College Soccer: After record-smashing debut, SEC women’s soccer tournament is back in Pensacola

The impact a year ago of the inaugural Southeastern Conference women’s soccer tournament in Pensacola was plainly visible with overflow crowds and the energized setting.

The run up this year has included another coveted element that tournament organizers can pinpoint.

“One word… awareness,” said Ray Palmer, executive director of Pensacola Sports, who helped lure and secure a three-year agreement to host the tournament with an option after 2024 to further extend the host role.

“I have people now stop me, or send notes to me, or stop members of our staff out in public these last few months on a regular basis to ask things like, ‘When are tickets going on sale? What are the dates?’ So, the general awareness of the event has been incredible and it’s all due to the unexpected and unprecedented success we had last year.”

SEC comes to Pensacola:Pensacola Sports and the SEC announce women's soccer tournament coming to Pensacola

Last's year Championship Game:All-Time SEC record soccer crowd watches South Carolina stun No. 1 Alabama for title

The 2023 event begins Sunday at the Escambia County Stadium at Ashton Brosnaham Park with a pair of first-round games in the 10-team field. The championship game is Nov. 5 at 1 p.m.

Record crowds existed throughout the week last year. A championship crowd of 3,025 – the largest in the SEC Tournament’s 37-year history – watched No. 13-ranked South Carolina pull off a 1-0 upset of then-No. 1 Alabama, which was enjoying its finest season in team history.

While No. 25-ranked Alabama (10-4-4 overall) has dropped to middle-of-the-conference pack this season, the 13th-ranked Gamecocks (11-1-5) have secured the No. 2 seed heading into Thursday night’s final games of the regular season. The 10-team, tournament field will be finalized after Thursday.

There is a lot more parity in the SEC with just two points separating eighth place Vanderbilt from the 12th place Florida Gators, who were trying to reach the qualifying teams in Thursday’s final game.

“We have the number one RPI (Rating Percentage Index) among all conferences in women’s soccer,” said Marcus Bishop, the SEC assistant director of competition, who will be traveling to Pensacola for the event. “We have multiple teams with a good chance to host NCAA (regional) tournament games.”

In seeking to further enhance the event and its future in Pensacola, there are several noticeable changes at Brosnaham Park.

For the fans, more bleacher seating has been brought in. For the semifinal games Nov. 2 and championship game on Nov. 5, there will be two ECAT trolley buses shuttling fans from distances in the parking areas at Brosnaham.

The SEC Fan Fest experience on Nov. 5 will now begin at 11 a.m. and remain open until halftime of the championship game.

“Our ticketing system is state of the art,” Palmer said. “That will help. We added 500 bleacher seats, so our ability to get people into the stands should be much smoother, plus we added a standing-room-only designated area.

“We learned a lot from last year. I think we are better prepared for expectations. We were in a little bit of surprise and overwhelmed last year with the crowds. I know having Alabama as the top seed and doing well in the tournament really helped.

“We planned for good crowds last year, but maybe not massive crowds and we got some massive crowds. So we had some organizational challenges that we overcame at the site.”

Bishop said the SEC FanFest experience exceeded expectations and its crowd size.

“The fans told us they wanted more time in FanFest,” he said. “This time, fans will have more time to enjoy and socialize and meet each other during the FanFest.”

For the players, there are two noticeable changes. The biggest is a two-story building behind the areas of the team benches and across from the stands.

The building’s first level is a locker room area the SEC will use for the highest-seeded teams depending on each game. Their opponents in each game will use the original locker areas adjacent to concessions.

The second floor of the building will accommodate the tournament referees and operational use by the SEC and organizers.

“We don’t have to bring portable trailers,” Palmer said. “That is huge, because it allows to not have to pay crazy prices for temporary facilities. When we had the SEC here for a site survey prior to getting rights to host the tournament, one thing (SEC officials) said was they would like to see

It will be a community center when not using it… It is a nice building with moving walls, It is very nice. For most major events you need four locker rooms. When we had SEC here for site survey, they said we would like to see permanent locker rooms.

“The facility was built with moveable walls and will be used for conference space and other purposes year-round.”

The playing surface at the main stadium was re-sodded and manicured throughout the year by the Escambia County Parks and Recreation staff, led by director Michael Rhodes.

The staff also groomed two official size practice fields near the stadium and those are now a lush green and mowed to look as nice as a golf course fairway.

“One piece of feedback we got last year from our coaches was how we could grow the field and maintain the field,” Bishop said. “And I have to say, the folks at Escambia Parks and Rec have really invested in taking care and manicuring that field and turning it into such a wonderful venue that rivals any of our venues in the conference.

Both of those (practice) fields are extremely important,” Bishop said. “We set up practice times for all the teams and you warm up on one field and play on the main field. So, making sure there is consistency between those fields and keeping the turf at a condition that is similar to the match (stadium) field is important.”

All of the facility improvements and event tweaks are designed to further enhance the fan experience. The tournament was previously held at Orange Beach before the SEC began to explore other options. That’s when Pensacola’s leadership stepped up to bring the event into this community.

A year ago, Bishop was working for the Sun Belt Conference and its soccer tournament, but was able to check out the SEC event at Brosnaham on television, while knowing he would soon join the conference.

“I could see how much Pensacola embraced the tournament,” he said. “Not to say Orange Beach did not, but you could just feel the excitement there.

“We are really pushing the story of us being there and being part of the community and really providing the opportunity for people who love the game of soccer to come out and watch elite women’s college soccer.”

Just like last year, the games will be televised on the SEC Network, which is an ESPN platform. That allows a showcase of the Pensacola community, the beaches and other elements in the community. This year’s tournament also happens to occur during the Blue Angels Air Show week.

“Our entire tourism imprint -- and not just sports tourism -- the areas where most of the people come to visit Pensacola are identical to the SEC footprint,” Palmer said. “It is the same target audience.

“We are on (SEC Network) for eight days (which include the preview show days). They have talked about coming to Pensacola during the entire soccer season.

"And VisitPensacola is also independently doing promotions within the SEC footprint. It is a big win. We are telling the story of our community and to come see our community. And as we know, people love Pensacola.”

WANT TO GO?

WHAT: 2023 SEC Women’s Soccer Tournament

WHEN: Sunday (Oct. 29) through Nov. 5.

WHERE: Ashton Brosnaham Soccer Complex (Escambia County Stadium field). .

ADMISSION: $12 general admission (includes both games in a session), $7 for children ages 5-12, students (high school or college ID) or military. Children 4-under are free. The championship game tickets on Nov. 5 are $17 for adults, $12 for children, students military. Tournament pass is $40.

PARKING: Free in areas that front the stadium entrance

TV: SEC Network

FANFEST: Nov. 5 from 11 a.m. to halftime of championship game.

TOURNAMENT INFO: www.pensacolasports.org and www.secsports.com/soccer.

Bill Vilona is a retired Pensacola News Journal sports columnist and now senior writer for Pensacola Blue Wahoos. He can be reached at bvilona@bluewahoos.com

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: College Soccer: SEC women's soccer tournament begins Sunday in Pensacola