SF NIGHTHAWKS: A NEW HEAD COACH, A NEW DIRECTION
March 20, 2007

San Francisco, CA - Petra Kowalski has been named head coach of the San Francisco Nighthawks Women’s Soccer Team and Yang Zhou (formerly of the Chinese National Team) has been named volunteer assistant coach. These two competitive, powered-packed women will lead the Nighthawks into the upcoming Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) season. The WPSL is the most competitive women’s league in the U.S. and one of the top leagues in the world.

Jill Lounsbury, the Nighthawks general manager, stated, “Petra’s commitment to the team and the organization; her knowledge of the game and her strategic approach; and being a woman and a “player’s coach”, I feel, is going to make a substantial difference to our players and the direction of the club. And having Yang (pronounced ‘young’), with her vast international and World Cup experience, as an assistant coach is very fortuitous for our players.”

Petra’s opportunity arose when Robert Sackey, the Nighthawks long-time head coach, took on the new role of Technical Advisor due to the demands on his time. His increasing commitment to train and coach Ghana’s men’s and women’s National Teams and his commitment to the East Bay’s premier youth soccer club, ACCYSL Mavericks (U10 - U19), where he is also director of coaching left little time to work with the Hawks. Both parties want to keep the relationship on-going but are looking out for what is best for the Nighthawks.

As a player, Petra’s been a goalkeeper and began playing when she was four years old, which should provide true soccer aficionados just about everything that they need to know about her. Petra played her youth soccer in Boulder, Colorado with F.C. Boulder and was a member of Colorado’s ODP State Pool. In high school, Petra was a 4-time soccer letter winner and a two-time MVP. She was also a very fast member of her high school ski team where she competed in two state championships.

In college, Petra had the unusual opportunity to play for three colleges…at once. Petra attended Claremont McKenna College (CMC), a small, premier undergraduate liberal arts college in Southern California. To field competitive teams, CMC joined with Harvey Mudd College, and Scripps College to create Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) Athletics that competes in the NCAA’s Division III. Petra led CMS to three Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference top-three finishes, a conference championship, and a NCAA playoff berth. Petra won a variety of awards in college, including Scholar-Athlete, two-time Co-Captain, 1st Team All-Conference, 2nd Team All-Conference, NCAA Regional All-American, 2nd Team NCAA Regional All-American, NCAA Scholar All-Region, MVP, and Rookie of the Year.

In 2005, Petra was named a starter and helped Meistararflokkur Kvenna (of Iceland’s top women’s league) take second place in the First Division of Iceland’s Western Region and earned a playoff berth. She also coached Icelandic youth at a summer soccer school. In 2006, Petra joined the Nighthawks halfway through the WPSL season and played in 5 of the 7 remaining games.

Petra began coaching at summer soccer academies as a sophomore in high school. Once the coaching bug bit, she has continued coaching summer youth camps, youth teams, and private players. Petra accepted her first high school head coaching assignment while she was still a senior in college. She coached that team for two years with an undefeated record. Following graduation, Petra remained with her college team to help coach and to help a new head coach transition into the program.

Petra loves to say that, Everyday I step on the field is a good day. Following game and practice auditions, Lounsbury and Nighthawks’ senior players selected Petra to lead the team. Everyone associated with the organization strongly supports Petra and Yang and are looking forward to the 2007 WPSL season.

The Nighthawks play in the WPSL and the GGWSL.

Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) – http://www.wpsl.info/
The WPSL is a 37 team, 6 division independent national women’s soccer league with teams located around the country. The WPSL is currently ranked the most competitive women’s soccer league in the U.S. and the third most competitive women’s soccer league in the world by Women's World Football Rankings. The WPSL season runs from May through July. The WPSL was formed in 1998 and is sanctioned by the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) as an affiliate of the United States Soccer Federation (USSF), the ruling body of soccer in the United States and FIFA the world's ruling body for soccer. The San Francisco Nighthawks are charter members of the WPSL and compete in the 8 team Western Division.

Golden Gate Women’s Soccer League (GGWSL) – http://www.ggwsl.org/
The GGWSL is a 54 team, 8 division regional league based in San Francisco with relegation and promotion. The Premier Division includes many women who have played D1 NCAA soccer and want to continue competing at a premier level. The GGWSL plays two seasons: a fall season (which runs September to December) and a spring season (which runs March to June). Each season consists of ten games. The GGWSL is a USSF and CSAN affiliated league. The San Francisco Nighthawks, for the third consecutive season, are champions of GGWSL’s Premier Division, having won the title in the spring 2006, fall 2005, and spring 2005.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Communications Director: Harley Christensen at 415 453-6576
General Manager: Jill Lounsbury at 415 722-3816
San Francisco Nighthawks Official Web Site at www.sfnighthawks.com