FC Indiana Lionesses News Release - www.fcindiana.com

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

INDIANAPOLIS, IN -- New W-League addition FC Indiana will be playing host to a unique preseason tournament this week in Indianapolis with the FCI PDA International Cup featuring FC Indiana, The Canadian and Mexican Women’s U-20 teams and a combined squad from several Chicago clubs dubbed Chicago Sockers United FC for the event.

They will compete in the tournament held at Kuntz Stadium in Indianapolis from April 30th to May 2nd 2008. A total of four matches will be played over two days with a day of rest in between.

April 30
A: Chicago Sockers United FC vs. Canada U-20s, 5:00 PM
B: FC Indiana vs. Mexico U-20s, 7:00 PM

May 2
Loser A vs. Loser B, 5:00 PM
Winner A vs. Winner B, 7:00 PM

The Chicago side is a last-minute replacement for the Nigerian Women’s National Team, participants in the 2007 Women’s World Cup. Nigeria was unable to attend the tournament due to visa complications.

Canada and Mexico are preparing for qualification for the upcoming FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Chile. Last week CONCACAF announced Mexico will play host to the CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship June 17-28. The tournament will determine the three teams that will advance to Chile. Host Mexico will be joined by Canada and the US from the North Zone; Costa Rica and Nicaragua from Central America; Cuba, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago from the Caribbean. The draw will be held May 6 in New York.

For Canada, the event is part a longer camp for the side. The team has invited 24 players to the nine-day camp which runs 26 April to 4 May.

"This event is a fantastic opportunity," said coach Bob Birarda. "We also have an opportunity to play FC Indiana, one of the best women’s teams in North America, who will be hosting these games and our camp. These games are invaluable to the players and to the staff as a significant preparation for the CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship."

Canada will play three games over the course of the camp, taking on FC Indiana or Mexico after the two-day event.

"After a long effort to visit players or speak with people from the National Training Centres, provincial programs, university programs, and W-League teams, we have invited a number of new players to the camp who have been performing at a very high level," says coach Bob Birarda. "It will be very exciting to see how some of these new players adapt to the level and stress of playing for Canada."

Fourteen of the 24 called into the camp for Canada have played in the W-League in the past three years, 11 of them last season, and have 25 seasons combined between them.

FC Indiana is gearing for their first season in the USL W-League and have just become official partners of the Chicago professional women’s soccer franchise set to begin play in Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) in 2009.

Tickets for the event will cost $10 ($5 with a student ID) for each doubleheader. Every person buying a ticket will also receive a free voucher to one FC Indiana regular season game of the 2008 W-League season.

Canadian Camp Roster (W-League experience): Paige Adams (Vancouver 06-07), Molly Allen, Julie Armstrong, Gillian Baggott, Justine Bernier (Toronto 05-07), Myriam Bouchard (Vancouver 06), Alysha Chapman (Toronto 06-07), Jonelle Filigno, Rita Keimakh, Kaylyn Kyle (Vancouver 06-07), Monica Lam-Feist, Nicole Mailloux (Toronto 06), Alexandra Marton (Toronto 06-07), Erin McNulty (Ottawa 05-07), Mallory Outerbridge (Ottawa 06), Stephanie Panozzo, Jodi-Ann Robinson (Vancouver 05-07), Tina Romagnuolo (Toronto 07), Adrienne Ruhe-Lischke (Toronto 07), Bahar Sansar (Laval 07), Karla Schacher, Chelsea Stewart, Shannon Woeller