Blast might not
have a season
The Pacific Blast's first play of the new season is a reverse -- and the women's football team's first season in the Women's Professional League is in danger of not happening.
The Blast seemed all set to play the five home games of their WPFL debut season on the new FieldTurf surface at Aloha Stadium. But team owner Nicole Wylie informed stadium officials yesterday that the Blast don't have enough money to guarantee they can cover the $3,500 to $4,000 for rent and expenses per game to play there.
"The stadium's offered us a good deal, but we can't afford it," Wylie said.
The Blast was to open its first WPFL season Aug. 3 against the Houston Energy at Aloha Stadium. But Wylie said yesterday there's a 25 percent chance the Blast won't be able to pay the Energy's travel and lodging expenses (home teams cover the visitors' expenses, per league rules) and the game won't be played as scheduled at all.
"Flights are booked and deposits are down, but we don't have a title sponsor," she said. "We have about seven or eight sponsors, but most of it is trade."
She also said she won't commit to Aloha Stadium unless the team can raise $60,000 by the end of the week.
Wylie said she'd hoped to get funding from the Hawaii Tourism Authority and the state economic development department, but neither agency could help the team.
She said the financial woes might force the team to pull out of the WPFL before it plays a game.
"Without the funds we anticipated from potential corporate sponsorships and state agencies, we are unable to commit to holding our games at Aloha Stadium for the 2003 season," Wylie said.
The Blast's game against Houston would have been the first played on Aloha Stadium's new FieldTurf surface, which is being completed this week.
Wylie informed her 46 players about the situation at practice last night. She said she hasn't given up on playing at Aloha Stadium if money can be raised, and she expected to make a decision about the Houston game today.
"The sad thing is we have a championship team," said Wylie, who augmented her team with players from the defunct Hawaii Legends. "But the only way we can play is if we can raise money."
The Blast played at the University of Hawaii's Cooke Field last year as an independent team. Wylie is hesitant to play there because of injuries caused by its AstroTurf surface, and the expense is "almost the same as Aloha."
She is looking into playing games at the fields at Moanalua or Kaiser high school.