Two Malibu residents are playing professional soccer. Catherine Calvert with the Ventura County Fusion in the W-League and Ben Corrodi playing for the Lancaster Rattlers in the United Soccer League.
Calvert, a junior at UCLA is playing in the highest level of women’s professional soccer in North America. The Fusion plays in the Western Conference, which has her traveling throughout the Western United States and as far north as Vancouver. The NCAA permits her to play with the team with the only requirement being that she is not allowed to miss school work in order to make a game. The Ventura County Fusion is one of three new local teams in the W-League. The other two teams are the Los Angeles Legends out of Glendora and the Pali Blues playing out of Pacific Palisades. The Fusion’s home field is Buena High School. Calvert and her teammates head south on Saturday to take on the Pali Blues. The game begins at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the game. The price is $10 for adults, $8 for students with ID and $5 for children under 12.
Corrodi this year joined the Rattlers and is already making an impact on his new team. He is in a small group of players that has been playing a full 90 minutes in the first three games of the season. Corrodi has a bit longer of a road trip to practice than Calvert, with Corrodi driving a little more than an hour six days a week to Lancaster for games or practices. Head coach Costa Skouras has the young men practicing or playing in games six days a week. The Rattlers are playing locally on June 6 when they take on the San Fernando Quakes at Calabasas High School. The game begins at 7 p.m. and the cost is $8 for adults and $6 for children.