Kalamazoo Outrage News Release - www.kalamazoooutrage.com

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

KALAMAZOO, MI -- The Kalamazoo Outrage PDL side continues to make headlines in it’s inaugural season before a match has even been played. On Thursday, March 28 head coach Stu Riddle and player/assistant coach Alex Andrews will depart to spend 10 days as guests of famed English Football Championship Club Sheffield Wednesday.

The visit was designed to serve many purposes. Riddle and Andrews will have the chance to observe both youth team and first team matches during their visit to Sheffield, and will also spend time analyzing training sessions and current training techniques.

"It's going to be a very educational visit. As a young ambitious coach you can’t ask for anything more than to see the day to day operations of a top professional club and we are going to experience just that," said Riddle, a former New Zealand international. "The way the modern game is changing it would be silly to think that you could never learn and I am relishing seeing the Sheffield Wednesday coaching staff and players in action."

The Outrage raised quite a few eyebrows within US soccer last November when they announced a formal partnership with the famous British club. Director of Outrage Operations Doug Hammerberg sees this as just the start of what will blossom into an extremely positive international relationship.

“We are looking at this opportunity as a chance to further our partnership with Sheffield Wednesday and show our players and sponsors we are very serious about getting off to a strong start in our inaugural season within the PDL and W-League."

While Riddle was coy on whether player recruitment would be part of the trip, he did say he hoped that such an affiliation would continue to attract some "aspiring professionals" to the club and says that “Sheffield sees the United States as an untapped market, and their scouts will be following our games closely all summer long. This affiliation is a wonderful opportunity for the best young American players to showcase themselves in an Outrage shirt and potentially end up in the famous blue and white stripes of Sheffield Wednesday."

Sheffield Wednesday have current US international Frank Simek on their books and former US captain John Harkes also graced the pitch of Wednesday’s famous Hillsborough stadium in the mid 90's.

The Outrage management is currently working on the final details and plan to announce the acquisition of their title sponsor within the next few weeks. Says Hammerberg, “We are very excited to have a local businessman coming on board with us. This is a good fit for both organizations as the Outrage will be able to help promote their sponsor within its already strong Midwest market.”

The Kalamazoo Outrage opens their regular season at Mayor's Riverfront Stadium on May 16th with a W-League game at 6pm and the PDL game at 8pm.