The first game of the Fort Wayne FC season is less than a week away – the team hosts Sueño FC 7 p.m. Sunday at Bishop D’Arcy Stadium on the University of Saint Francis campus – and the players took to the pitch Monday for their first practice of 2025.
Fourteen players trained at Purdue Fort Wayne’s Hefner Field, with another six or so expected to arrive by Sunday.
“You kind of build as you go and you don’t have a lot of time before you start playing, but just to get started was really, really fun,” said Fort Wayne FC’s head coach, Mike Avery.
Soon, the roster will grow to 28 players representing 12 different nationalities.
“I like the idea that we get to spend time with people who are different than us and learn about where they’re from, and they learn about where we’re from, and we all grow together as people,” Avery said. “We want to win as many games as we can, but the people we become along the way and the relationships that we form – that last long after this season is over – that’s really what this thing is all about.”
Sunday’s game, which takes place on Mother’s Day, will give local soccer fans their first look at the club that won the past two Valley Division titles. Soccer Moms get in free to Sunday’s match by purchasing a child’s ticket on the day of the match at Bishop D’Arcy Stadium, and they’re sure to see an exciting squad.
“It’s lovely to meet people from different cultures and different places. It makes you learn a little bit more about life,” said Oliver Moller-Jensen, who hails from Vallensbæk, Denmark, and played last season at Florida Atlantic University.
“It’s going to be a good test in our first game to see how far we’ve come in such a short amount of time and how much we’ve gotten to know each other. It’s going to be a challenge, but we’re up for it.”
