Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams welcomed the New York Cosmos leadership to Brooklyn Borough Hall on Thursday, to announce that the Cosmos’ opening game of the NASL postseason Championship in November will be played in Brooklyn and also to kick off the week-long Cosmos youth soccer camp that will take place at Pier 5 Brooklyn Bridge Park.
The Cosmos postseason game will be held at Brooklyn’s MCU Park in Coney Island, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones, on November 7, 2015 at 2 p.m. ET.
The youth soccer camp in Brooklyn will take place from August 3rd to August 7th. Children between ages 6 to 15 will be trained by New York Cosmos TDP coaches.
Joining the Borough President was New York Cosmos COO Erik Stover, Former New York Cosmos legendary goalkeeper and current Cosmos analyst for ONE World Sports, Shep Messing and New York Cosmos Coach Gio Savarese, a former star striker with Brooklyn’s LIU Blackbirds. Savarese starred for the Blackbirds from 1990-93 and finished his career sixth all-time at the school with 50 goals, including 21 during the 1992 season when he was named Northeast Conference Player of the Year and a First Team Academic All-American.
“It’s exciting for us to be playing a second game in Brooklyn in what is a pivotal postseason game for our club,” said New York Cosmos COO, Erik Stover. “Brooklyn is a place where we love to play, we trained here before we made our visit to Cuba back in June and we hope we can put on another good show for our fans in Brooklyn.”
“I’m pleased with the commitment that the New York Cosmos have made to developing soccer in Brooklyn, “said Brooklyn Borough President, Eric L. Adams. “‘The Beautiful Game’ has a beautiful future in our borough, and engaging our young athletes in this great sport is important to building healthy bodies and minds with a love of teamwork and good sportsmanship.”
“Brooklyn has a great history with soccer,” said Savarese. “I played here in college, so I know firsthand the passion and the culture of soccer that exists here and we also experienced that when we played at MCU Park earlier this year.”
“MCU Park and The Brooklyn Cyclones are thrilled to partner with the world renowned New York Cosmos to bring professional soccer once again to Brooklyn,” said Steve Cohen, Vice President of MCU Park. “No better place for a post-season match than Coney Island.”
“Entering into a training partnership with the New York Cosmos ensures that local Brooklyn youth have access to leading curriculums and coaches and we’re excited that these aspiring athletes will be able to see the Cosmos play right near their neighborhoods,” said Brian Walsh, New York Cosmos Director of Training and Development.
On May 2, 2015 the Cosmos made their Brooklyn and MCU Park debut, defeating Ottawa Fury 1-0. In that game forward Lucky Mkosana scored in the 14th minute for the game’s lone goal.
This partnership also allows the Cosmos an opportunity to continue expanding their growing soccer network and training into the Brooklyn area, bolstered by Tuesday’s announcement that Brooklyn Italians SC and Central Brooklyn SC youth clubs would also be part of the 19 founding members of the Cosmos’ Academy Affiliate Program.
Tickets for the postseason game will go on sale to the general public this Friday, July 31 from 2 p.m. from NYcosmos.com and through the MCU Park box office, brooklyncyclones.com. Cosmos Full Season Ticket holders can purchase discounted tickets during a presale window.
Also, a special discount package, ‘The Championship Strip’, will go on sale this Friday at 2 p.m. exclusively through the Cosmos. This package includes a ticket to both Championship semifinal and potential Final. The Championship Semifinal tickets start at $15 and ‘The Championship Strip’ starts at $26 for both games.
