Women’s Professional Soccer has finalized the dates of its 2010 WPS Season schedule, releasing March 7 as the official opening day of Preseason Camp. Washington Freedom will begin preseason training at the Maryland SoccerPlex, travel to Vero Beach, Florida to train at Dodgertown facilities, then return to the Maryland SoccerPlex to finish out the preseason.

In 2010, the league will expand from a 20-game regular season schedule played in 2009 to a 24-game schedule in which each of the eight WPS teams will feature 12 home games and play the other seven teams in the league three or four times each. Opening weekend will include a full slate of four games on April 10-11 – the first time four WPS games will be played on one weekend – with the regular season running through Sunday, September 12. Games will be played mostly on Saturday evenings and Sundays with a limited schedule of midweek games to be played during the summer months which are expected to start in mid-June. WPS will take a break on the weekend of May 22 for national team commitments and 2011 Women’s World Cup qualifying games.

The WPS Playoffs will follow the same format used during the WPS Inaugural Season with the No. 3 seed hosting the No. 4 on Sunday, September 19 at 2pm ET/11am PT in the WPS First Round.  The No. 2 seed will host the winner of the WPS First Round on September 22/23 in the WPS Super Semifinal. The winner of the regular season will play host to the winner of the Super Semifinal as the No. 1 seed in the 2010 WPS Championship on September 26 at 2pm ET/11am PT. Seedings will be based on the final 2010 WPS Regular Season standings in a single, eight-team table.

The 2010 WPS All-Star Game presented by the U.S. Coast Guard has been moved to mid-season to fall in line with other professional leagues and is scheduled for June 30, 2010. The location and format will be announced at a later date.

The full 2010 WPS Season Schedule and Fox Soccer Channel’s WPS Sunday on FSC national broadcast schedule will be released in mid-February.

2010 Washington Freedom Preseason Schedule– Key Dates

February 28th	Non-contract player report
March 1st – 6th	Pre-season can begin for non-contract and invitational tryout players only Optional training for contract players
March 7th	Pre-season starts for ALL players
March 8th-13th	Training at Dodgertown Facilities in Vero Beach, FL
March 12th	7:00 PM Game vs. Chicago Red Stars @ Hobart Soccer Complex in Vero Beach, FL
March 14th	Training continues at Germantown, MD
March 20th	7:30 PM Game vs. University of Virginia @Sportsbackers Park in Richmond, VA
March 27th	2:00 PM Game vs. Philadelphia Independence @ Soccerplex - Click here for Tickets
April 3rd	3:00pm Game vs. UNC for KICKS Against Breast Cancer @ Soccerplex

 

2010 WPS Regular Season – Key Dates

March 1	Try-outs Begin
March 7	Preseason Camp Officially Opens (Preseason Rosters/Schedule Announced)
March 15	Roster Cut-Down Date (rosters reduced from 28 to 24 players)
March 31	Opening Roster Due Date (18 roster + 4 optional development players)
April 10/11	Regular Season Begins - Click Here for Freedom Home Opener Tickets
May 22	Bye Weekend (no WPS games)
June 30	2010 WPS All-Star Game presented by U.S. Coast Guard
September 12	Regular Season Ends

 

2010 WPS Playoffs

WPS First Round	Sunday, September 19 (2pm ET/11am PT)
WPS Super Semifinal	Wed/Thu, September 22/23
2010 WPS Championship	Sunday, September 26 (2pm ET/11am PT)