AREA — The Jersey Girls are a group of 63 women who have made a commitment to partake in some girlhood fun by joining
in a friendly game of soccer for an hour on Sunday afternoons. The Jersey Girls span a variety of abilities and backgrounds, ranging from soccer moms who have chosen to get off the sidelines to women who have played in high school and college and would like to stay active. They come from towns including Scotch Plains, Bernardsville, Summit and New Providence. “The age restriction is 21 to infinity. We have some great soccer players and we have women who have just decided to play. Whatever your age, and if you want to run around like a little girl, you should have that opportunity,” said soccer player Maureen Curry. There is a bit of a role reversal, with a fan base of husbands, boyfriends and children cheering on the Jersey Girls each week. “I want my children to believe that activity is a lifelong process,” said Ms. Curry. She said she came up with the idea after moving from Canada to Bernardsville nearly two years ago. About six years ago, two sisters-in-law started a women’s soccer league called Sistas in Soccer in London, Ontario. The league grew from approximately 200 players in the first year to a current 1,500. “I have several good friends who started a league in Canada. I lived about 2 ½ hours away from them, so I couldn’t play with them. I had wanted to set up a chapter, then we relocated and I just held on to the hope of setting up here,” said Ms. Curry. As fate would have it, Ms. Curry’s husband, Peter, works for Bard Canada and Bard International, and Bard Field is part of the company campus. The New Providence Soccer Club manages the field and schedules games for soccer play. Mr. Curry talked to the Kevin Phoenix, the facility manager at Bard, who talked to the New Providence Soccer Club, and the rest is history.
“The NP Soccer Club off the get-go was very supportive. They said, ‘Yes, we would like to see some of our moms playing soccer’ and that’s how it’s come about,” said Ms. Curry.