The Baltimore Blast is planning to launch a women’s soccer team, the Baltimore Blast Women’s Football Club LLC.
The new all-women’s soccer team will play outdoors, as part of the United Women’s Soccer League Two. The league was launched in 2020 to act as a feeder to its main league for players in the U20 and U23 age group.
The women’s Blast team will compete against teams from nearby areas such as Wilmington, Delaware; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Philadelphia; and Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.
The 2023 season will consist of approximately four home and four away games from May 15 to July 10.
Jereme Raley, a current Blast player who has been a key defender on the team for seven years, will be the head coach for the women’s team.
Raley plans to recruit by reaching out to club teams and local college teams, including UMBC, Towson University, University of Maryland, Stevenson University, and Goucher College.
“There’s no reason why with talent in Baltimore we can’t put together a team that can compete right away,” he said.
An invitational tryout will take place at the end of April, which is 3 weeks before the regular season starts. Official dates will be released closer to the actual date.
Blast owner Ed Hale will carry on his role as owner for the Baltimore Blast Women’s Football Club. Blast general manager Gianni Tumminello will also continue his role, and current Blast head coach David Bascome will join the staff as a team advisor. The team has not yet selected an assistant coach.
“I’ve been wanting to do this for many years,” Hale said.
The team’s logo is a replication of the Blast’s logo but with new vibrant colors of teal and pink.
Just like the Blast, WFC home games will be played at Towson University. But while the men play inside SECU arena, the women will play outdoors at Tiger field.
The field just received major renovations in 2019 and 2020 with two full-field surfaces, lighting, scoreboards, a new grandstand, concessions, restrooms, and a press box.
As the Blast prepares for this new venture, the men’s nine-time championship team is also preparing for this week’s playoff games.
The men clinched a spot in this year’s MASL playoffs and will play game one of their series April 7, in Florida as they take on the Tropics. The team will return home for game two at SECU arena in Towson on April 8.
