Sports Then and Now

Though neither Tyra Banks nor Paulina Porizkova were likely within miles of the City of Brotherly Love last week, America’s Top Women’s Soccer players were busy modeling the hot new fashions of PUMA’s 2010 WPS uniform line.

PUMA, the founding sponsor of the WPS, unveiled the 2010 WPS home and away uniforms last week at the Trust Building in Philadelphia. The event, which was hosted by Los Angeles Sol goalkeeper and WPS All-Star Karina LeBlanc, included a high energy fashion show up the green turf runaway and featured the stars of the WPS, plus live break dancers, specialty cocktails and hors d’oeuvres catered by Steven Starr.

The unveiling, which took place as part of the 2010 WPS Draft, featured brightly dressed break dancers, upbeat music and the brightest names in women’s soccer, strutting their stuff while modeling PUMA’s new creations for the WPS.

Boston Breakers midefielder, Leslie Osborne, was quick to share her thoughts on PUMA’s new all-star line. “The colors of all the teams look great. They’re comfortable. I mean, I think we’re ready to play right now.”

The new home and away kits were modeled by nine returning stars of the WPS and eight newly drafted players, as well as by newly signed International star, Caroline Seger. The models were as follows:

Atlanta Beat:  Leigh Ann Robinson, Defender and Tobin Heath, Midfielder
Boston Breakers:  Leslie Osborne, Midfielder and Lauren Cheney, Forward
Chicago Red Stars:  Ella Masar, Forward  and Whitney Engen, Defender
FC Gold Pride:  Tiffeny Milbrett, Forward and Kelley O’Hara, Forward
Los Angeles Sol:  Manya Makoski, Defender and Casey Nogueira, Forward
Philadelphia Independence:  Amy Rodriguez, Forward and Caroline Seger, Midfielder
Sky Blue FC:  Yael Averbuch, Midfielder and Brittany Taylor, Defender
St Louis Athletica:  Kendall Fletcher, Defender and Angie Kerr, Midfielder
Washington Freedom:  Cat Whitehill, Defender and Nikki Marshall, Defender

“I think we’ve expressed ourselves quite nicely tonight with the uniforms,” stated PUMA president Jay Piccola.

“The relationship (with WPS) is a 360 degree partnership. Yes there is a contractual arrangement to make uniforms, but the commitment is to women in general and women’s sports in general. I think that commitment is something that Tonya (Antonucci, WPS Commissioner) and her people embraced at our first meeting. It’s not lip service. We’re truly committed.”

The evening prior, the new 2010 PUMA WPS match ball was also unveiled following three days of appearances at Philly’s famous hot spots. The new brightly colored green and white ball features a unique 20-panel construction developed with the aim of improving both shooting speed and flight distance.

The ball is abrasion-resistant and water-repellent and, for the first time in PUMA’s history, high-frequency molded instead of hand-stitched, providing improved stability of form and less water uptake.

The ball appeared around the streets of Philadelphia during the week leading up to the unveiling as part of an ingenious and suspense building marketing campaign. Stops for the most famous ball in soccer included the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum, The Downtown Italian Market, and Pat’s King of Steaks, before making it’s way to the NSCAA Soccer Convention and Commissioner Antonucci’s waiting hands.

The weeks events can be summarized as a coup for PUMA and another giant step towards the 2010 season for the WPS brand.

ABOUT PUMA

PUMA became an official founding partner of WPS and an official sponsor of all WPS franchises in December 2008. The multi-year partnership makes PUMA the official sport and lifestyle apparel, footwear and equipment supplier of WPS, including the official WPS Match Ball.

In addition to on-field performance wear, PUMA will outfit the athletes and teams at all WPS-related events, activities and WPS appearances in sportlifestyle apparel and is the official supplier of PUMA WPS Fanwear. This partnership will allow PUMA and WPS to enhance the game of women’s soccer together and will act as the foundation in the PUMA Women’s category.

Smith | isiphotos.com