USL Feature

July 26, 2010

By David Wagner

It has been a dream soccer season for the City of Santa Clarita. The Southern California locale began 2010 with the debut of a new W-League franchise, the Santa Clarita Blue Heat, and it wraps up by hosting the 2010 W-League Championship.

The Blue Heat began the season with the daunting task of being in the same conference with W-League powerhouses such as the back to back W-League Champion Pali Blues and 2010 Western Conference Champion Vancouver Whitecaps. However, the Blue Heat did not shy away from the challenge.

“I believe the girls did an amazing job of stepping up to the challenge of being a new team in the W-League and they did a great job of putting our brand new team on the map,” Blue Heat Owner Carlos Marroquin said. “We fought hard every single game and came into the season believing that we had a great chance of winning every game that we played. The girls played with such heart, winning some great games, and the games we lost were still very exciting games to watch. We didn’t have a bad game all season and that is something we can be very proud of.”

The Blue Heat battled in every match this season and were led by the strong play of recent Team of the Week selection Shannon Omahen and forward Cherelle Khassal. One of the highlights on the 2010 season for Santa Clarita came when Omahen and Khassal led the Blue Heat to a famous win against the local rival Blues this season.

The Blue Heat will look to continue their growth and come back stronger than ever for next season. Marroquin has very ambitious plans for Santa Clarita going forward.

“We would like to, of course, improve our record with more wins and make it to the playoffs and win the whole championship,” Marroquin said.

If Santa Clarita can build on it’s momentum from this season and continue to improve there is no reason why it can’t meet those goals.
W-League Championship Hosts

With The City of Santa Clarita playing the role of the gracious hosts for the 2010 W-League Championship presented by Umbro, the Atlanta Silverbacks, Buffalo Flash, Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues and Vancouver Whitecaps will descend upon Santa Clarita to begin play on Thursday, July 29.

The Championship will take place at Harry Welch Stadium. Fans will pack the stadium to witness elite-level women’s soccer teams battle for the right to be named the 2010 W-League Champion.

The City of Santa Clarita is excited about the prospect of playing host to the prestigious championship. Mayor Laurene Weste is excited about what the W-League Championship could mean for the community as a whole as well as soccer fans in the area.

“The high-profile W-League Championship will place Santa Clarita at the forefront of the national soccer community, reinforcing our position as one of the nation’s premier sporting event destinations and offering a direct positive economic impact to our businesses,” Mayor Weste said. “Our city staff and residents understand what it means to be selected to host these types of events, and welcome visitors with open arms.”

The semi-finals will be played on Thursday, July 29 with the championship and consolation match set for Saturday, July 31. The Championship match will air live at 7 p.m. PT on Fox Soccer Channel.