Category: women’s soccer

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Upcoming coverage/career plans

BD

Mid-major announcement to start with: Ranting Soccer Dad now has its own site. I’m not married to the design yet, but it should stabilize in the next few days. This site and podcast will be my top work priority for some time to come. I’m even planning a related book. Stay tuned. Ranting Soccer Dad deals primarily with youth soccer, but it ties into everything in the soccer world — U.S. Soccer politics, the national teams, the pro leagues (men and women), etc. Even if you think you’re not interested in youth soccer, check it out. You’ll find some interesting … Continue reading Upcoming coverage/career plans

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Alex Morgan’s ejection from Epcot: Not a big deal, not not newsworthy

BD

Let’s first get rid of the notion that male athletes or public figures would not make the news if they were tossed from a bar — let alone tossed from Epcot Center, where hundreds of people may have seen the incident — or some similar things: Ric Flair tossed out of bar (pro wrestler) Deshaun Watson kicked out of bar (football player) Something about a hat (also football) Something about paying with bubble gum (also football) Noooo! Harry Potter himself tossed from bar! (male actor) Underage college drinking (football) Underage college drinking (basketball) More college drinking (football) Remember Freddy Adu? (soccer) … Continue reading Alex Morgan’s ejection from Epcot: Not a big deal, not not newsworthy

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Spirit, Reign play a legitimately entertaining soccer game

BD

Things didn’t bode well Saturday. Traffic heading up the Beltway to Maryland was worse than usual. The SoccerPlex didn’t have its usual Ben & Jerry’s cart — Yom Kippur apparently kept the proprietor away. And Seattle’s Jess Fishlock, simultaneously one of the most inspirational and infuriating players in women’s soccer, started the game by clattering into Washington’s Mallory Pugh, the type of foul that does nothing other than send an early message. Then a funny thing happened. An actual soccer game broke out. Free-flowing. Long strings of passes. Good runs. For Spirit fans, it looked a bit like 2016 all … Continue reading Spirit, Reign play a legitimately entertaining soccer game

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Podcast, Ep. 10 – Ronnie Woodard on women in coaching, youth soccer madness

BD

  Tennessee Soccer Club’s Ronnie Woodard is a legit women’s soccer pioneer — first scholarship player and goalkeeper at Duke, one of the first wave of women’s soccer players to move into the coaching ranks. She has coached college and elite youth teams, winning 2016 NSCAA Coach of the Year honors, while launching a consulting business for college prospects. We talk about what’s keeping women out of coaching (10:20 mark) and what’s better or worse in youth soccer today (25:00). Then I rant about my youth soccer weekend (coach ejected!) and some upcoming Ranting Soccer Dad programming.   Continue reading Podcast, Ep. 10 – Ronnie Woodard on women in coaching, youth soccer madness

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Podcast, Ep. 9 — Girls’ Development Academy with Travis Clark, plus a soccerpolitical rant

BD

The podcast starts this week with a bit of a political rant. The news on DACA is hard to ignore, and we’ve had some ongoing overheated arguments in the soccer community. The Travis Clark interview on the Development Academy starts around the 9:25 mark. A few landmarks: Will the NWSL affiliates dominate? (19:45) DA vs. high school (25:00) Can we tame the chaos and still have multiple development pathways? (30:30) A few clubs to watch in the DA (38:45) Continue reading Podcast, Ep. 9 — Girls’ Development Academy with Travis Clark, plus a soccerpolitical rant

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Podcast, Ep. 8 — Youth development and women’s soccer with Kris Ward

BD

Kris Ward has done a bit of everything in coaching at a relatively young age — high school, Development Academy, ODP, college, traditional clubs and NWSL. We talk about rec soccer, how the U.S. academy approach compares with other countries and what a curriculum really means. Around the 40:30 mark, get ready for a detailed breakdown of all that isn’t working in U.S. women’s soccer. Continue reading Podcast, Ep. 8 — Youth development and women’s soccer with Kris Ward

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Spirit-Red Stars: A mad night at the SoccerPlex

BD

There’s just a lot of anger in the world right now. Our president took a break from Twitter ranting to issue the most controversial presidential pardon since Gerald Ford fell on his sword for Richard Nixon, paving the way for a peanut farmer from Georgia to become president and then a truly outstanding ex-president. North Korea, apparently angry about being pushed off the front page by U.S. domestic shenanigans and a hurricane (and a preposterous fight), flung a few more missiles into the sea, which raises the question of how many North Koreans live in dangerous poverty while Kim Jong … Continue reading Spirit-Red Stars: A mad night at the SoccerPlex