PRESS RELEASE – Close to 300 girls are set to compete in the 8th Annual Sugar and Spice Girls Middle School Soccer Festival at the Guam Football Association National Training Center Saturday beginning at 9 a.m.

“With the participation of 13 total schools – six from the IIAAG Middle School Girls Soccer League and seven from the Interscholastic Middle School Girls Soccer League – this is by far the largest festival we’ve had to date,” said Grace Martinez, overall organizer of the event and Women’s Administrator at GFA. “The event gives the teams an opportunity to play matches against school teams from both leagues and particularly this year, the event will kick off GFA’s weekend celebration of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Football Day. Close to 50 member associations across the continent will be actively participating in girls’ and women’s football events this weekend, which also coincides with International Women’s Day, set for March 8 every year.”

Schools participating in this year’s Sugar and Spice Festival include top finishers from both middle school leagues – Guam DOE’s Luis P. Untalan Middle School Wildcats and IIAAG’s Bishop Baumgartner Memorial School Obispos. The Wildcats are the festival’s defending champions, defeating the Agueda I. Johnston Middle School Pirates 3-0 last year for the title.

The Pirates will be back this season and joined by the Vicente S.A. Benavente Middle School Roadrunners, F.B. Leon Guerrero Middle School Hawks, Inarajan Middle School Warriors, the Jose L.G. Rios Middle School Voyagers, and the Astumbo Middle School Dragons from the Interscholastic Middle School Girls’ Soccer League. Teams from the IIAAG league are the Andersen Middle School Dragons, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic School Phoenix, St. Francis Catholic School Crusaders, St. Paul Christian School Warriors, and the Harvest Christian Academy Eagles in addition to the Obispos.

Before the start of the matches, an opening ceremony will be held at 9 a.m., which will include a parade of all teams participating, a group photo with team members, and a presentation of complimentary Adidas soccer training balls for each school. Additionally, the Mini Masakåda, Guam U14 Girls National Team, will be introduced, as well as FIFA “Live Your Goals” Guam role models. A legislative resolution also will be presented before the 10 a.m. kickoff of the opening matches. The Gold Cup championship match is scheduled for 5:15 p.m.

Food and drinks will be available at GFA’s concession stand. Proceeds from sales will benefit the Mini Masakåda, set to compete in China later this year in the 2015 AFC U14 Girls Regional Championship.

A full schedule, the festival bracket, as well as team waiver and roster forms for the Sugar and Spice festival are available online at http://www.guamfa.com/others-interscholastics-schedule-results