As the hockey playoffs get closer to the final that is the Stanley Cup we will turn our attention to another very popular event that is Soccer. Vancouver and Canada welcomes the FIFA Women’s Soccer World cup in June where Vancouver will be one of 6 other cities taking part.
The Women’s world cup tournament has been running since 1991 and like the Men’s tournament returns to the world stage every 4 years, it had been 61 years that the first Men’s Soccer world cup tournament preceded the women’s – which was won by Uruguay in 1930, certainly it was long overdue for the ladies to show us their footballing skills!
The FIFA Women’s World Cup is recognized as the most important international competition in women’s football and is played amongst women’s national football teams of the member states of FIFA, the sport’s global governing body. The current format of the tournament involves 24 teams competing for the title at venues across the host nations country over a period of about three weeks. The grand final game of this tournament will be held in Vancouver at BC place on Sunday July 5th 2015.
Full countrywide schedule of the tournament: http://resources.fifa.com/mm/document/tournament/competition/02/03/96/71/fwwc2015_matchschedule_09122014_en_neutral.pdf
To date only a couple of teams have won the tournament twice – these were Germany in 2003 & 2007, and the USA in 1991 & 1999.
The event in Vancouver will be staged at The BC Place stadium which is the home of the Vancouver Whitecaps (Who incidentally are playing not a bad game these days considering how young the squad is) and the BC Lions CFL team. During June it will be turned into a Soccer haven for probably the best sport of all time.
Just outside BC Place there will be a Fanzone section to enjoy the festivities that this tournament will bring, read the excerpt below taken from the FIFA website.
Fanzone Vancouver at BC Place.
In celebration of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015TM, the City of Vancouver is hosting FIFA Fan Zone in the heart of downtown Vancouver. The FIFA Fan Zone is just steps from BC Place Stadium and will serve as the main gathering place for fans outside of the stadium.
The Vancouver FIFA Fan Zone will feature talented Canadian bands, a large viewing tent, sponsor activations, and a wide selection of food and drink! It will provide fun and enjoyment for people of all ages, and give the public a chance to experience the excitement of Canada 2015!
FIFA Fan Zone Schedule*:
DATE HOURS OF OPERATION (PST)
Saturday June 6 12:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Monday June 8 3:00 PM to 10:00 PM
Thursday June 11 12:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Friday June 12 3:00 PM to 10:00 PM
Monday June 15 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Tuesday June 16 3:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Sunday June 21 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Tuesday June 23 3:00 PM to 10:00 PM
Saturday June 27 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Wednesday July 1 12:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Saturday July 4 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Sunday July 5 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM
* Schedule subject to change
