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Pittsburg State to Launch Women's Soccer Team next Fall

The team will be PSU's first female sports addition since 1986.

The eyes of the world will be on Sydney, Australia Saturday when Spain and English play the women’s world cup final.

With female sports growing in popularity Pittsburg State announced Wednesday the university would add a women’s soccer team in the fall of 2024.

KRPS’s Fred Fletcher-Fierro has more.

For the first time in more than three decades, the Pittsburg State University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics will expand its women's sports offerings.

PSU officials announced yesterday in a press conference at the Bicknell Family Center for the Arts the launch of a Gorillas women's soccer program.

Pitt State will begin the process of creating a first-ever women's soccer program on campus with the Gorillas set to field a team for the 2024 season.

The school will look to hire a coach following the 2023 season and plans are in the works to build an on-campus soccer stadium and facilities at the Gene Bicknell Sports Complex, which also serves as home to the Pitt State baseball and softball programs.

Pittsburg State Athletic Director Jim Johnson spoke Wednesday as high aspirations for Pitt State Women’s soccer.

“I’m not going to predict an MIAA Championship in 2024, but we are certainly going to build this program as an elite program from the start.

We have no intention of this being a ten-year process to get us to the point that we’re competitive in the MIAA, or in our region, or even nationally.”

Pittsburg State women’s soccer will joina very competitive MIAA field with 12 existing teams including Missouri Southern.

Since 2017 Fred Fletcher-Fierro has driven up Highway 171 through thunderstorms, downpours, snow, and ice storms to host KRPS’s Morning Edition. He’s also a daily reporter for the station, covering city government, elections, public safety, arts, entertainment, culture, sports and more. Fred has also spearheaded and overseen a sea change in programming for KRPS from a legacy classical station to one that airs a balance of classical, news, jazz, and cultural programming that better reflects the diverse audience of the Four States. For over two months in the fall of 2022 he worked remotely with NPR staff to relaunch krps.org to an NPR style news and information website.

In the fall of 2023 Fred was promoted to Interim General Manager and was appointed GM in Feburary of 2024.