TAMPA BAY, Fla. — The Tampa Bay area's first professional women's sports team, The Tampa Bay Sun FC, is making history right here at home.
Led by head coach Denise Schilte-Brown, everyone from the athletes to staffers on the sidelines is already breaking barriers—and they have no plans to stop.
"It's an honor to be the coach and to be the first in Tampa Bay to have professional women's sports here," Schilte-Brown said. "There's been a long history of successful male athletes that have again put us on the map for professionals to play, so it's really exciting to be the first inaugural women's head coach here in Tampa Bay."
Much like her players, Schilte-Brown is no stranger to hard work, gender prejudice or uphill battles, but she's not backing down.
"Part of being a competitor, I saw that challenge, and that's why I think I stayed in it," she said. "Seeing that it was so male-dominated everywhere I went, it was full of men, and I wanted to be someone that was able to succeed in an environment that wasn't fruitful for women."
Though she wouldn't disclose much about her roster this far ahead of game day, she did go on to say the women she has the privilege of coaching are strong, powerful and diverse, from all over the map and all walks of life.
And soon, the Sun's newly renovated home pitch will be ready to host some action directly behind Blake High School.
"It was one of those no-brainers when we talked about how do we create community impact and legacy that when we create our temporary stadium here, we leave something that can be cherished?" said Sun President Christina Unkel.
As president, Unkel will go down in history alongside Coach Schilte-Brown, two forefathers, or rather foremothers, cultivating necessary change through teamwork right here in the Tampa Bay area.
But they want members of the community to play a key role, too by showing support.
Make sure you buy your tickets. You can put down your $24 deposit right now for 20-24, which goes toward a season ticket and/or an individual ticket. But it's important to get your ticket now because that puts you in line for priority when you're picking season tickets.
