Kamloops hosting English Premier League soccer teams this summer

Two teams from the English Premier League are coming to Canada for the first time and they’re going to be playing in Kamloops. Fulham U21 Men and Aston Villa U21 Women are going to be playing at the Tournament Capital Centre this summer, according to a Kamloops Rivers FC press release issued today, June 7. Fulham is playing between July 25 and Aug. 3, and Aston Villa is playing from Aug. 5 to 18. Tickets for each game range from $15 to $30. The general manager of Rivers Football Club, Lyle Dos Santos, said it's an opportunity to bring more soccer programs and events to the city. “Hosting these globally iconic football clubs is the first step in connecting the City of Kamloops and Rivers FC to the global stage. We are excited to share this with our community this summer and look forward to working alongside our partners to bring more first class experiences to the Tournament Capital of Canada in the future,” Dos Santos said in the release. READ MORE: Date set for this year's NHL Young Stars Classic in Penticton https://infotel.ca/newsitem/date-set-for-this-years-nhl-young-stars-classic-in-penticton/it105107 While the teams are in town for the matches there are going to be community events as well, including youth soccer clinics and training sessions for local coaches. Academy director for Fulham Football Club Sean Cullen said after his recent visit to Kamloops it’s no wonder the city has a reputation for hosting top level sports events. “With one eye on the World Cup in two years time, we are excited about working with Rebirth Soccer, Thompson Rivers University, Rivers FC and the City of Kamloops to support the further development of football in Canada. We will be bringing a squad that recently won the Premier League Cup and I know the players and staff are excited about playing against some of the best teams from the region,” Cullen said in the release. Aston Villa’s girls academy operations manager Josephine Cottam said she hopes the visit is going to inspire and promote women’s soccer in Kamloops. “We are excited to be bringing along our talented Aston Villa Women's Academy U21s group to Kamloops this summer,” she said in the release. “For the development of women's football, as our country enters the qualifying rounds of the Euros as the current holders, we hope for big crowds to come along and see how exciting this young group is.” Organizers haven't finalized which clubs will be taking on the premier league teams and say the schedule should be out next week. In the meantime, you can sign up on this web page to be the first to find out when tickets go on sale https://www.kamloopsinternationalcup.com/ . To contact a reporter for this story, email Jesse Tomas mailto:jtomas@infonews.ca  or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor mailto:news@infonews.ca . You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom mailto:tips@infonews.ca  and be entered to win a monthly prize draw. We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here https://infotel.ca/newsletter .