SUNSHINE CONFERENCE ANNOUNCES REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE
The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is proud to announce that the 2014 regular season schedule for the Sunshine Conference has been released. Schedules are now available on the individual team websites and social media accounts.
The 2014 Sunshine Conference will consist of Miami United (Miami, FL), Tampa Marauders (Tampa, FL), Jacksonville United (Jacksonville, FL), Cape Coral Hurricanes (Cape Coral, FL), and Storm FC (Fort Lauderdale, FL).
“The Sunshine Conference is tremendously excited to add another great team with Storm FC,” Cape Coral Hurricanes General Manager and Sunshine Conference Commissioner J.P. Terrasi stated. “All of the teams in our conference have the desire to grow our clubs and operate them as professionally as possible. We really take the new league mantra to heart as we all came together as a conference and as business partners to get things done. Everyone is excited to be working together to grow and improve our conference into one of the strongest in the league.”
The Sunshine Conference was already strong with three major soccer markets in Miami, Tampa, and Jacksonville. Jacksonville United happens to be the reigning Sunshine Conference Champion and the 2011 NPSL National Champion. Cape Coral is expected to field a drastically improved side, while Storm FC brings NPSL soccer to Broward County and the east coast of Florida.
“The second year of the Sunshine Conference should be exciting,” Jacksonville United President/GM Barry Dixon added. “Being in the league for four years I know firsthand how much improvement is made year to year and I expect all the teams in our conference to contend for the title.”
The Sunshine Conference will be playing a conference playoffs July 10-12th with the top four teams in the conference participating. The entire playoffs will be held at one location that will be announced at a later date.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, Puerto Rico FC (Bayamon, PR) will not be participating in the 2014 NPSL season. The club intends to be part of the NPSL in 2015 and is making preparations to do so in the interim.
The NPSL is a national league that operates in the 4th Division of the U.S. Soccer pyramid. NPSL teams are eligible to participate in the U.S. Open Cup through their affiliation with the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) and the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA). The NPSL is the fastest-growing national soccer league in North America, operating in 80+ markets across the country. Two Major League Soccer (MLS) clubs (D.C. United and the New York Red Bulls) and four North American Soccer League (NASL) clubs (Minnesota United, Carolina Railhawks, Atlanta Silverbacks, Oklahoma City FC) operate teams in the NPSL. Mitre USA recently signed a multi-year agreement to become the league’s Official Match Ball Sponsor.
