Soul celebrate new practice facility

-Courtesy of the Philadelphia Soul

VOORHEES, NJ– The Philadelphia Soul celebrated the move of its home of football operations to the Coliseum in Voorhees, NJ on Friday. A ribbon-cutting ceremony honored the facility as the Soul’s new home for practice, training and coaching.

Soul co-majority owners Jon Bon Jovi and Craig Spencer, along with team president and minority owner Ron Jaworski, were joined at the ceremony by Coliseum owner Charles Gallub, Voorhees Township Mayor Michael Mignogna, Camden County Board of Freeholders Director Louis Cappelli Jr. and other Voorhees Township officials.

The Coliseum, located at 333 Preston Avenue in Voorhees, has a proud history of hosting area sports organizations such as the Philadelphia Flyers as well as many local youth sports groups.

“We are extremely excited to learn that the Philadelphia Soul has agreed to make the Coliseum its new home,” announced Mayor Mignogna. “The Township Committee looks forward to working with the new owners of the Coliseum (Develcom) and the Philadelphia Soul to ensure that this facility is improved and revitalized so that it may once again return the Coliseum to its former prominence.”

The players and coaches believe the new facility is contributing to the buzz surrounding the much anticipated 2008 season. The team ran its first pre-game run through on the field Friday morning and beginning next week with Coliseum will be the full-time practice facility for the Soul.

“This is just an absolutely wonderful facility to be in from an arena football point of view,” said Jaworski, a long-time South Jersey resident. “The Coliseum will give our players and coaches the added edge they will need to be successful on the field every week.”

“It’s an exciting acquisition for us,” added Soul head coach Bret Munsey, “We have a great fan base, great home arena and now one of the top practice facilities in the league. You combine all of that and it’s just a great place to be.”

The Coliseum allows for the coaching and training staff to have new offices. The facility also includes a state-of-the-art weight and workout room, expanded locker room space, two video rooms and a brand new field.

“We are excited to expand our reach into South Jersey,” said Spencer. “We have a loyal following from the region and being in Voorhees is a great opportunity for us to develop those relationships further and create new ones. The Coliseum allows for the players and coaches to focus on the task at hand, which is winning football games, by allowing them to have a state-of-the-art facility that has everything they need in one place.”

Rich Lisk, General Manager of the Philadelphia Soul, believes that the move will grant the team a lot of success.

"The Soul is getting a brand new start to the 2008 season,” said Lisk, “This is an opportunity for our organization that will help us excel in every way possible now.”

The Soul will join Elite Caterers, Nexxt Level Sports and Youth Sports Alliance at the 100,000 sq. ft. recreational and entertainment facility.

“This is similar to the enhancement of the ice skating rink in Voorhees becoming a bright spot in our community when it became home base for the Flyers and the Phantoms as a training facility,” said Director Cappelli. “We’re thrilled the Soul picked a site in our community for its confirmation that Camden County is a great place to live and conduct business. We stand ready to provide any help we can to welcome this great new neighbor.”