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Rain Soaked Hefner Fields Changes Shindigz National Soccer Festival Locations

The Shindigz National Soccer Festival will once again return to Fort Wayne for its 18th year on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, August 18th, 19th & 20th. Due to the heavy amount of rain over the past few days and its low-lying area, the Festival’s Friday and Saturday games at IPFW’s Hefner Fields will be relocated to other sites throughout the city. The Thursday and Saturday games at Bishop John D’Arcy stadium at the University of Saint Francis will go on as expected. Bishop D’Arcy stadium uses a state-of-the-art artificial turf that should not be affected by the rainfall. Full schedules are now available online at www.NationalSoccerFestival.com . Advance discount tickets can now be purchased at Fort Wayne-area Connolly’s Do It Best Hardware locations and Soccer Plus. As in years past, tickets can also be purchased at the gate on the days of the event.

Friday, August 19th, will see some the soccer excitement moved to Warrior Athletic Field, which had a new artificial turf installed over the summer, on the west campus of the Indiana Tech, 1600 E Washington Blvd. One game of the Bishop Luers High School Boy’s & Girl’s Soccer Invitational tournament will start at 5:00 p.m. in Boy’s competition: Canterbury will face Bishop Luers. The evening will arrive with a college ‘double-header’ of sorts featuring IPFW vs. Wright State at 7:00 p.m. and the local ‘darby’ of the University of Saint Francis vs. Indiana Tech starting at 9:00 p.m.

Warrior Athletic Field at Indiana Tech will also play host to several games on Saturday, August 20th. As part of the Bishop Luers High School Boy’s & Girl’s Soccer Invitational tournament, Carroll will take on Westfield in Girl’s competition at 10:00 a.m., Elkhart will face Carroll in Boy’s competition at noon and Bishop Dwenger will take on Westfield in Girl’s competition at 2:00 p.m. Collegiate Women’s soccer will wrap up the day at Indiana Tech when the University of Findlay Oilers will face the Indiana Tech Warriors at 4:00 p.m.

All of the other Bishop Luers High School Boy’s & Girl’s Soccer Invitational tournament games’ locations are still to be determined.

What began in 1999 has now become the nationally known phenomenon of the Shindigz National Soccer Festival. What was merely a soccer event has now turned into a full-fledged, grass roots community supported soccer celebration. Corporations, foundations and personal donations are the backbone of the festival. The beneficiaries of the event are the city of Fort Wayne for the national recognition it receives; the area youth for the hands-on interaction with the soccer players and coaches from national major universities; the local businesses of northeast Indiana, for the added commerce brought to the region; the area universities, for the added exposure and the average Fort Wayne citizen who knows nothing about the game, but loves to have fun in a family oriented atmosphere.

Currently, the Shindigz National Soccer Festival has evolved into a true community soccer celebration, including youth clinics put on by major university coaches and players, wide ranges of live entertainment, opportunities for youth involvement, food vendors and giveaway prizes; now located at both the beautiful IPFW west campus of Hefner Fields and at the state-of-the-art Bishop John D’Arcy stadium on the stellar campus of the University of Saint Francis. Shindigz National Soccer Festival is honored again, this year, to bring top-ranked college soccer teams, along with highly prestigious high school teams, to Fort Wayne. Due to its great history, Shindigz National Soccer Festival has been recognized nationally as the premier event to attend for pre-season collegiate soccer.