Black Queens' Tour the San Francisco Bay Area
October 5, 2006

San Francisco Nighthawks and Robert Sackey host training tour for Ghana National Women’s Soccer Team.

The Ghana Black Queens' arrive at the airport.

San Francisco, CA - In preperation for the African Women's Championship, which begins October 28th in Nigeria, the Women's National Team of Ghana, also known as the Black Queens, will be touring the San Francisco Bay Area for the first three weeks of October.

Robert Sackey, a Ghanaian-American soccer coach who recently returned from the World Cup in Germany where he served on the Technical Team as a Team Scout and Technical Advisor for Ghana's Men's National Team, the Black Stars at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, will be hosting the Black Queen's during their tour along with the San Francisco Nighthawks.

Sackey has been the head coach of the Nighthawks, a women's premier soccer team since January of 2004. The Nighthawks compete in the Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) Western Division from May - July and the Golden Gate Women's Soccer League (GGWSL) Premier Division from September - December and March - June.

The Black Queens are one of the strongest women's teams in Africa, ranked second only to Nigeria.  They participated in the World Cup Games of 1999 and 2003, which were both held in the United States.  After a disappointing experience at the 1999 World Cup, they bounced back to become one of the powerhouses of Africa and improved tremendously for the World Cup of 2003, where they gained international recognition after playing a close game against China and beating Australia for their first World Cup win.

In September of 2003, while the Black Queens were in Portland, Oregon preparing for the World Cup, Robert Sackey volunteered to help train the team and give technical assistance before and during the Women's World Cup. They played two games against a WPSL All-Star team made up of many players from the San Francisco Nighthawks and the California Storm of Sacramento.

Currently, the Black Queens are on a quest to not only qualify for the 2007 World Cup in China, but to make it to the second round, just as the Ghana Men's Team did this past summer in Germany.

While in California, the Black Queens will be playing friendly games against the San Francisco Nighthawks and the California Storm of Sacramento. They will also be practicing with the UC Berkeley team and will be playing a GGWSL All-Star team along with other Premier teams in the Bay Area.

Robert Sackey and the Nighthawks believe that the Black Queen's tour is the beginning of an important and mutually beneficial friendship with the Bay Area, and that this experience will help develop both Ghanaian and American women's soccer.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
General Manager: Jill Lounsbury 415 661-1942, jillhawk@earthlink.net
Communications Director: Harley Christensen 415 453-6576

San Francisco Nighthawks
1708 Waller Street, San Francisco, CA 94117 www.sfnighthawks.com