Fort Lauderdale United FC, the first and only women’s professional soccer team in South Florida, will have its home opening game on Sept. 29. Its stadium will be the former Miami Dolphins Training Facility at NSU, on 7510 SW 30th St., Davie, FL 33314.
Fort Lauderdale United FC is part of the USL Super League, a professional women’s soccer league. Its opening game will be against Dallas Trinity FC in the evening at its newly renovated stadium. Tickets are available for purchase as single game or for the season, with NSU students eligible for special pricing.
Darryl Campbell, head of marketing and brand at Fort Lauderdale United FC, said the stadium will have grass instead of turf and a 6,500-seating option. This is the second team in the nation to make a facility that has a women-friendly environment, after the Kansas City Current soccer team.
Luana Grabias, NSU alumna who graduated in May 2024, is a forward for Fort Lauderdale United FC. Originally from Brazil, Grabias played soccer for two years at NSU.
“I’ve been working so hard to sign a pro contract, so I think I achieved my goal because I was planning my whole career being a soccer player,” Grabias said. “I’m really proud of myself and I love being in a team, being a professional soccer player.”
Grabias said playing soccer has made her a better person and given her a better connection to her mom.
“Now that I live so far away from her, I know how much I care about her, how much I need her in my life. And if it wasn’t for soccer, maybe I would be living with her still, and I wouldn’t see that feeling,” she said.
Campbell was interested in working with the team because of his love for soccer.
“Soccer is one of the most important things to me, and because it’s taught me so much, I want to try everything in my power to instill this into the youth and give people an opportunity to have the experience I had growing up,” Campbell said. “This is larger than myself and everybody that’s a part of this. This is subsequently for generations past us.”
Fort Lauderdale United FC will also work with NSU to offer internships to be listed on Handshake. The interns will be placed in the front office and the sporting office.
“Front office would be your marketing, your PR, your business, your analytics, your strategy, so forth. And then on the sporting side, you would have mental health, physical therapy, coaching, that kind of setup,” Campbell said.
For students who are interested in playing soccer, Grabias encourages them to not give up.
“I had like 1 million reasons to stop playing soccer and I didn’t. And look where I am now. I just graduated because of soccer, I signed a pro contract because of soccer,” Grabias said. “I play for a national team because of soccer, because I didn’t give up, but I’ve been struggling so much since I was 11, 12 years old and I’m 24 now.”
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