The Shindigz National Soccer Festival will once again return to Fort Wayne for its 18th year on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, August 18th, 19th & 20th. The festival will grow to include two sites in 2016: IPFW’s Hefner Fields and Bishop John D’Arcy stadium at the University of Saint Francis Top-notch high school and collegiate teams will again participate in the Shindigz National Soccer Festival, including UCLA, Syracuse and Indiana. Full schedules are now available online at www.NationalSoccerFestival.com . Advance discount tickets can now be purchased at Fort Wayne-area Connolly’s Do It Best Hardware locations and Soccer Plus. As in years past, tickets can also be purchased at the gate on the days of the event.

The fall event will kick off on Thursday, August 18th, at Bishop D’Arcy stadium featuring Syracuse vs. Michigan State starting at 7:00 p.m. The Orange are hot off an ACC Championship and an appearance at the NCAA Final Four last season while the Spartans led the Big Ten with 19 Academic All-Big Ten Selections in 2015. "Our coaching staff, players and fans are looking forward to embracing the challenges of our 2016 schedule," Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said. "We will have a tough preseason with a good balance of new opponents and renewed rivalries.” Michigan State head coach Damon Rensing added, “It is a very difficult schedule and that is by design. We want to challenge our players both on the road and at home. It is an exhibition but we open up with Syracuse, which was in the Final Four.” Syracuse will also take on Ohio State two days later on Saturday, August 20th, at the Shindigz National Soccer Festival.

What began in 1999 has now become the nationally known phenomenon of the Shindigz National Soccer Festival. What was merely a soccer event has now turned into a full-fledged, grass roots community supported soccer celebration. Corporations, foundations and personal donations are the backbone of the festival. The beneficiaries of the event are the city of Fort Wayne for the national recognition it receives; the area youth for the hands-on interaction with the soccer players and coaches from national major universities; the local businesses of northeast Indiana, for the added commerce brought to the region; the area universities, for the added exposure and the average Fort Wayne citizen who knows nothing about the game, but loves to have fun in a family oriented atmosphere.

Currently, the Shindigz National Soccer Festival has evolved into a true community soccer celebration, including youth clinics put on by major university coaches and players, wide ranges of live entertainment, opportunities for youth involvement, food vendors and giveaway prizes; now located at both the beautiful IPFW west campus of Hefner Fields and at the state-of-the-art Bishop John D’Arcy stadium on the stellar campus of the University of Saint Francis. Shindigz National Soccer Festival is honored again, this year, to bring top-ranked college soccer teams, along with highly prestigious high school teams, to Fort Wayne. Due to its great history, Shindigz National Soccer Festival has been recognized nationally as the premier event to attend for pre-season collegiate soccer.