PORTLAND, Maine — The "Tide" is returning for its second season on Saturday.
Maine Footy will host the club's home opener at 7 p.m. Saturday night against Worcester Fuel FC at Memorial Stadium in Portland.
The pro-am women's team is comprised of college-aged athletes who can use the season to develop their skills during the summer before heading back to their respective campuses.
Nearly half the roster is made up of Maine or New Hampshire natives or has players like Colby College's Kaleigh Quinn, who plays colligate soccer in those states.
"Clearly it’s a pretty high-level environment, and that’s something I wanted to be a part of to continue to push myself," Quinn, a Rhode Island native, said.
The other players come from "away." Some women are from other parts of the country, but other international players like Safia Paraiso and Noor Noujaim came to the U.S. to play college soccer.
Paraiso is from England, where the sport is, of course, extremely popular. She said she was impressed with the talent of the club, and the team's involvement with local youth programs is an opportunity she didn't have growing up.
“I thought it’s been very rewarding helping out the youth in Maine," she said.
A problem for younger female soccer players, she said, is that they quit the sport around high school. So, Maine Footy hosts camps and clinics to encourage the next generation of athletes to take the next step and develop their skills.
The team has a deeper mission, though. Besides growing the game in Maine, the players and coaches want to share their knowledge about proper nutrition, leadership, and confidence, and explain to younger athletes why prioritizing mental health is so important.
“I think it’s just been really exciting for us as college players to kind of think about what we needed when we were younger and what things we didn’t have access to, like mental health [resources], leadership, confidence," Quinn said.
Being able to mentor younger athletes in different ways is something these players said they wish they had as kids. It can also help the next wave of women soccer players in Maine know that there is a way to continue their career after high school or college.
"I think as time goes on and we win more games and [our] name gets out there more than it already has, I think more girls will realize this is a good option that they can choose," Quinn said.
As far as on-field talent, Paraiso said the league Maine Footy plays in, United Women's Soccer, is a "step up" from college and is a great bridge from that level to the professional ranks.
Noujaim, who is from the country of Lebanon and played for the national team there, played on a different team in the league last year before coming to Maine this summer.
“Maine Footy is the only team [that] is really involved in the community," she said.
Noujaim, Paraiso, and the majority of the team are staying at Saint Joseph's College for the season. They also use the facilities there for practices and are able to spend more time together, which helps build team chemistry.
Maine Footy has four home games this summer. You can find the full schedule here.
For ticket information, links to webinars and other resources, and details about youth camps and clinics, head to the team's website.