Category: soccer

soccer

MLS: New stadiums already? Slow down

Posted on by Beau Dure

A hypothetical City Council meeting in Expansionville, 2014.

MLS MAN: Greetings! I represent the local owner-investors who are ready to plunk down $80 million in expansion fees to bring Major League Soccer to Expansionville!

COUNCILPERSON 1: Sounds good. Should boost the economy. And I’d love to see Landon Donovan here — what a great comeback he made last year. But how much do you need for a stadium?

MLS MAN: Here’s more good news — we’re willing to spend $150 million to build it. All we need is $20 million for infrastructure improvements in the area.

COUNCILPERSON 2: That sounds like half the cost of Columbus Crew Stadium in its entirety.

MLS MAN: Ummm … yeah. You’ve done some research. But this will be an investment in the future.

COUNCILPERSON 2: And they’re already talking about replacing Columbus Crew Stadium.

MLS MAN: True. But Crew Stadium didn’t have luxury boxes.

COUNCILPERSON 3: I ain’t putting my tax money for some millionaire owner for his fancy kickball stadium!

COUNCILPERSON 2: Uh … right. Anyway, getting back to Crew Stadium — so now, the problem is that they don’t have luxury boxes.

MLS MAN: And they can’t sell naming rights.

COUNCILPERSON 2: So? Neither can FC Dallas. And a bunch of MLS jersey deals are expiring without replacements.

MLS MAN: Well … yeah. Anyway, we’ll have luxury boxes.

COUNCILPERSON 1: But in 15 years, will you want more?

MLS MAN: Perhaps. But we can talk about how to upgrade it.

(blank stares)

COUNCILPERSON 2: So this location …

MLS MAN: Oh yes — outskirts of town, vacant land, just needs the infrastructure upgrades.

COUNCILPERSON 4: Aren’t most recent MLS stadiums easily accessible by mass transit?

MLS MAN: Well, some, yeah.

COUNCILPERSON 5: Hey, why doesn’t Columbus just rip off the upper section and build boxes? It’s not like anyone ever sits up there, anyway.

COUNCILPERSON 2: Yeah, seriously. But back to our question: Are you going to come back in 15 years and ask us to help you build a new stadium on a train line?

PROTESTER IN CROWD: More like five years!

COUNCILPERSON 1: Excuse me, sir, we’ll have a public comment period on this project next week.

PROTESTER IN CROWD: Money for park! Not for Clark! Money for park! Not for Clark!

COUNCILPERSON 1: Clark?

PROTESTER IN CROWD: Ricardo Clark. Plays for the Houston Dynamos.

MLS MAN: Dynamo.

PROTESTER IN CROWD: Whatever?

COUNCILPERSON 1: Can we have him removed, please?

COUNCILPERSON 2: OK, back to the point … can you assure us that if we make this investment now, you’re not going to be asking us for more money for something new before we’ve all broken even on this deal?

MLS MAN: Uhhhhhh ….

And so Expansionville dropped out of consideration for MLS, leaving the league to consider a third New York team.

And no, I don’t want to imagine a D.C. council discussion along similar lines.

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soccer

FIFA boldly … asks for clarification on Nigeria’s lesbian ban

Posted on by Beau Dure

The Nigerian women’s soccer team went into the 2011 World Cup with the momentum of having ousted lesbians from the team.

The FIFA response at the time: “Huh? What? Oh. OK, we’ll talk to the coach.”

Now, with reports that Nigeria has banned lesbians from all levels of football, FIFA … wants clarification.

The issue has deep roots in Africa, where legal bans remain and men still use “corrective rape” to try to convince lesbians to change.

So, once FIFA gets its “clarification,” the question will be whether FIFA wants to make a statement — one that may force some attitudes to change.

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soccer

Editing the Laws of the Game

Posted on by Beau Dure

The loud caterwauling you heard around the world this afternoon related to a questionable red card given to Manchester United’s Nani. Real Madrid scored two quick goals, Manchester United was bounced out of the Champions League, and civilization collapsed.

A furious, if somewhat one-sided, debate raged on Twitter over the call. NBC’s Pro Soccer Talk posted dueling posts from Richard “Red Card” Farley and Steve “No It Isn’t” Davis.

Fox Soccer’s analysts raged about “intent,” a word that does not appear in the Laws of the Game and its attached interpretations. (“Intentionally” appears four times, but never in the context of judging yellow or red cards.)

Coincidentally, the keepers of the Laws made a minor tweak this weekend, supposedly reducing confusion with a change in the offside rule.

Those keepers, known as IFAB, are reluctant to make changes. As they should be.

But the Nani debate highlights one of several passages that could use some editing.

Farley, in his rebuttal to the rebuttal, highlights English referee Graham Poll as an example of a divide between English refs and European refs. And quite often, there is. There’s certainly a divide between European refs and English-bred commentators, who still think a studs-up shot to the knee is a friendly greeting.

But here, at last, is the point. Poll says the Nani incident could easily be a yellow card. And many people agree.

And yet … Law 12, Fouls and Misconduct, does not specify anything about yellow cards for fouls that don’t quite deserve red cards. Go ahead – read page 38. The closest you’ll find is “unsporting behaviour.” Red card infractions include “serious foul play” and “violent conduct.”

Now if you read on to the interpretations, you find some common-sense talk on page 113. IFAB defines “careless,” “reckless,” and “using excessive force.” Careless? No foul. Reckless? Yellow card. Excessive force? Red card.

So if you stuck with the Laws, you’d be stuck trying to shoehorn a reckless foul into “unsporting behaviour.” The interpretations, on the other hand, clearly state what referees do anyway — give yellow cards for infractions that aren’t quite worthy of a red card.

Seems like the word “reckless,” at the very least, should be included in the actual text of Law 12. Right?

(But don’t add “intent.” The pundits were just bringing it up to make fun of it.)

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olympic sports, soccer, winter sports

Monday Myriad, March 4: Nordic state of mind

Posted on by Beau Dure

Headlines from the week:

– Slovenia’s Tina Maze is having the best Alpine skiing World Cup season of all time.

– Norway’s Maret Bjoergen had one of the best Nordic World Championships of all time.

– Shaun White was back in action with another U.S. Open title.

– Milers Mary Cain and Will Leer stood out at the USA Indoor track and field championships.

– At the same meet, pole vaulter Jenn Suhr broke five meters and the indoor world record. The only other women’s pole vaulter to clear five meters is Russia’s Yelena Isinbayeva. Isinbayeva’s outdoor record: 5.06 meters. Suhr indoors: 5.02.

– Speedskaters Brittany Bowe and Brian Hansen won World Cup races for the first time.

The Storified version has a few more fun features:

http://storify.com/duresport/monday-myriad-march-4-storify-version

 

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soccer

2013 MLS teams, ranked by curiosity factor

Posted on by Beau Dure

Here’s what happens every Major League Soccer season:

1. Some newcomers will live up to expectation. Some won’t.

2. Some team predicted to finish near the basement will be considerably better than expected.

3. We will continue to wonder what Chivas USA or Toronto FC is trying to do. But maybe one of them will be the answer to #2.

So I’ve given up trying to rank teams in preseason. Instead, here’s a list ranking teams in order of how many questions we have about them, from least to most.

19. San Jose Earthquakes. Supporters’ Shield winners return most of the team, with little sign of aging.

18. Houston Dynamo. Omar Cummings joins the bulk of the team that made the MLS Cup final last season. They’ll be fine.

17. New England Revolution. Must not be any quick fixes for this team. They certainly haven’t tried any.

16. Sporting Kansas City. Lost Roger Espinoza and Kei Kamara, added DP Claudio Bieler and Benny Feilhaber.

15. Los Angeles Galaxy. Bruce Arena won’t be worried about the adjustment to the post-Beckham era. And while he’ll be missing Landon Donovan at the start of the season, perhaps Donovan won’t miss that much time with the national team this time around.

14. Colorado Rapids. Casey and Cummings out, Buddle in. The defense should be better with Diego Calderon.

13. Montreal Impact. A bit more Italian and Swiss than they used to be.

12. Seattle Sounders. Not a ton of turnover, but Shalrie Joseph and apparently Obafemi Martins are coming in, with Fredy Montero out on loan.

11. Real Salt Lake. By their standards, this offseason constituted “blowing up the team.” But Morales, Beckerman and Rimando are still there.

10. Columbus Crew. A lot of new names, including a couple of homegrown players and some discovery acquisitions.

9. Chicago Fire. They’ve rebuilt the midfield with Lindpere and Larentowicz, which would be a terrific name for a law firm or a folk-rock duo.

8. Vancouver Whitecaps. Nigel Reo-Coker should be an interesting guy to watch on a promising team.

7. FC Dallas. Still trying to pick a goalkeeper to replace Kevin Hartman. And how will they get Eric Hassli, Kenny Cooper and Blas Perez on the field at the same time?

6. D.C. United. Carlos Ruiz? Seriously?

5. Portland Timbers. Is Caleb Porter truly a genius whose college acumen will translate to the pro game?

4. New York Red Bulls. Heavy turnover is never a surprise here, but it’s often interesting, particularly with Mike Petke taking over on the sideline.

3. Philadelphia Union. Tying up a good chunk of your salary cap on a player who isn’t going to play for you (Freddy Adu) is a good thing? How will returnee Sebastien Le Toux and aging big man Conor Casey gel with a core of kids?

2. Toronto FC. New president? Check – Kevin Payne. New coach? Let’s get a guy who’s still playing in the EPL and see if we can convince his team to let him quit. Welcome, Ryan Nelsen. They weren’t good last year, and they let some talented guys go.

1. Chivas USA. Didn’t this whole “Mexican-American offshoot of Chivas” thing flop horribly the first time around? Or have they come up with better players this time around to fill the space between Dan Kennedy and Juan Agudelo.

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soccer

Which MLS newcomers will flop this year?

Posted on by Beau Dure

Let’s look back at the hyped MLS newcomers of 2012, shall we?

To remind ourselves of the hype, check previews from Fox (Ives), ESPN (Leander) and Goal.com (Seth). Not picking on anyone’s prognostication skills — these were all players with resumes.

BACK IN 2013

Michael Gspurning, Seattle, goalkeeper. Dealt so well with the difficult job of replacing Kasey Keller that he was a finalist for league Newcomer of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Year.

Arne Friedrich, Chicago, defender. No complaints here. Solid central defender and leader of an otherwise-young back line.

Lee Young-Pyo, Vancouver, defender. Right back was the team’s player of the year despite advancing through his mid-30s.

Blas Perez, Dallas, forward. Actually staying put for a change, so that’s a good sign. Led the team with nine goals last season but will face competition for playing time this year.

Markus Holgersson, New York, defender. A steadying force on a team that really needs one. Now it appears he’ll provide quality depth behind Jamison Olave and Heath Pearce.

Miller Bolanos, Chivas USA, midfielder. Promising attacker who may flourish under new coach.

Jaime Castrillon, Colorado, midfielder. Overshadowed a bit by teammate Martin Rivero despite his team-high eight goals. Out injured for the first few weeks of 2013.

GONE

Rafael Robayo, Chicago, midfielder. Signed with the Fire after seven years with Colombian power Millonarios. Spent half the season coming off the bench in Chicago and went right back on loan.

Milovan Mirosevic, Columbus, midfielder. Four goals, two of them game-winners. The bad news: Only two assists from a player hyped as a playmaker. Back to Universidad Catolica he goes.

Hamdi Salihi, D.C. United, forward. I liked him. But he did have a bit of trouble finding the net, and he’s gone.

Gabriel Gomez, Philadelphia, midfielder. Box-to-box Panamanian scored six goals. Released anyway.

Kris Boyd, Portland, forward. Scored 100 goals at Rangers. Not quite as many for the Timbers, especially after coach John Spencer’s departure. He’s back in Scotland.

Franck Songo’o, Portland, winger. Played 27 games with five assists, but he was let go just this week.

Tressor Moreno, San Jose, midfielder. Attacking mid left halfway through the season.

The Newcomer of the Year was Columbus midfielder Federico Higuain, who arrived in midseason. Another finalist was San Jose’s Victor Bernardez, who didn’t get quite as much hype as the others on this list.

So good luck to Claudio Bieler (Kansas City), Juninho Pernambucano (New York), Diego Calderon (Colorado), Rafael (D.C. United), Diego Valeri (Portland), Carlo Cudicini (Los Angeles) and Nigel Reo-Coker (Vancouver). Odds are pretty good that three or four of this group will turn out half-decent.

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soccer

Single-Digit Soccer: The score is always 0-0

Posted on by Beau Dure

Perhaps Caddyshack was ahead of its time. Chevy Chase’s character just went out and played golf — very well. Score? Nah. Didn’t keep it.

A lot of youth soccer leagues don’t keep score in the early ages — in our case, we don’t keep track until U9. And the travel leagues don’t keep standings until U11. (Oddly enough, our U9 house league had standings on the Web for all the world to see.)

In Canada, they’re going a step farther. Under age 12, no scores, no standings. (UPDATE: Here’s some info about the plan as a whole, which addresses far more than scores and standings.)

In a country in that loves its hockey fights, such a plan is going to draw some flak. Fighting back against those critics is player-turned-commentator Jason deVos, who issued a strongly worded defense of the plan against what he calls ignorance and misinformation.

Jason is a sharp guy who does his research, and I’m sure a lot of the critics (Don Cherry? Really?) don’t fit that description. He’s got some backup from a thoughtful Toronto Star column on competition vs. cooperation, A couple of other columnists, including Duane Rollins, think the plan’s backers are losing the PR war. There’s no question that some of the concerns raised in this plan are valid.

But to give a sneak peek at the book I’m writing now, I’m a little skeptical about turning off the scoreboard. And that’s based not on Don Cherry’s macho notions of sports but on my experience coaching a wide range of kids — some exceptional, some decidedly average.

One point from the deVos column:

This pressure-filled environment has nasty repercussions for children. Rather than fostering their natural creativity and curiosity about the game, it stunts their development. In such an environment, children are not free to make the mistakes that are necessary for learning to occur. They play the game with a sense of dread, fearful that a mistake will lead to a goal against or a lost game.

Valid concern. But does that pressure go away when the parents aren’t writing down a score? Jason and others concede, correctly, that the kids know what’s going on. I’ve seen kids in U8 games get upset when things aren’t going their way, even though I shut off all discussion of score-keeping. “When we kick off again, the score’s 0-0.”

So the pressure of mistakes is still there. What we lose in the Canadian plan is the accomplishment of winning.

Last season, the first season my U9 team had scores, we had a rough regular season. Then we played a season-ending tournament in which everything suddenly came together. We beat two teams that had beaten us in the regular season to reach a final against a third that was unbeaten through nine games. We won that one, too.

The scoreboard critics say such things mean more to parents and coaches than they do to kids. I’m not so sure. My kids were experiencing the thrill of victory. One parent told me, “He’ll remember this for the rest of his life.”

Another consideration deVos raises:

They have taken an adult competition format, involving promotion and relegation, and imposed it on children.

My impression of promotion and relegation in youth soccer is that it’s there to keep teams of similar ability grouped together. You won’t have any 10-0 blowouts, regardless of whether anyone’s officially counting the 10 goals. And elite U10-U11 players will be challenged rather than relying on a handful of tricks and athletic ability to overwhelm a bunch of kids who haven’t developed yet.

One way to do this without putting too much pressure on kids is to keep the division structure opaque. I played for a U14 team that was “promoted.” To this day, I don’t know what we were promoted from or to. Division 1? Of what? Was there a Premier League above that? Was this all of Georgia or just Atlanta-through-Athens? Good thing the Web didn’t exist in those days.)

(One possible irony, though I can’t find enough detail on the Canadian plan to confirm this: Will they still have tryouts for elite teams? If so, are we just substituting individual accomplishment — making an elite team — for team accomplishment such as winning?)

And is the best course of action for elite players the best course for everyone? Steven Sandor isn’t so sure:

Not keeping score will, if done in an elitist manner (which, unfortunately, our insular Canadian soccer tends to do pretty well) drive the average kids away. But, there’s no doubt that the no-score system helps the elite kids.

In other words — the vast majority of kids playing soccer at age 11 aren’t going to be professionals. Many of them won’t even play at age 14. That scares a lot of soccer people to death, but really, it’s OK. A lot of 11-year-olds play several sports and then choose one on which to focus at age 14. (For me, it was running, which was a really stupid idea in retrospect.) When I talked with MLS draftees last month in Indy, most of them had done exactly that, laying down their basketballs and baseball gloves in their teens.

So for these kids, all they’ll remember of soccer is a bunch of scoreless games, all designed to prepare them for a future that they weren’t going to pursue?

The best axiom I’ve heard for youth sports is simple: “Let kids be kids.” The soccer community tends to forget that youth sports are supposed to be a kid’s activity, not just a breeding ground for future World Cup players. A lot of these kids want to play games and tournaments with trophies on the line. Why rob them of that experience? “Because the rest of the world does it,” frankly, isn’t a good argument. And you’re still going to have good coaches helping players improve while bad coaches just try to win, even unofficially, by any means necessary.

I think there’s a creative way to address the valid concerns deVos and others are raising. We’re already doing a lot. We delay scorekeeping and standings for a few years already. Even when we start traditional league play, we rotate kids through different positions and spread out the playing time, giving everyone a complete soccer experience.

Maybe it’s as simple as having a lot of “exhibition” or scrimmage games that don’t count toward standings, then a tournament at the end of each season. Maybe it’s something more clever than that.

The important part is to continue the discussion, not to end it with a concrete plan handed down from Canada’s Olympus. Daniel Squizzato puts it well: “Don’t confuse legitimate criticism of the (Canadian) plan with an outright aversion to change.” Change is good. Realistic change is better.

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olympic sports, rugby, soccer

Monday Myriad, Feb. 11: Ligety, Ligety

Posted on by Beau Dure

Headlines of the weekend:

– The USA’s Ted Ligety won his second gold medal at the Alpine skiing world championships, adding the supercombined to the super-G. Super.

– Norway’s Emil Hegle Svendsen won the sprint and held on to win the pursuit by a few millimeters over France’s Martin Fourcade at the biathlon World Championships. You just might see a highlight clip farther down in this post. The best U.S. finish so far: Lowell Bailey moved up from 32nd to take 13th in the men’s pursuit.

– England took their second win in two matches in rugby’s Six Nations Championship. So what if it was the lowest-scoring game in Six Nations history?

– The U.S. women’s tennis team fell out of the Fed Cup. Missing Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Sloane Stephens might have been a bit of a factor. A bit.

– Julia Clukey took second in women’s singles and the U.S. team took second in the team relay as the luge World Cup ran on U.S. ice at Lake Placid.

– Meryl Davis and Charlie White won the ice dance at figure skating’s Four Continents Championship, which drew a strong field in some events despite the upcoming World Championships being higher priority.

The TeamUSA.org wrapup has the rest of the weekend in Olympic sports. A few more things to peruse, Storify permitting:

http://storify.com/duresport/monday-myriad-feb-11-storify-version

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soccer

NWSL supplemental draft: Who arrrre these people?

Posted on by Beau Dure

In case you followed along on Twitter but didn’t place some of the names (it helped that the W-League and other organizations congratulated their alumni as they were drafted, and it also helps that Wikipedia was in a frenzy today) …

And still, these player histories are not comprehensive. If you know something not mentioned here, please say so in the comments.

The year by their college name is their senior season, not their graduation date.

Quick note on WPS drafts: 2008 had a general draft for players who were not allocated. That was one of two drafts before the league started play. The 2009 draft still included non-college players — Briana Scurry and Brandi Chastain were among the selections.

Players in italic are players whose 2013 participation is in doubt. Teams retain their rights through the 2013 season.

FIRST ROUND

1. Washington: Stephanie Ochs, F, San Diego 2011. WPS draft: 2012, first round (third overall). Given the update on Camille Levin (overseas) from my last post, that accounts for everyone in the 2012 first round. 2012 team: Western New York (WPSL Elite).

2. Seattle: Nikki Krzysik, D, Virginia 2008. WPS draft: 2009, second round. Started with Chicago in WPS, moved to Philadelphia and became a defensive cornerstone. 2011 WPS Best XI. 2012 team: New York (WPSL Elite).

3. Boston: Joanna Lohman, M, Penn State 2003. WPS draft: 2008 general, fourth round. Played for Washington and Philadelphia in WPS; also did some time overseas. Reuniting the JoLi Academy crew with Lianne Sanderson already a Breaker. 2012 team: D.C. United Women (W-League).

4. Chicago: Lindsay Tarpley, F, North Carolina 2005. WPS original allocation. Former national team player with some injury concerns in the past. The only Chicago draft pick who didn’t play for Red Stars last season, but she started her WPS career there before moving to St. Louis, Boston and magicJack. 2012 team: Missed season (pregnancy).

5. Sky Blue: Katy Frierson, M, Auburn 2011. WPS draft: 2012, second round. Also played with Atlanta Silverbacks at some point. 2012 team: Western New York (WPSL Elite).

6. Kansas City: Courtney Jones, F, North Carolina 2011. WPS draft: 2012, second round. 2012 team: Boston (WPSL Elite).

7. Western New York: Estelle Johnson, D, Kansas 2009. WPS draft: 2010, third round. Two seasons with Philadelphia (WPS). Currently an assistant coach with Avila University in Colorado. 2012 team: New York (WPSL Elite)

8. Portland: Tina Ellertson, D, Washington 2004. WPS original allocation. Played for Saint Louis, Atlanta and magicJack. Longtime friend and teammate of Hope Solo. Former national team player and outstanding marking back. Just one problem: She says she’s not playing this year. Pro Soccer Talk’s Richard Farley says Portland is optimistic about getting Ellertson and fourth-round pick Marian Dalmy. 2012 team: FC Salmon Creek Nemesis 99. OK, she was the coach.

(Still on the board: Goalkeepers, Tasha Kai, Casey Nogueira … unless they’ve all signed elsewhere already.)

SECOND ROUND

1. Washington: Tori Huster, M, Florida State 2011. WPS draft: 2012, second round. Also the first pick in that second round. 2012 teams: Western New York (WPSL Elite) / Newcastle (Australia).

2. Seattle: Lauren Barnes, D, UCLA 2010. WPS draft: 2011, third round. Played for Philadelphia. Assistant coach at UC Riverside in 2012. 2012 team: Beach FC (WPSL)

3. Boston: Katie Schoepfer, F, Penn State 2009. WPS draft: 2010, third round. Played a few games for Sky Blue, then moved to Boston in 2011 and will play for the Breakers in a third league. 2012 team: Boston (WPSL Elite).

4. Chicago: Lauren Fowlkes, D, Notre Dame 2010. WPS draft: 2011, first round (fifth overall). Also formerly Pali Blues. 2012 team: Chicago (WPSL Elite).

5. Sky Blue: Brittany Cameron, GK, San Diego 2008. WPS draft: 2009, eighth round. Played in WPS with Los Angeles, Gold Pride and Western New York. 2012 team: Western New York (WPSL Elite).

6. Kansas City: Bianca Henninger, GK, Santa Clara 2011. WPS draft: 2012, third round. Given the hype around her for years, it’s stunning to see her taken this low. Could be a steal, especially if Nicole Barnhart needs to miss some time. Third-round pick in 2012 WPS draft. 2012 team: New York (WPSL Elite).

7. Western New York: Angela Salem, D, Francis Marion 2009. WPS draft: not selected. Worked her way from small school to WPS, playing a little bit with Sky Blue in 2010 and a little bit more with Atlanta the next year. 2012 teams:  Western New York (WPSL Elite) / Newcastle (Australia).

8. Portland: Angie Kerr, M, Portland 2007. Formerly Angie Woznuk. WPS draft: 2008 general, third round. Has some U.S. national team experience. 2012 team: unknown

THIRD ROUND

1. Washington: Jordan Angeli, M/D, Santa Clara 2009. WPS draft: 2010, second round. Played for Boston in WPS. Has had a few injury problems but has tweeted that she’s excited to be joining the Spirit and working toward a return. 2012 team: None

2. Seattle: Laura Heyboer, F, Michigan 2011. WPS draft: 2012, fourth round. 2012 club: Western New York (WPSL Elite).

3. Boston: Bianca D’Agostino, M, Wake Forest 2010. WPS draft: 2011, third round. Also played for Penn State. Played for Atlanta in her WPS season. 2012 team: Boston (WPSL Elite).

4. Chicago: Michelle Wenino, D, Colorado 2008. Whirlwind three years with Chicago, Freiburg (Germany), Pali Blues and Sky Blue. Also does sales and finance for GQ Formalwear. 2012 team: Chicago (WPSL Elite).

5. Sky Blue: CoCo Goodson, D, UC Irvine 2011. WPS draft: 2012, second round. 2012 team: FC Twente (Netherlands).

6. Kansas City: Merritt Mathias, F, Texas A&M 2011. Started college at North Carolina. Not picked in WPS draft. 2012 team: New York (WPSL Elite).

7. Western New York: Kim Yokers, M, Cal-Berkeley 2003. Played with FC Gold Pride in WPS, 2012 team: New York (WPSL Elite).

8. Portland: Michele Weissenhofer, F, Notre Dame 2009. WPS draft: 2010, fourth round. Played in Germany with Essen-Schonebeck. 2012 team: Chicago (WPSL Elite).

FOURTH ROUND

1. Washington: Tasha Kai, F, Hawaii 2005. PWow! Longtime national team player gets picked this late? Are they taking a chance that she’s interested in playing? Played for Sky Blue and Philadelphia. 2012 team: As far as I can find, none.

2. Seattle: Liz Bogus, F, Arizona State 2005. WPS draft: 2008 general, third round. Played a lot of places, including Pali Blues, before stints with Los Angeles and Boston in WPS. 2012 team: Pali Blues (W-League).

3. Boston: Jasmyne Spencer, F, Maryland 2011. WPS draft: 2012, fourth round. Short but speedy and effective scorer. 2012 teams: New York (WPSL Elite)/Brondby (Denmark).

4. Chicago: Jackie Santacaterina, D, Illinois 2009. WPS draft: 2010, seventh round. Went to Chicago in the WPSL instead, and she’s still there. 2012 team: Chicago (WPSL Elite).

5. Sky Blue: Meghan Lenczyk, F, Virginia 2010. WPS draft: 2011, third round. Played for Atlanta. 2012 team: New York (WPSL Elite).

6. Kansas City: Casey (Nogueira) Loyd, M, North Carolina 2009. WPS draft: 2010, first round (eighth overall). Played for Chicago and Sky Blue. Longtime U.S. youth international star seems to have dropped off the map, and there’s some concern that she might not play. Married FC Dallas’ Zach Loyd — maybe Sporting KC can trade for him so she’ll play? 2012 team: FC Dallas (WPSL).

7. Western New York: Val Henderson, GK, UCLA (NCAA). WPS draft: 2009, fifth round. Played for Los Angeles and Philadelphia in WPS and had signed with Atlanta for 2012. Also played in Sweden. Assistant coach at San Jose State and traveled to Singapore for coaching exchange. If she’s planning to play, it’s incredible that she was still on the board this late. 2012 team: Bay Area Breeze (WPSL).

8. Portland: Marian Dalmy, D, Santa Clara 2006. WPS draft: 2008 general, third round. Played for Chicago and magicJack. Another former national team player. Clearly, teams are now drafting in the hopes that some of these players will be persuaded to play now or later. Got married in early 2012. 2012 team: Can’t find one listed.

FIFTH ROUND

1. Washington: Megan Mischler, F, West Virginia 2010. Tweeted her excitement about being picked by the Spirit. Former PR assistant with Boston and fellow Our Game contributor. Also works on gameday PR for Pittsburgh Steelers. 2012 team: Hammarby (Sweden).

2. Seattle: Michelle Betos, GK, Georgia 2009. Also appears on past rosters for Atlanta Silverbacks, Boston Aztec, Apollon (Cyprus) and, most improbably, River Plate (Argentina). 2012 team: New York (WPSL Elite).

3. Boston: Lauren Alkek, D, Oklahoma 2010. WPS draft: 2011, fourth round. Played for Bay Area Breeze in 2011. 2012 team: Chicago (WPSL Elite).

4. Chicago: Alyssa Mautz, M, Texas A&M 2010.  WPS draft: 2011, third round. Played for Sky Blue. Has been tweeting her excitement about the new league. 2012 team: Chicago (WPSL Elite).

5. Sky Blue: Kandace Wilson, D, Cal State Fullerton 2005. WPS draft: 2008 general, second round. Played for Ajax America and Pali Blues before WPS, then played for Gold Pride and Western New York (WPS).  Assistant coach at alma mater. 2012 team: Not found

6. Kansas City: Tina DiMartino, M, UCLA 2008. WPS draft: 2009, first round (third overall, between Megan Rapinoe and Yael Averbuch). Another former national team player, also played for Gold Pride, St. Louis and Philadelphia in WPS. How is she still available this late? Equalizer’s Dan Lauletta says she “has no intention of playing in NWSL.” 2012 team: New York (WPSL Elite).

7. Western New York: Ashley Grove, F, Maryland 2011. Trained with Paul Riley SuperGroup. 2012 team: Rochester (W-League).

8. Portland: Jessica Shufelt, F, Connecticut 2011. 2012 team: Ottawa Fury (W-League).

SIXTH ROUND

1. Washington: Heather Cooke, D, Loyola (Md) 2009. Appeared on The Real World: Las Vegas. Then she worked in the nuclear and fitness industries. And she played for the Philippines. 2012 team: FC Jax Destroyers (W-League).

2. Seattle: Kaley Fountain, D, Wake Forest 2009. WPS draft: 2010, second round. Played for Gold Pride, Atlanta and Western New York. Also did some reporting for CSN Bay Area. Tweeted that she will not be playing. 2012 team: Romney.

3. Boston: Jessica Luscinski, M, Boston University 2011. WPS draft: 2012, fourth round. Played college soccer in Boston, drafted by Boston, played WPSL Elite in Boston, playing NWSL … in Boston. 2012 team: Boston (WPSL Elite).

4. Chicago: Pass

5. Sky Blue: Allison Falk, D, Stanford 2008. WPS draft: 2009, second round. Scored first goal in WPS history for Los Angeles, then first goal in Philadelphia Independence history. WPS Defender of the Year finalist in 2010. Continued with Philly in 2011. Now an account executive at Eventbrite in the Bay Area. 2012 team: California Storm (WPSL), though no stats listed.

6. Kansas City: Casey Berrier, D, Loyola (Ill.) 2009. Retweeted the NWSL tweet of her selection. 2012 team: PK-35 (Finland).

7. Western New York: Pass

8. Portland: Pass

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soccer

NWSL ready to take its supplements

Posted on by Beau Dure

We still have a couple of vacancies in each club’s allotment of free agent signings — presumably signings that the team and league know about but have not yet officially approved, stamped, notarized, sealed with the blood of a pirate or whatever they need to do to make such things “official.” And yet we’re moving ahead with the Supplemental Draft at noon ET.

Who else is available? Let’s take a look, bearing in mind that most of us have no idea whether these players are actually planning to play this year:

– WPS Best XI 2011: Harris, Sinclair and Wambach were allocated. McNeill and Buczkowski signed as free agents. Engen is in England. Riley is in Sweden. Marta, Seger and Boquete are with Sweden’s Tyreso (along with Christen Press and Meghan Klingenberg — dang, that’s some team). Sweden plays a summer schedule, so unless someone moves midseason, those players would seem to be off the table. Engen could conceivably come back earlier.

That leaves Nikki Krzysik.

Jeff Kassouf also drew up a Best XI. Huffman has signed, Ellertson has declared she won’t play. That leaves Tasha Kai, who was last seen coaching in Las Vegas. She’s not on the USA Rugby player pool at the moment, though she played a bit with the sevens squad not too long ago.

– WPS 2012 draft: Leroux and Noyola were allocated. Henderson is an unconfirmed Kansas City signing. Hagen plays for Bayern Munich. Taylor and Deines (Taylor Dayne?) signed with Seattle. Wells signed with Washington.

That leaves first-rounders Stephanie Ochs and Camille Levin, along with most of the next three rounds.

– W-League All-League 2012: Averbuch is overseas. Cox is pregnant. Huffman’s already accounted for. Perez was allocated to WNY. Others may be anyone’s guess.

– Goalkeepers: Where are Val Henderson and Bianca Henninger?

– Others to consider: Joanna Lohman, Casey Nogueira.

Everyone ready? Check back for updates …

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