Seattle Reign FC to split preseason between California and Costa Rica
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – In search of more sun and as they prepare for the 2024 NWSL, Seattle Reign FC have announced that they will be holding their preseason split between sights in California and Costa Rica. As the preseason is just getting underway, the club will head down to warmer parts of the world to avoid the winter weather here in Seattle, as a club moving forward into a new era has the same goal as ever: to reach the mountaintop and win the NWSL Championship, after falling just short in heart breaking fashion last season. It doesn’t appear as though the club will be taking part in a preseason tournament in Portland, as happened last year involving the Thorns, Racing Louisville, and USYNT players, as the Reign will be spending their preseason away from the Pacific Northwest and likely playing friendlies during their travels as well.
The Reign took part in a preseason tournament last season in Portland, at Providence Park, home of the Thorns. These pictures are from their March 18th, 2023 match against the Thorns. (Photos by Liz Wolter)
The club will report to their training grounds, Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, on January 24th before they head down to Newport Beach, California to begin training camp. With the Seattle Sounders FC moving into their new permanent training facility at Longacres, not too far away, Starfire is now the sole grounds for the Reign as they’ve taken over the parts of the facility that the Sounders occupied. That will be the site of their training sessions once they return from Costa Rica and during the regular season, but currently they’ll be focused on preseason in the sun. Starfire is set to get a branding update while the Reign are away, as the Sounders leave it and the Reign take over.
“We’re really excited to travel to Costa Rica for the first time in club history. This is not only an opportunity for the team to kick off preseason at a high level of play, but to establish a meaningful connection with the community, on and off the pitch.”
The part of their preseason spent in California will last from January 24th through the 30th, when they’ll depart the “Golden State” for Alajuela, Costa Rica where they’ll continue preseason training and likely get some friendly matches in. While they’ll be training in Costa Rica, the Reign will be at the facility of Liga Deportiva Alajuelense, staying there until February 10th. The club will feature those currently under contract, their three draft picks from this year's selections, as well as some trialist players as well as is the case every preseason. General manager Lesle Gallimore has teased that the club will have a few signings in the works ahead of the start of the regular season, so it will be interesting to see whether or not those teased players will be available to join the team for preseason trainings.
The Reign have been training on one of the fields at Starfire, but not the main fields that the Sounders previously occupied. That will change once they return from Costa Rica. Here are pictures from their February 10th, 2023 training at Starfire. (Photos by Liz Wolter)
“This time together, away from market, is key for the team and staff to be able to focus on setting the tone for the season. This creates an environment where, as a new group, we can begin to build relationships that foster the winning, competitive and united team mentality that makes us Seattle Reign FC.”
The 2024 NWSL regular season won’t actually kick off until Friday, March 15, as the league announced that 2023 NWSL Champions Gotham FC will face off against 2023 NWSL Shield winners San Diego Wave FC in the latest rendition of the NWSL Challenge Cup, becoming just one match as opposed to a tournament as it was previously. The season schedule hasn’t been announced yet, with no set date of when we’ll find that sort of information out yet.
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Check out our previous articles regarding Seattle Reign FC here.
Check out our previous articles with photos by Liz Wolter here, and her portfolio here.
Check out our previous articles with writing by Charles Hamaker here.