Posted By: Rich Fernandez - Bay Areas Sports Drive Soccer

E-Mail:  rfernandez@bayareasportsdrive.com

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (June 25, 2009) – Women’s Professional Soccer today announced that The Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park in Fenton, MO, will be the site of the 2009 WPS All-Star Game on August 30, 2009, eight days after the WPS Championship is played on August 22. The game will be televised live nationally on Fox Soccer Channel and regionally on select Fox Sports Net affiliates (check local listings), starting at 5:00 p.m. ET with a half-hour pre-game show prior to kick-off at 5:30 p.m. The league will employ a unique format for this inaugural WPS All-Star Game by selecting one WPS All-Star team of 18 players, who will face off against an international club team to be announced soon.

“St. Louis has such a rich soccer tradition and great fans that we thought it would make for a terrific location – right in the heart of America – for our first WPS All-Star Game,” said Commissioner Tonya Antonucci.

Reflecting on the format, Antonucci added: “Our league is part of the bigger growth of the women’s game at the global level and we wanted to acknowledge that by bringing in a club from outside the league to play in the U.S. MLS has shown that it’s a great format for fans, and international competitions among leagues is something that we hope to be part of in the future, so this is a first step.”

The WPS All-Star team will be selected by late July in the following way:

11 players   Vote counting 25% fans, 25% media, 25% players, 25% coaches
7 players     At-Large Selections (WPS Commissioner and All-Star Head Coach)

In a unique twist for the first year of the WPS All-Star Game, the All-Star Team head coach will be voted on collectively by the players with the announcement coming in late July.

The Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park is currently the home field of Saint Louis Athletica and has a rich soccer tradition dating back almost three decades to when it opened in 1982.

“It’s an honor to host the first-ever WPS All-Star Game,” said Jeff Cooper, owner of Saint Louis Athletica. “I know that it will be a great show of international soccer for fans in the St. Louis area and beyond.”

About Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS)
Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) is the premier women’s soccer league in the world and the global standard by which women’s professional sports are measured.  The Inaugural Season kicked off on March 29 and runs through August 22, 2009, with WPS teams based in the Bay Area, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Jersey/New York, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C.  The league’s eighth and nine franchises, Philadelphia and Atlanta, will begin play in 2010. For more information, visit www.womensprosoccer.com.