This story has been updated.

Decatur, GA — Decatur FC, the semi-pro women’s soccer team coming to the city, will play five homes games at Decatur High School this summer.

The team will compete at DHS beginning on May 24 at 7 p.m. versus the Atlanta Fire.

Here is the full schedule:

Photo courtesy of Decatur FC.

For more information about tickets, click here.

The team has also been announcing some of its roster on Instagram since March. Decatur FC signed 17 players and held tryouts on April 14 to fill out the rest of the roster. The team hopes to have 25 players.

“We’re not exactly sure how many more spots we have,” Owner Gareth O’Sullivan told a Decaturish reporter at the tryouts. “For playing at the next level, you’re looking for difference makers, girls that are composed on the ball and can play at a high level. We’ve got quite a few people watching today, so we’re hoping that some girls out there really catch our eye, and we’re able to offer them a spot on the squad.”

Over 50 soccer players participated in the tryout on Sunday. Many of the current players play on the same college team or have played against each other during club soccer, so they are familiar with each other.

Many of the players are current college athletes. Here’s who has joined the team so far:

– Ellie McIntyre, a midfielder at Georgia Southern University

– Jaddah Foos, a goalkeeper at Georgia State University

– Sarah Greiner, a forward at the University of Tennessee

– Katherine Elliot, a defender at Wofford College

– Callee Maughon, a midfielder at Georgia State University

– Emma Chapman, a midfielder at Georgia State University

– Becky Contreras, a forward at Auburn University

– Jazmin Ferguson, a defender at Louisiana State University

– Aniyah Collier, a defender at the University of Virginia

– Wasila Diwura-Soale, a midfielder at Louisiana State University

– Carley Borgelt, a midfielder at Georgia Southern University

– Micah Bryant, a defender at the University of South Carolina

– Katie Oakley, a goalkeeper at Georgia Southern University

– Njeri Butts, a defender at the University of Florida

– May El-Shami, a midfielder at the University of North Georgia

– Cameryn Maddox, a forward at the University of Houston

– Breanna Barley, a forward at Georgia State University

Players try out for a spot on the Decatur FC squad on Sunday, April 14, 2024, at Decatur High School. Photo by Dean Hesse.

O’Sullivan is the team’s principal owner. Campbell Chapman will be the head coach, and Jack Marchant is the assistant and goalkeeper coach.

Chapman and O’Sullivan have known each other for a while. About a year ago, they started talking about forming a semi-pro team, but the timing wasn’t right, and they needed to find a stadium with a turf field.

“Having a great stadium is really important for a franchise because you want to have it where people come to watch, but they have a good experience,” Chapman said. “If you’re selling a semi-pro league, you want to have somewhere where people can enjoy it and watch it, rather than a facility that doesn’t give that feeling of the importance of a game.”

The team will be based at the Decatur High School stadium, and those attending the games will be able to park in the parking lot at the school on game days.

One of the coaching staff’s most important goals is to ensure that the players have a fun, positive experience in their first year.

“If they have fun, and they enjoy it, and it’s professional and well organized, they’ll want to come back. Hopefully that experience will that they have will put the word out about what we’ve got, and we’ll grow as a franchise and have more people come to the games,” Chapman said. “We’re going to try to win – that’s the objective, is to win the conference and see where it goes from there.”

The team aims to do their best, be professional, and make it fun for the community as well.

There are several semi-pro teams in Georgia and the metro Atlanta area, but Decatur didn’t really have a sports team based in the city. Now, they are getting Decatur FC and the Atlanta Roller Derby.

“When Gareth and I spoke about this, we saw the opportunity to provide something that the city doesn’t have, which is a sports team,” Chapman said. “There’s a lot of soccer fans in the community. We want this to be a community based team. [We hope] that the people who come to the games feel a sense of ownership of the team and a sense of pride in the team.”

He added that there’s also momentum around soccer and sports in general currently. He hopes the team will be a good ambassador for the city and can be a talking point.

Chapman added that the standard of soccer will be high for his players and he wants people to be able to see good games.

“I think for the fans to see women out there at a high level playing soccer, it’s going to be an enjoyable experience to see good soccer,” Chapman said.

Goalkeepers run through drills at Decatur High School during tryouts for a spot on the Decatur FC squad on Sunday, April 14, 2024. Photo by Dean Hesse.

Decatur FC hopes to engage with the community’s youth. They plan to hold youth soccer club nights, where the surrounding clubs can attend the game, go on the field before the game, and meet the players. The local soccer programs in the area are looking forward to the season kicking off.

Kevin Kinley, executive director of Inter Atlanta, said there are many opportunities for girls to play soccer in and around Atlanta, and there’s been buzz around the 2026 World Cup, Copa América playing in Atlanta this summer and U.S. Soccer coming to Georgia. The U.S. Women’s National team recently played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and visited Decatur ahead of their game.

“For them to be able to see older girls that are in college or just out of college to continue playing in a setting that promotes the growth of soccer and the enjoyment of the game is incredible,” Kinley said. “I think it creates a buzz, it creates a happiness and a smile for these young girls, even high school girls, to be able to see players play at a higher level.”

Many players in the Inter Atlanta league live in Decatur and Atlanta, so the team will be close to home for them.

Tucker Youth Soccer Association has focused on growing its girls program for a while, and having a new semi-pro team aligns with its efforts.

“We anticipate that the collective hype around soccer in the Atlanta area will be a catalyst for growth in our program and other youth soccer programs in the area,” said Isabel Garcia, president of TYSA. “With the record attendance of the She Believes Cup earlier this month, breaking ground on the new US National Team Training Center, and now a semi-pro women’s team in Decatur, the sky’s the limit for the positive impact on the growth of our sport.”

She added that Decatur has a large talent pool of soccer players, and attending the Decatur FC games over the summer will help increase the passion for playing in the youth programs nearby.

“Good soccer is good soccer; we are thrilled to have access to these young, talented athletes, basically in our backyard,” Garcia said.

Kathy Frisbey, youth sports director at the Decatur Family YMCA, oversees a large recreation program at the YMCA but has seen numbers dwindle since the COVID-19 pandemic. She hopes having a semi-pro women’s team will inspire more youth, particularly girls, to play soccer and other sports.

“It gives them somebody to look up to and see some women playing professionally, even if it’s semi-professional, it gives them a mentor and somebody to look up to,” Frisbey said.

She is excited about the team starting its season and taking some YMCA soccer teams and kids to the games.

“It’s so good for the kids to see role models and have something fun to go to,” Frisbey said.

Here are some photos from the tryout on April 14:

Coaches look on while players take part in a 5 v 5 drill during Decatur FC tryouts at Decatur High School on Sunday, April 14, 2024. Photo by Dean Hesse.

Coaches look on while players take part in a 5 v 5 drill during Decatur FC tryouts at Decatur High School on Sunday, April 14, 2024. Photo by Dean Hesse.

Coaches look on while players take part in a 5 v 5 drill during Decatur FC tryouts at Decatur High School on Sunday, April 14, 2024. Photo by Dean Hesse.

Goalkeepers run through drills at Decatur High School during tryouts for a spot on the Decatur FC squad on Sunday, April 14, 2024. Photo by Dean Hesse.

Players tryout for a spot on the Decatur FC squad on Sunday, April 14, 2024, at Decatur High School. Photo by Dean Hesse.

Players tryout for a spot on the Decatur FC squad on Sunday, April 14, 2024, at Decatur High School. Photo by Dean Hesse.

Goalkeepers run through drills at Decatur High School during tryouts for a spot on the Decatur FC squad on Sunday, April 14, 2024. Photo by Dean Hesse.

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