February 21, 2012
READYING FOR JAPAN
Sky Blue announces its player pool

Sky Blue FC announced on Tuesday the 19-member player pool for its Japanese tour with Plenus Nadeshiko League club INAC Kobe Leonessa.

The two teams play two exhibition matches in Kagoshima and Okinawa this March. Sky Blue will spend days in Japan.

"This is a unique situation in that it was originally planned as a preseason event," Sky Blue coach Jim Gabarra said. "When putting together the player pool, we originally went back to our initial roster and presented this opportunity to those players who had signed to play for Sky Blue FC this season. When the league suspended operations, we then reached out to Western New York to see if they had some players they wanted to add. A special thanks and acknowledgement is needed for Sky Blue FC ownership and staff in its support of this trip. I believe it shows the commitment of the club to the future of WPS, as well as the continued effort to build our brand.

"As a whole, the roster is comprised of players who were going to be on our team this season, as well as players from last year and others from additional WPS clubs. It is going to be a competitive roster, and this is going to be a good trip and experience for everyone who is going."

Gabarra also spoke about the exclusive opportunity this gives to those traveling players in competing against a top level international side.

"The only other times you can go and play other quality international clubs are with the national team or in the preseason like we planned this year and did in 2011 when we traveled to Turkey," he said. "It is going to be a really good experience for our players to see how another league plays. The quality of the Japanese players is a little different in that our country is a little more physical in nature, and they are mostly focused upon the technical and tactical aspects of the game. This is something we will be able to look back upon and gain a lot of valuable knowledge and experience."

The team will depart from New York on March 15 and fly into Tokyo before traveling into Kagoshima to prepare for the first friendly with INAC Kobe Leonessa at Kagoshima Prefectural Kamioke Athletics Stadium on March 20. The next destination for the two sides will be Okinawa, where they will meet on March 24 at Comprehensive Athletic Park.

The player pool:

Anita Asante - Defender

Jazmyne Avant - Defender

Carolyn Blank - Midfielder

Brittany Bock - Midfielder

Brittany Cameron - Goalkeeper

Amanda DaCosta - Midfielder

Kendall Fletcher - Defender

Beverly Goebel - Midfielder

Melissa Henderson - Forward

Laura Heyboer - Forward

Chantel Jones - Goalkeeper

Robyn Jones- Goalkeeper

Camille Levin - Defender/Midfielder

Taylor Lytle - Midfielder

Nikki Marshall - Defender

Rebecca Moros - Defender

Casey Nogueira - Forward

Alex Sahlen - Defender

Nikki Washington - Forward

McCall Zerboni - Midfielder