ONTARIO LEAGUE 1 WOMEN 2015: Semi-professional women's soccer set to take Ontario by storm

 

Vaughan, ON  --  League1 Ontario’s inaugural Women’s Division season will begin with a special Kick Off Day featuring all seven squads.

The debut matches for the League1 Ontario Women’s division will be played May 23 at Hamilton’s Tim Hortons Field.

"We are thrilled to be able to host our League1 Ontario Women’s Kick Off event in such a terrific venue, as well as release the League1 Ontario Women’s Division schedule," said Chairman Dino Rossi. "I expect the competition for the League title will be fierce. Our clubs are working hard to get ready for the season and I am confident they will demonstrate just how high the level of women’s soccer is in the province of Ontario."

Four games will be featured during the League1 Women’s Kick Off, with the first match taking place at 12 p.m. and the final game kicking off at 9 p.m. The Ottawa Fury, a non-League1 Ontario team, will also join the festivities to help round out the competition on the day.

All of the games at the League1 Women’s Kick Off will be livestreamed via the League1 Ontario Livestream page.

"In this, a Women’s World Cup year, it’s fantastic that we are able to showcase some of the best women’s soccer players our province has to offer," Ontario Soccer Association Executive Director Johnny Misley said. "The League1 Ontario Women’s division is going to help build national team players for the future." 

Admission for the day is $10 at the gate and free for kids 12 and under.

The inaugural season for the League1 Women's division spans five months with each team playing a total of 18 leagues games as well as competing in the League1 Cup. The schedule for the Cup competition will be announced in the coming days. League1 Ontario, the Ontario Soccer Association’s standards-based semi-professional league, began last year with its Men’s division. 

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League1 Women’s Kick Off schedule – Saturday, May 23

12 p.m. | Friendly | Ottawa Fury Academy (guest team) vs Sanjaxx Lions 
3 p.m. | League Match | Durham United FC vs North Mississauga Panthers
6 p.m. | League Match | Vaughan Azzurri vs Woodbridge Strikers
9 p.m. | League Match | ANB Futbol vs Pro Stars FC
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Media Accreditation and Contacts

Media wishing to apply for League1 Ontario Season Media Passes can apply to:

Cormac Rea | League1 Ontario Coordinator | crea@soccer.on.ca | 1-613-299-0374 
Ben Rycroft | Ontario Soccer Association Communications Manager |brycroft@soccer.on.ca | 1-647-237-4079
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About the Ontario Soccer Association:

Founded in 1901, The Ontario Soccer Association (OSA) is the largest provincial sports organization in Canada. Its members include more than 650 Clubs servicing over 24,000 teams with 380,000 registered players, 70,000 coaches and managers, and 10,000 referees. The OSA develops and delivers programs and services throughout Ontario with the mission of providing leadership and support for the advancement of soccer in collaboration and cooperation with our membership, partners and other stakeholders by providing exceptional and sustainable programs and services. 
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About League1 Ontario:

League1 Ontario is the only semi-professional, standards-based, league in Ontario. Founded in 2014, the league began with a 10 team Men’s division, which has now grown to 12 teams and includes a separate seven-team women’s division. League1 Ontario serves as a stepping stone between the youth, amateur ranks and the full-on professional sides. Sanctioned by the Ontario Soccer Association, the league’s focus, first and foremost, is the development of Canada’s future stars.