Blaine, Minn. (April 12, 2012) – The National Sports Center (NSC) announced it has formed a partnership with Admiral Sportswear, a Florida-based apparel manufacturer, who will be the Presenting sponsor and official and exclusive sportswear and accessories provider for five NSC soccer tournaments: NSC Spring Cup, NSC Cup, Walmart All American Cup, NSC Fall Cup, Kick-or-Treat and 5v5 Holiday Classic.
As part of the agreement, Admiral’s events partner Fine Designs will become the official retailer of Admiral apparel at the tournaments. The agreement also brings on the Minnesota Stars F.C. pro soccer team, as a sponsor of the tournaments too. Admiral is the Minnesota Stars exclusive apparel provider and sponsor.
Admiral is the same brand that provided team wear in the 1970’s and 1980’s for the England football teams, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham, Southampton and Leeds in the English Premier League. Admiral was also the market leader in the United States on the shirts of the Los Angeles Aztecs, Tampa Bay Rowdies and the Minnesota Kicks. Today the brand is worn by the 2011 North American Soccer League (NASL) Champions Minnesota Stars, who launched their new Admiral home and away kit last week announcing that fan photo’s would be part of the numbers on the Stars players jerseys http://internationalsoccernetwork.com/blog/?cat=217
“Minnesota was the first team Admiral partnered with when we brought the brand back into soccer in the US market,” said Paul Hamburger, CEO of Admiral Soccer. “So we’re excited to extend our involvement in grass roots soccer in a state that’s a key part of our growth plans. These events involve over a thousand soccer teams from across the state and other states. It will help us re-introduce Admiral to leagues and teams across America.”
“We are proud to have our tournaments sponsored by the original soccer brand with nearly 100 years of heritage, especially one strongly associated with our own local team and defending NASL champions the Minnesota Stars F.C.,” said Barclay Kruse the NSC’s Chief Communications Officer. “As part of the relationship, tournament teams and participants will receive Admiral products and our staff will wear Admiral apparel while working the tournaments.”
Here is the schedule for the NSC soccer tournaments sponsored by Admiral: Spring Cup, May 5-6; NSC CUP, May 26-28; Walmart All American Cup, June 15-17; Fall Cup, October 6-7; Kick or Treat; October 28-30; 5v5 Holiday Classic is on December 27- Jan 1, 2013. More details on these events are available at http://www.nscsports.org/sports/soccer/tourneys/index.stm
About Admiral; Admiral, founded in 1914, first began manufacturing sportswear in 1966, when England won the World Cup. The company was a pioneer of the replica kit market, creating home and away kits for England, Leeds United, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham and many other teams. They expanded overseas to the US supplying New York Cosmos, Tampa Bay, Vancouver Whitecaps and others in, Canada and Latin America. Today the brand is also worn by ten other PDL clubs including 2011 PDL Champions Kitsap Pumas and the 2011 NASL Champions Minnesota Stars. Admiral designs, manufactures, markets and distributes team wear, leisure apparel and accessories. http://admiralsoccer.com
About the National Sports Center; The National Sports Center (NSC) is a 600-acre multi-sport facility located in Blaine, Minnesota. The campus includes the Schwan Super Rink; a 8,500-seat soccer stadium; the Schwan Center meeting and convention building; a multi-faceted family golf center, the National Youth Golf Center, which features the 18-hole Victory Links course; an indoor Sports Hall with a Field Turf field; 150-bed residence hall; and 52 soccer fields. The facility hosts nearly 300 events annually, and has welcomed approximately 28 million visitors since its opening. The NSC generates over $37 million in annual out-of-state economic impact and draws nearly 4 million visitors annually. The NSC is home to the U.S. Women’s National Hockey Team and the Minnesota Stars pro soccer club. www.nscsports.org
About Fine Designs; For the past 20 years, Fine Designs has been servicing events all over the world, specializing in custom on-site event apparel merchandise at no cost to the event host. From sporting events to festivals, music concerts and more, Fine Designs provides imprinted apparel for on-site customization. Fine Designs will sell Admiral Sportswear and accessories at all the NSC events and use only the top-of-the-line equipment to print custom apparel on-site. We imprint custom event logos, decals, numbers, and names on-site at each event. http://finedesigns.com
About Minnesota Stars FC: Professional soccer in the Twin Cities enters its 23rd consecutive season as Minnesota Stars FC-formerly the NSC Minnesota Stars-prepares to defend its 2011 North American Soccer League crown. Stars FC plays its home games at the 8,500 seat NSC Stadium on the campus of the National Sports Center in Blaine, Minn. Stars FC plays in the eight-team NASL, which also includes the Atlanta Silverbacks, Carolina Rail Hawks, FC Edmonton, Fort Lauderdale Strikers, Puerto Rico Islanders, San Antonio Scorpions FC and Tampa Bay Rowdies. A club in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, is slated to begin play in 2013. http://mnstarsfc.com/