5 things to know about the Sun, Tampa Bay’s pro women’s soccer team

TAMPA — Tampa Bay’s new professional women’s soccer team is gearing up for its debut.

The Tampa Bay Sun FC have begun preseason practices, and the players are more than ready to finally see game action.

“We did some team bonding (recently), but we’re footballers,” midfielder Erika Tymrak said. “We want to get on the field. We want to play. So everyone’s super excited.”

The main focus during practice has been effectively putting the pieces together.

“It’s been really fun,” head coach Denise Schilte-Brown said. “The first bit (of practice) is just measuring all the players, their strengths and what they can do. We’re fully excited about what they bring to the table, because each of them have different qualities that can make us better.”

Schilte-Brown acknowledged that the five weeks of preseason practice won’t be enough to teach everything, but they will keep pushing to prepare the regular-season debut at home Aug. 18.

Here are five things to know about the upcoming season:

The league

The Sun will compete in the USL Super League, giving the United States two first-division professional leagues for women. The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) — which was established in 2012 and currently has 14 teams including the Orlando Pride — is the other.

“We’re both offering that experience for women to live their dreams playing professional soccer and being the role models that we need to for the young women of tomorrow,” Schilte-Brown said. “I think we’re going to co-exist really well.”

“What’s really awesome is that the U.S. soccer recognized that we are the one country in the world that can truly sustain a second tier-one pro league,” Schilte-Brown added. “We have so many young women playing soccer here. We’re the size of 20 European countries rolled into one.”

The USL Super League currently consists of eight clubs in various markets: Tampa Bay; Fort Lauderdale; Washington D.C.; Dallas; Spokane, Washington; Brooklyn, New York; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Lexington, South Carolina. Eight other cities, including Jacksonville and Palm Beach, are set to potentially field teams in 2025 or later.

“There are some cities that love soccer that are finally getting a team,” midfielder Jordyn Listro said. “So to get that fan base is really exciting.”

The schedule

Each club plays 14 games in both the fall and spring seasons, totaling 28. The winter break starts in mid-December, and the spring season goes from February to May (schedule still pending). Most games will be held on Saturday nights.

This fall-to-summer calendar is more common in European soccer. Listro said that is a positive difference between the USL Super League and the NWSL, which runs from March to November.

“It allows for more international (players) to come over and play, especially going to national team camps” Listro said. “(Those players) aren’t missing as much during the year.”

Schilte-Brown likes that the league schedule provides a different viewing experience than the NWSL and that it’ll help them coexist even better.

In addition to the opener against Dallas Trinity FC, other notable games include:

• In-state matches against Fort Lauderdale United FC at home on Oct. 12 and on the road at Nova Southeastern University on Nov. 9.

• The fall season finale against Spokane Zephyr FC at home on Dec. 14

The league playoffs will feature the top four teams, ranked by points earned during the regular season.

The stadium

Riverfront Stadium at Blake High School will be the home for the Sun for their first few seasons.

Renovations are nearing completion. Sun communications director Tiffany Hubert said the stadium will be done no later than Aug. 10, when Tampa Bay will scrimmage against an opponent still to be determined.

“What an amazing opportunity for us to bond with the city, to raise up one of the local high schools, to put up a multi-million-dollar stadium into a high school that we’re going to leave for them as a legacy going forward,” Schilte-Brown said. “I really love where it is. It is temporary, but it makes sense to be there right now to kick this off and be with everybody in Tampa Bay having the opportunity to come.”

The roster

Schilte-Brown, who coached at USF for 17 years, is making the leap to professional women’s soccer for the first time.

She is overseeing a roster that is a nice blend of veteran experience and fresh talent. Notable signings include seasoned midfielders Tymrak, Listro and Domi Richardson, who all were standout Division I college players and spent time in the NWSL.

“(Schilte-Brown) has done a good job of putting together such a good group of girls,” Tymrak said. “The team culture is good, and we’re just excited to rock and roll.”

The Sun have high expectations for their first season.

“(We want to win) a championship,” Listro said. “We got to keep that ‘Champa Bay’ streak going. But (the team is) just excited to come to work every day and do what they love.”

How to watch

Ticket prices for season-pass holders range from $15 to $37 per game. Available options include standing-room-only zones, midfield views and waterside locations.

For those looking to watch from home, the USL Super League inked a multi-year agreement with Peacock, which will stream every regular-season and playoff game.