A Women’s Premier Soccer League team will be based in Urbana this spring, headed by C-U administrators and coaches.
The team, Junction Futbol Club, will play a May through July schedule at Urbana High School. Junction FC’s co-president and general manager is Mark Sikora, a longtime youth and scholastic coach in C-U who is also the men’s coach at Parkland College. The team will be coached by Kip McDaniel, a Champaign native, youth coach and current coach at St. Thomas More.
“We feel like it is the perfect time to expand and promote the game, especially on the women’s side, and the WPSL’s standards of professionalism and excellence were too good to pass up,” Sikora said.
Team officials said Junction FC is a “community-based, non-profit organization that strives to combine top-tier soccer opportunities with community outreach programs — specifically for those who strive for female empowerment both on and off the field.”
Junction FC will square off against teams from Dayton, Indianapolis, Evansville (Ind.) and St. Louis in the Gateway Division of the Midwest Conference. It will play an eight- to 10-game regular season schedule, which will be available soon on the team’s website. (This is not to be confused with a new men’s team, also called Junction FC with the same logo, that will compete in a similarly named league and is based in Decatur.) Games are ticketed.
A tryout for Junction FC is scheduled for March 9 (2-4:30 p.m.) at Soccer Planet in Urbana. Cost is $50. Register on the website.
McDaniel will be assisted by Josh Stebbins and Noy Radanavong.
“I am very excited to be a part of Junction FC and bring this level of talent to the Champaign-Urbana community,” McDaniel said. “This is an incredible opportunity to provide players a platform to showcase their talent at the highest level locally and nationally. I am in line with WPSL’s commitment of advancing the women’s game and creating more opportunities for growth, development and competition for female athletes.”
Junction FC also plans to host clinics and workshops for area youth, encouraging girls of all ages and experience levels to play soccer.