Are you ready for some football? The SoCal Scorpions hope you are when they take the field at La Jolla High’s Edwards Stadium this Saturday night for their home opener against the LA Amazons.
Kickoff is set for 5 p.m., as another season of Women’s Professional Football League action gets under way.
“This season we are really excited for how much the quality of the game has improved for us,” said Jody Taylor, director of marketing for the Scorpions. “Even though we won the WPFL Western Division Championship last season, our 2006 coaching staff has added so much professional level experience that it really shows on the field.”
Taylor noted that the Scorpions have most of their key vets returning, and they are returning extremely fired-up. Players like running back Desiree Weimann (No. 2, formerly known as Desiree Barry) has played football since she was a child on Temecula Valley Pop Warner teams. According to Taylor, Weimann is 135 pounds yet runs like a 200-pound NFL back.
Taylor said that wide receiver Carmen Cruz (No. 81) is another Scorpion vet that any coach in the WPFL would do anything to have on their roster.
Most of the Scorpions’ defensive line has returned (the same line that did not allow a score in five games last season). Taylor also says fans should keep an eye out for players like Aisha Ruffo (No. 7), Melissa Gallegos (No. 3), Kalilah ‘Ya-Ya’ Lawson (No. 24), Jaimy Wilkinson (No. 85) and Elizabeth Quintard (No. 42).
The support and success of any team starts with its fans, and Taylor noted that the Scorpions have made leaps and bounds from last season to this.
“Our fan base has increased dramatically this off-season,” Taylor said. “There are still a great deal of people in La Jolla that don’t know our home field is in their back yard. San Diego in general is a difficult city to have a sports team as there is so much to do here, with support not always consistent.
“We have great local sponsors that came on board this season, even in La Jolla, such as Max Muscle, Robek’s Juice and Tilicia Studios. The staff at La Jolla High has been great to work with as well.”
As far as the match-up between the Scorpions and the LA Amazons, fans couldn’t ask for a better home opener, according to Taylor. The Scorpions beat LA to win the Western Division and advance to the Conferance Championship last season.
District 4 City Councilwoman Toni Atkins will be on hand for the coin toss, and the 2006 Venom (the Scorpions’ answer to the Charger Girls) will emerge with their new team.
For more information on the Scorpions and the rest of the season schedule, visit www.socalscorpions.com.