ST. LOUIS SOCCER CLUB JOINS 17 OTHER ELITE NATIONAL PROGRAMS
AS PART OF LAUNCH FOR RED BULL NATIONAL LEAGUE FOR GIRLS

ST. LOUIS, April 24, 2007 -- The St. Louis Soccer Club will join 17 other elite national programs when the Red Bull National League for girls launches this fall.  The Red Bull national league will feature U16 and U15 girls teams.  Red Bull launched a similar league for U17 boys in 2006.

The U16 St. Louis SC team coached by Scott McDoniel and the U15 team coached by Mark Bayens will participate.  Other clubs involved in the league are: Surf Soccer Club (San Diego, Calif.); Slammers FC (Newport Beach, Calif.); Sereno SC (Phoenix, AZ); Irvine SC Strikers (Irvine, Calif.); Real SoCal (Calabasas, Calif.); Real Colorado (Douglas County, Col.); Crossfire Premier (Redmond, Wash.); Colorado Rush (Littleton, Col.); Mustang Soccer Club (San Ramon, Calif.); Michigan Hawks (Livonia, Mich.); Eclipse Select (Chicago, Ill.); CASL (Raleigh, NC); PDA (Zarephath, NJ); FC Delco (East Brandywine, Pa.); Sting Soccer Club (Dallas, Tex.); and the Dallas Texans.

“This is a groundbreaking opportunity for girls soccer in the United States,” said Steve Pecher, executive director of the St. Louis Soccer Club.  “This is further acknowledgement of our club’s national reputation for producing top-quality players and teams, and it’s also recognition of the success our current teams in these age groups have demonstrated over a period of time.”

“The opportunities our players will be given to play in front of hundreds of top college coaches, as well as U.S. Soccer regional and national staff coaches, is unprecedented,” said McDoniel, who also serves as the club’s director of player development. “Nowhere else in the St. Louis area or in Missouri will serious soccer players have this level of exposure to top-level competition on a national scale.”

The St. Louis Soccer Club has won 14 national championships and its girls program is ranked #8 in the nation by Soccer America magazine.

Three dates have been selected by the league in which all 18 teams will come together to play games at the same venue:  October 6-8, 2007 in Dallas; March 14-16, 2008 in Las Vegas in conjunction with a major college showcase event; and May 24-26, 2008 in Zarephath, NJ, also in conjunction with a major college showcase.  At each of these events, teams will play three games in three days (one game per day).

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