonton is very proud to rally support around these important initiatives and programs”, said FC Edmonton President and General Manager, Eric Newendorp. “This is the third year the club has worked to bring attention and praise for the women's game and we are so thrilled to host local youth clubs and fans from across Alberta for this exciting event.” Additionally, the night will feature a soccer ball donation drive to benefit the Grenada Women’s Soccer program. Val Close, FC Edmonton’s Match Director, lives in Grenada in the off-season and recognized a need there, so she asked the club to get involved to help. “My goal is to get a soccer ball into every home in Grenada!” said Close. “I have spent half a year in Grenada since 2013, and in 2014 we started gathering soccer gear to donate to the soccer program in Grenada. We’ve managed to ship a few barrels or take a few suitcases of gear down with us each year.” Close continued, “In conversation with Grenada Football Association Director of the Women’s Program and Harry Varley, Head of Women’s Football Grenada we discussed their immediate needs and how we could support that need. We landed on balls. Harry takes the same bag of balls to every training session he runs, whether it is the minis, the U14 National Team, the U17 team or the National team. Pretty hard to teach skills if balls are in short supply and in poor condition. So the need is soccer balls. A deflated ball weighs 10.5 ounces, and when we go we can check a bag weighing 50 pounds, so I figure I can put at least 80 balls into one suitcase!! Here are the details of the night: WHO: FC Edmonton vs. Pacific FC WHAT: Girls in Soccer theme night WHEN: Saturday, September 4, Game Time 7pm, Gates open at 6pm WHERE: Clarke Stadium WHY: To celebrate, promote, support, and appreciate the role of women and girls in the sport of soccer, and in sports in general FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS o First 500 women and girls receive a free “This Girl’s Got Game” t-shirt o Players from the GMU women’s soccer team will be meeting with fans and signing autographs at halftime o Fans are encouraged to bring a new soccer ball to the match to be donated to the Grenada Women’s Soccer program o Chance for one youth team to win a free soccer clinic with FC Edmonton and GMU players and coaches at Clarke Stadium Season Seat Membership and individual game tickets are on sale now. For more information about plans and prices please visit www.fcedmonton.canpl.ca, or call 780-700-2600. -30- FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Marcus Coldeway (780) 909-7328 | mcoldeway@fcedmonton.com fcedmonton.canpl.ca
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