Preseason Friendly vs. Fort Lauderdale United Preview

Date: Saturday August 10, 2024

Kickoff Time: 7:00 pm EST at Riverfront Stadium at Blake High School in Tampa, FL

The Tampa Bay Sun will play their first ever game of any sort this weekend! While this is just a preseason friendly, it will be the best opportunity for fans to get a feel for how the team could play, who could line up in Blue and Gold, and what their future opponents could be like. This is an event for season pass members only, so make sure you don’t miss out and get your season tix!

What will the Sun look like when they play on Saturday?

The fun part is that we don’t know! The only people who have any idea of a likely starting lineup, formation, or system are the players and coaching staff. They have been training for this season for several weeks now and preparing to play under the light of the hot August sun. This will be the only chance to see these women play before the team takes to the field for its first official game. 

With the actual start date so close at hand, the roster listed on the website is likely what the team will look like throughout their first season. Some signings may come and some players may go; but, fans should be looking to familiarize themselves with the women here right now in Sun colors. How things shake out is anyone’s guess at this point. 

While some players come in with preferred positions – and some even have familiarity with head coach Denise Schilte-Brown – the thing that makes it most difficult to nail down is that many will have been signed in part due to their versatility. From youth to college and even several professional leagues worldwide, this is a prized asset when managers watch over trialists. 

Going through multiple internet archives to try to get a feel for Sun players, this columnist has found different team sites or news outlets will describe players as different things. The only women in one place are goalkeepers – naturally. Domi Richardson has been listed as a midfielder or a defender, depending on the website. She’s far from the only one. 

The players that immediately stand out, regardless of where they play on the field, are those with international pedigree. Erika Tymrak and Jordyn Listro, who could end up taking starting positions in the midfield, have played for the US and Canadian national teams, respectively. If they were to get the nod, another who could be out there with them is Jade Moore. 

Moore, the subject of a feature by RBLR Sun, has represented England in multiple World Cups and Euro Championships. She will bring a veteran and leader’s presence to the locker room. Andrea Hauksdottir, meanwhile, is a more attacking midfielder who has played for Iceland. Cecilie Floe made her debut for Denmark back in 2021 during World Cup qualifying. 

How all these pieces (and more) fit together, who is fit and ready for the season, what type of game Schilte-Brown wants to play, and more will be on display at the home of Tampa Bay Sun, Riverside Stadium and Blake High School. The coolest part is possibly the budding rivalry between Tampa Bay and Fort Lauderdale, long stoked in the annals of American soccer.  

What do we know about FLOOTED?

Other than what their crest says about how the team should be pronounced, not a lot. After a long career in England, Tyrone Mears moved to the States to play in Major League Soccer. He moved back to England for a short stint and took up coaching in the youth department of MLS’s Inter Miami, famed home of football’s Lionel Messi. 

He was named the first ever head coach of Fort Lauderdale United in January of this year. Thus, his style of play is even more of a mystery than Sun’s manager, Schilte-Brown. Where DSB has a track record of taking players and putting them into the professional ranks all over the world, Mears is a totally unknown quantity. 

With all due respect to Fort Lauderdale’s players, their resumes don’t stand out in quite the way some Sun players’ do. There is international experience – Laveni Vaka has played for Tonga and Nia Christopher for Bermuda – but there are no Canadian, American, or English national teamers involved. These, of course, are among the biggest national teams in the women’s game. 

As this is an exclusive event not open to the general public, it is highly unlikely Fort Lauderdale will have fans cheering for them at this match. That is an unfortunate way to get close to your professional debut, which it will be for some of their players. Opposition scouts and fans will have just as much to learn about United – while hopefully cheering the Sun onto victory. 

What is known is that Tampa Bay and Fort Lauderdale stand to restart a regular derby match that goes back to the 1970s when it was the Tampa Bay Rowdies playing the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. Whether or not the USL had that in mind when they sought to bring on board ownership groups from these locales, who can say. Reigniting it will be great for a startup league either way. 

This weekend will be the first time for many things. The first game at the renovated stadium. The first chance for a march to the match. The first chance to set the tone. The first chance to wear new colors and wave new flags. The first chance to heckle rivals and make fun of their logo. The first chance for new chants and cheers. Of course, it will also be the first chance for more serious, on-field things as well. 

Be a part of this history and help create the narrative around the Sun and the USL Super League as a whole. While Dallas Trinity play FC Barcelona, the two clubs from Florida intend to show us what a derby game means in America. If you’ve secured season tickets, make sure you have them for this weekend (it’s free!). And if you don’t, get on board! The water taxi across the river leaves soon!