Women's football team in trouble

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

The owner of a Hawai'i women's professional football team yesterday withdrew her plans to play at Aloha Stadium and added the team may be forced to pull out of its league because of financial problems.

The Pacific Blast — one of 20 teams in the Women's Professional Football League — does not have enough money to secure five home games at Aloha Stadium and to complete the 10-game season, according to owner Nicole Wylie.

The Blast is the only women's professional football team in Hawai'i and is playing its first season in the WPFL.

The Blast originally planned to play its season-opener against the Houston Energy at Aloha Stadium on Aug. 3. The game would have been the first athletic event played on the new FieldTurf surface.

"Basically, right now, we lack the financial backing from sponsors to feasibly get us through this season," Wylie said. "We still have the dates penciled in, but unless we get a miracle this week I may be forced to cancel the season entirely."

Wylie said the team would need to secure at least $80,000 in sponsorships by week's end to ensure the team's survival. To secure Aloha Stadium, Wylie said she needed to pay a $5,000 deposit and $2,000 per game.

Wylie said she is looking at other venues. Wylie said the league needs to know by Monday whether the Blast will compete this season.