Boston Breakers

2009 can't come quick enough for Joe Cummings and the Boston Breakers. They are already hard at work to make sure that they will be ready for the April 2009 launch of Women's Professional Soccer ( WPS).

They have a name , a logo , a coach , a growing staff and have already taken deposits on a couple hundred season tickets. Cummings expects that number to escalate rapidly as they announce a stadium in the next few weeks and add a ticket seller who will be promoting the Breakers out in the community.

If the Breakers seem light years ahead of some other WPS teams , it is probably because Cummings has been down this path before. He was President and General Manager of the WUSA's Breakers. He didn't waste anytime in retaining rights to the Breakers name and logo , which he still feels has great name recognition and cache in the Boston area.

Cummings is also very aware that unlike some of his WPS counterparts , the Breakers stand alone and will not be sharing infrastructure with another team. He estimates that they will need to put a staff of 12-15 together to run the operation.

His first hire was Karin Piscitelli who has also been there , done that as Director Of Marketing and Sponsorship the first time around. His second was Andy Crossely , a former general manager of a minor league baseball team. Cummings thinks the new league can learn some things from minor league baseball especially related to how they create a fan experience.

" If you have the ability to entertain within the framework of the game itself , I think that is an important part of what you want to do without sacrificing the game " , said Cummings. " That's more of a minor league model than major league , but I want to make sure that people understand that it will definitely be major league on the field ".

Cumming's has placed the Breakers on the field product into the capable hands of Tony DiCicco. They are still looking at all options to fill out the coaching staff , but DiCicco expects his WPSL Connecticut Reds assistant , Lisa Cole to be part of it.

The Breakers are planning to utilize strategic partnerships with the Reds and the Boston Renegades from the W-League to begin to develop a pool from which they can choose players.

" We can have the greatest team in the world with the Reds , but that doesn't mean that team is just going to move on and become the Boston Breakers " , acknowledged DiCicco. " We have to go through drafts and everything , but there is so much more you learn from working with a player than just from observing them for a short period of time ".

DiCicco is confident that his new duties as Head Coach of the U-20 U.S Women's National Team will also aid him in his efforts to uncover talent.

" One of the great advantages , I think is that I'm going to be playing in a lot of international games and will have a chance to see international players that the Breakers may be interested in ", he said. " When you look at the 2nd draft , all these U-20 players will be eligible and I will have trained many of them and have a real good sense of this group".

He doesn't have any players yet but admits that he is already dreaming. He jokingly rattled off the names Marta , Birgit and Abby as members of his ' dream team '.

Regardless of who suits up for the Breakers , Boston fans can expect to see an attractive , attacking style of play.

" We'll have players that are athletic and technical. The type of players that keep you on the edge of your seat every time they get the ball ", DiCicco promised. " That's what I'm looking for ".

If he can deliver , Breakers fans may well decide that 2009 was worth the wait.

I would not mind going there to see a game, it's a lovely city.