NEWS 9 - The Oklahoma City Spark are gearing up for an eight-game homestand scheduled for later this month.

Ahead of the matchups later this month, News 9 spoke to Spark Owner Tina Floyd, head coach Amber Flores and OU alum and player Jayda Coleman to learn more about the team this season.

Q: How excited are you guys to start the season?

Floyd: It’s been a great run. We’ve had a lot of success, I think we’re sitting at 8-1. Just got back from Denver and enjoyed getting to be around the best softball players in the world. It’s been fun.

Q: Your roster is stacked, including Jayda here. What is it like to coach these elite athletes? What do people see when they come to see the Spark play?

Floyd: They get to see the best softball players in the world, but we get to see the other side, which is enjoyable. It’s fun. These guys are great, but off the field, they’re even better. To be around them is a privilege. I think the running joke within the staff is like “Please win so that we keep our job.”

Q: How exciting is it to get to live out your dream, Jayda?

Coleman: Growing up, I never knew if I was going to play beyond college softball and just being able to have this opportunity and play for the OKC Spark really close to Norman, a lot of the OU alums, it’s been great, and I’m just really blessed to be a part of this.

Q: Do you still get that drink from Starbucks, though? Mocha?

Coleman: It is a venti iced white chocolate mocha with eight pumps of caramel.

Q: Is the pressure different than your time at OU?

Coleman: The pressure is different because it’s the most elite players, not saying that all [at OU] weren’t elite, but like being next to Jocelyn Alo, Kinzie Hanson, now we’re all together and it’s not just only playing for one or two years, so it’s really cool.

Q: How cool is it just to be involved in softball right now, especially where we are coming up in 2028, we’re gonna have Olympic softball here?

Floyd: It’s so good to see the growth, even in the three years that I’ve started the team, just to see this growth and to see other leagues and everybody starting to work together and really push this for these athletes.

Q: Tell us about the upcoming homestand?

Floyd: We started out at Oklahoma Christian, and that’s our home this season. We’ve been on the road, went to Colorado and we’re headed out again tomorrow to New York and Florida. Then we will be back at Oklahoma Christian for an 8-day home stretch. The 20th to the 28th of July. We host a little postseason action, too. There’s plenty of opportunities for folks to get out and support us and support these ladies, and you can see our theme nights. We have a Jersey night, a luau night. We do something fun every night, so fans need to come out and support these women.

Q: For folks watching at home who maybe have never been to a Spark game. What would you want to tell them right now?

Coleman: Come out and see the best softball players in the world. It gets no better than that. We truly have the best team, I think out there right now. We’ve got the biggest names, but the atmosphere is incredible as well. Tina does it right. All of our support staff get behind these players, but it’s a great atmosphere.

Here is the July schedule of events for the Spark Homestand.

July 20 - Youth Night

Florida Vibe team July 21 – Jersey Night Florida Vibe team July 22 – Luau Night

Florida Vibe team July 23 – Military Appreciation

Florida Vibe team July 26 – Moxie’s Birthday

Florida Vibe and New York Rise July 27 – First Responders

Florida Vibe and NY Rise July 28 – Spark the Night Florida Vibe and NY Rise