Plainview, NY (July 27, 2010) – Several Junior Rough Riders teams have been invited to attend ‘Long Island Rough Riders Day’ at the Sky Blue FC match on Sunday August 1st. 

Junior Rough Riders girls teams Under-8 through Under-12 will travel to New Jersey this Sunday to play exhibition matches against Chelsea Match Fit.  They will play full sided matches with two 30 minute halves at Yurcak Field, which is located at Rutgers University.

“We are looking forward to a great day giving our teams the opportunity to play before a women’s professional team Sky Blue, and watch high level soccer,” said Rough Riders Coaching Director John Diffley.  “It should be a fun day for our club, and we are looking forward to supporting Sky Blue FC.”   

After the exhibition matches, the Junior Rough Riders teams will stay to watch Sky Blue FC compete against the Chicago Red Stars at 7:00 PM.  During halftime of the match, all players and coaches will join Sky Blue on the field for a parade, and be recognized by the crowd over the public address system.  

“This should be an exciting event for our Junior Rough Riders teams and our club as a whole,” said Rough Riders President Peter Zaratin.  “We are committed to having our players see soccer played at its highest level, and this experience will provide them with opportunity.”

The Long Island Rough Riders partnered with Sky Blue in March with the mission of providing a platform of youth and professional development.

ABOUT THE LONG ISLAND ROUGH RIDERS

The Rough Riders have been part of the Long Island soccer landscape since their inception in 1994.  In 1995 both the Rough Riders Men’s and Women’s teams won their first United Soccer League (USL) National Championship. Since their initial success, the Rough Riders Men’s team has gone on to win the 2nd Division National Championship in 2002 while the Rough Riders Women’s team qualified for the Eastern Conference Finals in 2008.

The Rough Riders are known for developing players including former US National Team members Chris Armas, Tony Meola, and MLS All Star Giovanni Savarese and Jimmy Rooney along with US Olympic Team Member and current Junior Rough Riders Coaching Director, John Diffley.

More recently the Rough Riders helped jumpstarted the careers of Mike Grella who is currently playing at Leeds United in England, Mike Palacio at FK Radnicki Obrenovac in Serbia, Gina DiMartino Philadelphia Independence in the Women’s Professional Soccer league and Sue Weber who has just returned to the Rough Riders after being drafted by the Boston Breakers in 2009.

The Rough Riders are also comprised of a Junior Rough Riders program, featuring elite level players from 8 to 17 years of age.  Junior Rough Riders teams compete in regional and national tournaments while teams from 13 to 17 years old participate in the Super Y-League (SYL), the youth component of the United Soccer Leagues (USL).

ABOUT SKY BLUE FC

Operated by Sky Blue Soccer, Sky Blue FC is the New Jersey/New York franchise in Women’s Professional Soccer. In 2009, Sky Blue FC captured the inaugural WPS Championship presented by MedImmune with an inspirational run through the playoffs. Sky Blue FC plays its home matches at Yurcak Field on the campus of Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey. Website: www.SkyBlueFC.com

Article by Brian Patak