Tag: women’s soccer

soccer

Women’s soccer marketing: The kids are not alright

Posted on by Beau Dure
Soccer game? Uh, yeah — it’s over there.

Joanna Lohman, the women’s soccer player most likely to win The Apprentice if she could stomach being in the same room with Donald Trump, has posted a strong, well-supported argument to pitch the new women’s soccer league to people other than soccer moms.

Some of the ideas aren’t new. Plenty of teams, including the Washington Freedom, have had beer gardens. WPS made a big push on social media, not the typical soccer mom hangout. And a lot of the talk around the WPS launch was that the WUSA had erred by aiming for soccer moms instead of soccer dads, who were more than happy to see Abby Wambach for $15 instead of shelling out $50 to see the Washington Wizards.

And some of the ideas are out of anyone’s control. A team floating on a $1 million annual budget isn’t going to come up with the megamillions for a downtown stadium accessible by mass transit. High schools and some colleges with transit-friendly facilities aren’t going to let teams set up beer gardens at their schools. Also, “downtown” and “tailgating” are often mutually exclusive things.

But the theory is sound, based on the marketing theories Lohman cites and the experience of past women’s leagues, where the youth soccer teams have tended to show up for a game or two, scream, get autographs, and disappear.

That leaves two questions:

1. How big of an audience is out there? Former Sky Blue exec Gerry Marrone asks in the comments on Lohman’s piece, and it’s difficult to quantify. Women’s soccer certainly has a passionate group that chats nonstop on Twitter and comments on every blog post about the sport (my blog numbers jump when I write about women’s soccer, though that’s also a statement on how little-read my other posts are), but some people have noticed it’s a group with the same handful of people.

2. Can teams effectively straddle the line between youth/family marketing and young adult marketing? Anecdotally, I think it’s working at D.C. United. They have a play area for kids, the tailgate is fun for all ages, and the “quiet side” where the families sit is sometimes stronger than the “loud side” where the supporters groups bounce.

This is where my personal experiences diverge. Yes, I’ve seen the youth soccer teams spend the whole D.C. United Women’s game rolling down the hill behind one of the goals. (I was proud that the Vienna team actually sat and watched the game.) I’ve seen families treat women’s soccer as a one-time experience, waiting 45 minutes for Abby’s autograph and taking off, never to return.

And yet I’m seeing D.C. United (men’s) getting more and more interest within my club. I’m now getting texts from parents during games, asking me for insight on something that just happened. (Not that I always have any insight, but it’s sweet that they think I do.) I’ve seen kids’ focus slowly change from the concessions to the field. People are asking me about going in on season-ticket plans.

So D.C. United is converting my suburban soccer parents (moms AND dads) into soccer fans. Can’t the women do the same thing?

I have to admit, that’s anecdotal evidence. But it makes me wonder what’s possible.

The real trick, though, might be converting Alex Morgan’s million-plus Twitter followers into ticket- and merchandise-buying fans. Where do they fit on Lohman’s chart?

It’s a good conversation to have. And personally, I’m excited. The view from the beer garden is much better than the obstructed view from the pressbox at the Soccerplex.

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Women’s soccer league: Now for something completely different

Posted on by Beau Dure

“Third time’s a charm?” doesn’t really fit the new women’s soccer league announced today. The League with No Name is too drastically different from the overly ambitious WUSA and its scaled-down successor, WPS.

This league revs up the cost containment of WPS, particularly the latter years. But it’s also a unique venture of three national federations, eight ownership groups and, apparently, Unnamed Sponsor Who Is Making The MLS-Affiliated Teams Use Non-MLS Names. (See Stumptown Footy’s deduction and D.C. United Women’s colorful statement.)

So don’t accuse this new league of trying the same thing and expecting different results. Whether it works or not, it’s a unique approach.

A few statements and news bits from around the new league:

– Portland: This MLSSoccer.com piece hails the Timbers involvement and other MLS ties with the new league, though it curiously omits D.C. United. (Granted, D.C. United’s involvement seems significantly smaller than the Timbers’ commitment, but they’re not totally out of the game.)

Timbers owner Merritt Paulson has a statement with a link for season-ticket sales.

– Seattle: The Sounders Women sound gracious after being passed up for the new league in favor of the other Seattle group, whose leader Bill Predmore spoke with The Seattle Times‘ Joshua Mayers.

And Tina Ellertson (who has obtained her coaching “A” license) is excited.

– Kansas City: Welcome to FC Kansas City, which has made its appearance known through the Missouri Comets (MISL) site. If you thought the Sporting KC ownership group skewed young, meet Brian Budzinski.

– Western New York: No statement yet on the Flash site, though they mentioned the announcement on Twitter.

– Chicago: A little more activity on Twitter; no full statement on the Red Stars site.

– Boston: Breakers managing partner Mike Stoller was on the conference call, and the site has a statement with stadium and ticket info.

– D.C.: See above. The team will remain at the Maryland SoccerPlex.

– New Jersey: Hello? Sky Blue?

Outside the league, there’s a bit of bitterness in Los Angeles.

There’s a more conciliatory tone from the USL. W-League senior director Amanda Duffy passed along the following statement:

USL and the W-League are supportive of U.S. Soccer and the new women’s professional league announced earlier today, consistent with how we’ve supported the previous women’s professional leagues of WUSA and WPS.

We’re pleased with the foundation we’ve established through the W-League in the United States and Canada as leaders in women’s soccer and continue to be focused on the quality growth of the league and its teams. Collectively we made substantial strides in 2012 and with several exciting discussions we’ve been having over the past 6-12 months we are pleased with our overall positive direction as we enter our 19th season of operation. We look forward to sharing more over the next 15-30 days.

Not enough? Read U.S. Soccer’s quote sheet.

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New women’s soccer league: Questions and evolving answers

Posted on by Beau Dure

Posting this before the 1 p.m. ET conference call about the new league. Will update throughout. (Beforehand, I’m putting “likely” if I think it’ll be answered; “unlikely” if I think it won’t be, etc.)

Post-conference update: Answers in bold.

The basics from the call:

Eight teams: Boston, New Jersey, Western New York, D.C., Chicago, Kansas City, Seattle, Portland

U.S. Soccer will run front office and fund up to 24 players. Canada will fund up 16. Mexico will fund up to 12.

————————————————————

ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: What’s the name of the new league?

Predicted likelihood of answer (PLOA): Likely

(Actual – Jack Bell question): No answer yet. 

Q: Does the new league have sponsors? A TV deal?

PLOA: Somewhat likely for sponsors; less likely for TV.

(Actual – my question): Handshake agreement on sponsor; preliminary talks with TV partner.

Q: A team in Kansas City, one that isn’t affiliated with the energetic and effective Sporting KC ownership, and not one in L.A.? What, you guys all have frequent-flier miles on Southwest? Any response to Charlie Naimo’s statement on L.A. being excluded?

PLOA: Sunil will probably decline to answer that.

(Actual: Michael Lewis question SPECIFICALLY on L.A.): “Doubt it” was pretty much right. Gulati joked that he feels like NFL commissioner Roger Goodell having to answer why there’s no team in L.A.

(Actual: Scott French question on L.A.): There was interest from L.A. but they’re not in first group.

Q: Terry Foley tweeted that his group had everything lined up but wasn’t picked. Any response?PLOA: Likely a polite, non-committal one.

(Actual: Michael Lewis question NOT SPECIFICALLY on Foley or L.A.): They had independent financial reviews and other criteria.

Q: Why no Canadian team?

(Actual: Neil Davidson question): Having a full national teams would skew the competition. Canadian cities could be involved down the road but not yet. (Answer from CSA president)

Q: How committed is U.S. Soccer to this league?PLOA: It’ll be answered; not quite sure how.

(Actual: Bell and Jeff Carlisle questions): Funding the players and front office.

Q: How many U.S. national team players will be under contract with the federation and the league?

PLOA: Should get a ballpark answer at least.

(Actual: opening statements): Up to 24.

Q: Will other players be fully professional?

(Actual: Carlisle question): Some may have other jobs or grad school. Mike Stoller, the Boston Breakers partner representing the eight ownership groups, said they will have a professional environment.

Q: Is this a multiyear commitment?

(Actual: Jeff DiVeronica question): We’re not asking people to put three years of operating expenses in escrow or anything, but it’s a multiyear commitment.

Q: What made Portland interesting?

(Actual: Oregonian question): Timbers fan base, investors led by Paulson family.

Q: Uhhh … Seattle Sounders?

PLOA: Very diplomatic answer.

 (Actual: Oregonian question): There will be a team from Seattle. (Didn’t specify which ownership group, but Sounders have said they’ll be in W-League, so …)

Q: At one point, it appeared that the USL would be heavily involved in the operations. Why did that change?

PLOA: Unlikely.

(Actual: Jeff Kassouf question): Some former USL teams involved. Sunil thanks USL staff.

Q: How much collaboration with MLS?

(Actual: Jonathan Tannenwald question): Soccer United Marketing, Soccer United Marketing, Don Garber, Soccer United Marketing, Dan Flynn, Soccer United Marketing.

Q: Salary cap?

(Actual: Kyle McCarthy question): “Certainly some guidelines.” Mentioned loose caps (or exceptions) from MLS and NBA.

——————

UNASKED QUESTIONS

Q: Hope Solo?

A: Next question.

Q: Hi, I haven’t read anything about women’s soccer in the last eight years. I was just wondering if Mia Hamm would be involved.

A: Mia is a wonderful ambassador for the game, etc., etc., what are you doing on this call?

Q: Mexico is involved. So will we have a team in Cancun?

A: No. Just players, no teams.

Q: Please?

A: No.

Q: Is Dan Borislow involved?

A: No. (I exchanged email with him. He’s skeptical of the league’s chance for success.)

—————

ALSO ON THE NEW LEAGUE

Dan Borislow says he owns the Freedom name, and it would be an issue if other people started to use it.

Peter Wilt, who helped launch the Chicago Red Stars and put forth a proposed new business plan in December, had this to say: “More reasonable budgets mitigate the risk and provide a sensible baseline to build on. Federations subsidizing national team player compensation is a creative way to help keep expenses down and quality of play up. Across the board cost reductions will need to be implemented (relative to WPS costs) to reach the new budget targets however. While this new business model doesn’t assure breaking even, it does lessen the chances of losing significant sums and makes the business proposition more attractive, which should attract more investors in the future.”

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soccer

Sermanni makes good impression in first U.S. call

Posted on by Beau Dure

New U.S. women’s soccer coach Tom Sermanni didn’t break out into song. Nor did he start calling out rival soccer coaches.

Instead, Sermanni came across as a level-headed guy who seems to appreciate the complexities of his new job without rushing to judgment on how he wants to proceed.

He wants to play a positive, attacking style, continuing the efforts Pia Sundhage made to eliminate “kickball” (in the words of Mark Ziegler).

“The game’s changing at a rapid pace,” he said in response to Brian Straus’s question about whether he needed to overhaul the team or just keep a steady hand on the helm of the fastest boat in the fleet. In other words, Sermanni knows every team, no matter how good, will have to evolve.

And he’s going to keep an open mind about the player pool. Asked about integrating young players, Sermanni said he wants to have greater competition not just from the U-20s on their way up but players already IN their 20s. If you have a particular favorite from WPS who never got much of a chance under Pia, that has to be heartwarming.

But he hastened to say he hasn’t made any decisions yet. He doesn’t know if he’ll start a drastically different side in his first home friendly. He’s not rushing to push out Shannon Boxx or Christie Rampone, saying he’s not going to make decisions based on “chronological age.”

Basically, he managed to come across as open-minded without being ignorant. Impressive.

We’ll see how long of a honeymoon period he gets — my guess is it’ll tough for him to pick a roster that offends no one on Twitter — but he came across quite well in this first impression. Friendly, knowledgeable, enthusiastic and sincere.

Too bad women’s soccer doesn’t have a major offyear tournament. (Copa America for whole Western Hemisphere would be fun.)

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Women’s soccer trending upward or going in circles?

Posted on by Beau Dure

Interesting quote in this espnW report on the USA-Germany game:

The new coach, (Abby) Wambach told reporters this week, will have to be someone who “can put all the X’s and O’s together but who can also treat this more like a business. Gone are the days when the players aren’t recognized. We’re selling out stadiums.”

Rewind to two years ago, when I had one of many good conversations with the ever-thoughtful Wambach at the Maryland SoccerPlex:

“It feels like I’m doing something wrong,” says Washington Freedom forward Abby Wambach. “It feels like I’m failing at my job. I wanted to be part of the thing that kept it going. Now it feels like we have taken a step back at some level.”

So here’s the question*: What’s “normal” for women’s soccer? Selling out stadiums and being recognized? Toiling in obscurity at the SoccerPlex with a few empty seats in the bleachers? Or something in between?

Let’s rewind further to the WUSA (2001-2003). The typical post-mortem of that league is that expectations were wildly inflated after the 1999 Women’s World Cup, when the players were recognized and were selling out stadiums. The league leaned heavily on those stars.

Women’s soccer stars have shown staying power. Brandi Chastain still draws enthusiastic fans everywhere (Twitter exceptions duly noted). Julie Foudy is still an authority on leadership. Mia Hamm draws squeals from fans who were maybe 3 or 4 in 1999.

But how much can the “business” of women’s soccer depend on players being recognized? When Wambach, Solo, Rampone and company are gone in 1-5 years, will enough stars emerge alongside Alex Morgan?

Women’s soccer has gone from obscurity through a boom, bust and boom cycle. Will this boom last? Or are up-and-down cycles inevitable?

That’s what Sunil Gulati, U.S. Soccer business planners and a few team owners are surely trying to quantify right now.

* – You could also argue that the question is what the U.S. women’s coach has to do with running things “like a business.” Isn’t the new coach’s job to evaluate the whole talent pool and get the best players on the field in the best spots? Shouldn’t other people be worrying about the “business”? A conspiracy theorist would say a “business” would mean leaving the same core players on the field ad infinitum while they’re being “recognized,” but I don’t think that’s what Wambach meant. 

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soccer

Women’s soccer league reaching critical mass?

Posted on by Beau Dure

Major league baseball is in trouble … in Florida.

Major League Soccer is in trouble … in the sense that Chivas USA might move at some point.

When you’re worrying about individual teams instead of a league, you’re at a stage women’s soccer has yet to reach in this country.

So when Sunil Gulati says they’re looking at 11 possible owners in 10 possible markets, that could mean this league is operating with more margin of error than leagues in the past. (Jeff Kassouf looks at the geography; Jeff DiVeronica confirms Western New York as one of the interested parties.) The WUSA had eight teams. WPS struggled to reach that total and was scraping for owners in its last couple of seasons.

That could be a preliminary number, of course. Perhaps, like so many WPS expansion candidates, some of these owners will be ephemeral. Or maybe the optimists will win out here, and the new business plan is winning over prospective owners.

The business plan is surely as reasonable as it’s going to get, particularly with U.S. Soccer backing this league more explicitly than it has in the past.

 

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Women’s soccer in Europe and other scattered venues

Posted on by Beau Dure

Before going to the Champions League roundup for the week, let’s pause to consider how much more difficult it is to plan a Fan Tribute Tour in the United States that it would be in, say, the Netherlands.

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So yes, I’d like the team to come close enough to D.C. that I don’t need to pay for airfare and a hotel to see them. But a lot of the country could have that concern.

The one curious thing: They know it’s getting colder, right? See that big empty area below Connecticut? It’s a little warmer there.

Meanwhile, the Women’s Champions League in Europe wrapped up the round of 32, our favorite player/journalist Tiffany Weimer has checked in with her take on what it meant to hear the Champions League theme song and knock out Glasgow City. She even provided a few highlights. Anyone else think the Glasgow captain (20-second mark) looks a little like McKayla Maroney, who’s mentioned in passing in the blog?

Weimer’s team has advanced. Here’s the full rundown.

Turbine Potsdam (Ger) 5-0 Standard Liege (Bel), aggregate 8-1: Alyssa Naeher got the start in goal for Potsdam and actually had a few saves to make — Standard got six shots on target. Keelin Winters played the full 90 for Potsdam after sitting out last week, while Alex Singer wasn’t on the gameday roster after playing last week. For Standard, American Carleta Arbulu once again wasn’t involved. For Anonma fans: She entered the match in the 58th minute and scored in the 87th.

Brondby (Den) 3-3 Stabaek (Nor), aggregate 3-5: The Norwegian side scored two first-half goals to run the aggregate lead to 4-0, then answered a Brondby goal quickly to run it to 5-1. Jasmyne Spencer joined the game in the 67th minute.

Lyon (Fra) 5-0 PK-35 (Fin), aggregate 12-0: PK once again started Americans Liz Bogus, Casey Berrier and Megan Chapin, but Lyon outshot them 32-0. The French juggernaut juggled its roster a bit, but Sonia Bompastor still went the distance and scored. Camille Abily also scored early. Lara Dickenmann and Ami Otaki were second-half subs.

Malmo (Swe) 6-1 MTK (Hun), aggregate 10-1: Malmo gave Ali Riley, Ramona Bachmann and Thora Helgadottir the night off, keeping them on the bench just in case. They weren’t needed.

Goteborg (Swe) 3-0 Spartak Subotica (Srb), aggregate 4-0: Christen Press got the final goal for Goteborg, which also started Yael Averbuch, Ingrid Wells, Camille Levin and Anita Asante.

Neulengbach (Aut) 2-2 Olimpia Cluj (Rou), aggregate 3-3, Cluj win on away goals: Each team scored in extra time — Cluj in the 101st minute, Neulengbach in the 108th. Stats say Neulengbach outshot Cluj 35-17 and had 16 shots on target, 2 off the woodwork.

Torres (Ita) 3-1 Apollon (Cyp), aggregate 6-3: Sinead Farrelly and Michelle Betos played the full 90 for the visitors. Arianna Criscione was on the Torres bench.

Fortuna Hjorring (Den) 0-0 Glasgow City (Sco), aggregate 2-1: Weimer played 75 minutes, Lisa-Marie Woods played 90, and Casey Ramirez was on the bench for Fortuna.

Verona (Ita) 3-0 Birmingham (Eng), after extra time, aggregate 3-2: Cristiana Girelli had the hat trick to stun the English side.

Zorkiy (Rus) 3-1 Stjarnan (Isl), aggregate 3-1: Mexico’s Fatima Leyva played 90 for the winners. Katie Deines and Ashley Bares started for Stjarnan; Veronica Perez replaced Bares in the second half.

Rossiyanka (Rus) 1-2 Den Haag (Ned), aggregate 5-3: Teresa Noyola had a late goal for Den Haag. Brittany Persaud came on as a late sub; Libby Guess wasn’t in the 18. Fabiana played 90 for Rossiyanka.

Arsenal (Eng) 4-0 Barcelona (Esp), aggregate 7-0: Kelly Smith started and was replaced at halftime by Jennifer Beattie, who had a second-half hat trick. Alex Scott played 90; Gemma Davison played 64.

Roa (Nor) 4-0 BIIK (Kaz), aggregate 8-0: Still no Lene Mykjaland for Roa.

Wolfsburg (Ger) 6-1 Unia Raciborz (Pol), aggregate 11-2: Rebecca Smith is out injured. Viola Odebrecht finished the scoring for Wolfsburg.

Juvisy (Fra) 1-0 Zurich (Sui), aggregate 2-1: Sonia Fuss got a yellow card for the visitors. Gaetane Thiney had the decisive goal on a PK in the second half.

Still to play next week: Sparta Praha (Cze)-Sarajevo (Bih). Sparta lead 3-0. Sarajevo has American Jelena Vrcelj.

Next update on a U.S. league: Maybe over the weekend. We’ll see.

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American women in Europe: Champions League soccer update

Posted on by Beau Dure

Can’t promise I’ll do this every time we have UEFA games, but with the round of 32 starting this week, it seemed like a good time to check out the Women’s Champions League and see how U.S. players and a few players with U.S. ties are doing.

(I’ve surely missed people. Please add them in the comments.)

These are first-leg games in the standard two-leg format. Home teams listed first:

Zurich (Sui) 1-1 Juvisy (Fra): Only one notable name — Germany’s Inka Grings, now playing for Zurich, has moved closer to the great Hanna Ljungberg’s European scoring record. (Update from comments: Zurich’s Sonja Fuss played at Hartford.)

BIIK Shymkent (Kaz) 0-4 Roa (Nor): Easy win for the Norwegian side. Lene Mykjaland (Washington Freedom) wasn’t in the lineup yesterday as Roa apparently dressed only 14 players, including Norwegian stars Siri Nordby and Caroline Knutsen. BIIK has a surprisingly diverse squad, with players from Brazil, Serbia, China, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and Nigeria.

Birmingham (Eng) 2-0 Verona (Ita): Two second-half goals for the hosts, whose lineup includes Karen Carney (Chicago). Eniola Aluko didn’t dress for Birmingham.

Spartak Subotica (Srb) 0-1 Goteborg (Swe): The winning side started Americans Christen Press (Stanford/magicJack), Yael Averbuch (North Carolina/WPS), Camille Levin (Stanford) and Ingrid Wells (Georgetown), with WPS vet Anita Asante coming off the bench. Levin had the lone goal. The Serbian side is mostly Serbian, with a couple of players from Cameroon and one from Montenegro.

Apollon (Cyp) 2-3 Torres (Ita): American Sinead Farrelly (Virginia/Philadelphia) opened the scoring for the hosts but left the game before halftime. Apollon extended the lead to 2-0, but Patrizia Panico scored a natural hat trick for the visitors in 19 minutes to take the win. American goalkeeper Arianna Criscione (Boston College/UCLA) was on the bench for Torres. Michelle Betos (Georgia/Atlanta Silverbacks) played in goal for Apollon.

PK-35 (Fin) 0-7 Lyon (Fra): Ouch. Americans Liz Bogus (Arizona State/WPS), Casey Berrier (Loyola) and Megan Chapin (Washington State/WPSL) were on the field for PK-35 against the bulk of the French national team, including former WPS stars Sonia Bompastor and Camille Abily. Sweden’s Lotta Schelin and Japan’s Ami Otaki weren’t in the 18 for Lyon. Their other big-name foreign player, Switzerland’s Lara Dickenmann (Ohio State), scored Lyon’s fourth. As Richard Farley says at Pro Soccer Talk, the defending champions may simply be too good. Lyon outshot PK 37-2 (hey, subtract 2 from 37, and you get … 35!).

Olympia Cluj (Rou) 1-1 Neulengbach (Aut): One of the round’s most anonymous matchups but one of its most dramatic so far, with the Austrians getting a late equalizer and vital road goal. Neulengbach has Canadian defender Gillian McPherson, but she wasn’t listed on yesterday’s lineup. Cluj’s only foreign player is from Cameroon.

Stabaek (Nor) 2-0 Brondby (Den): Jasmyne Spencer (Maryland), the only foreign player on Brondby’s roster, got a couple of late minutes for the visitors in a mad dash to get an away goal.

Standard Liege (Bel) 1-3 Turbine Potsdam (Ger): The good news for Standard: They somehow shut down Equatorial Guinea star Anonma. American keeper Alyssa Naeher (Penn State/Boston) was on the bench for Potsdam; a few reliable people on Twitter have told me she typically plays the Bundesliga games and sits out the Champions League games. Alex Singer (Virginia/Washington) went the distance for Potsdam. Keelin Winters (Portland/Boston/Seattle) is on Potsdam’s roster but wasn’t in the 18. Standard lists American forward Carleta Arbulu (Ohio State), but she also wasn’t involved yesterday.

Barcelona (Esp) 0-3 Arsenal (Eng): Two of the biggest men’s clubs in the world, but you’d have to say Arsenal has a bit more experience on the women’s side. Still, the final score here flatters Arsenal. Barcelona put eight shots on goal, and Arsenal keeper Emma Byrne was superb. Arsenal had several familiar names — Katie Chapman, Rachel Yankey, Alex Scott (Boston), Gemma Davison (Western NY) — but Kelly Smith (Seton Hall/WUSA/WPS)  remained on the bench. Barca’s squad is all Spanish except for one player for Argentina.

Glasgow City (Sco) 1-2 Fortuna Hjorring (Den): Tiffany Weimer (Penn State/WPS) and Lisa-Marie Woods (U.S. collegian/W-League) played the full 90 for Fortuna. Nadia Nadim got both goals and missed a PK that would’ve given her the hat trick. Casey Ramirez (Syracuse) wasn’t in Fortuna’s 18.

Stjarnan (Isl) 0-0 Zorkiy (Rus): The biggest name here was probably the referee — Sweden’s Jenny Palmqvist, who sent off Stjarnan captain Gunnhildur Yrsa Jonsdottir in the 38th minutes. The Iceland side does include Mexican Veronica Perez (Washington/St. Louis/Seattle) and American Ashley Bares (Marquette), each of whom came on as a second-half sub. (Update: I overlooked Kate Deines, who played with Washington and the Seattle Sounders. She’s listed as Icelandic at UEFA.com.) Zorkiy has two Mexican players — goalkeeper Anjuli Ladron and midfielder Fatima Leyva — who also played at FC Indiana.

THURSDAY’S GAMES (will update with quick recaps)

Sarajevo (Bih) 0-3 Sparta Praha (Cze): Sparta has only one non-Czech player — Slovakian goalkeeper Lenka Gazdikova. Sarajevo has only one foreigner as well — American Jelena Vrcelj (Jacksonville). Neither played in this game.

Unia Raciborz (Pol) 1-5 Wolfsburg (Ger): Viola Odebrecht (Florida State) is in the lineup for Wolfsburg. Rebecca Smith (Duke/New Zealand) isn’t in the 18. The Polish team has three Slovakians and one player from Equatorial Guinea, Chinasa, who scored their lone goal in this rout.

MTK (Hun) 0-4 Malmo (Swe): Malmo starts Ali Riley (Stanford/New Zealand/WPS), goalkeeper Thora Helgadottir (Iceland/Duke) and mercurial Swiss forward Ramona Bachmann (Atlanta Beat). MTK’s squad is all Hungarian.

Den Haag (Ned) 1-4 Rossiyanka (Rus): No lineup info yet. Mexico’s Teresa Noyola (Stanford) and American Brittany Persaud (Dayton/Dayton Dutch Lions) are listed on the Den Haag roster along with my fellow Athens Academy alum Libby Guess (North Carolina/W-League). Rossiyanka counters with a couple of players from Sweden and Nigeria along with Brazilian Fabiana (Boston Breakers). Noyola and Guess went the full 90, while Persaud came on in the 88th. The Russian team must be pretty good.

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Women’s soccer league officially getting more official

Posted on by Beau Dure
Hi, I’m Alex Morgan. I played professional soccer for the Western New York Flash. (Photo: Andy Mead/YCJ)

U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati talked with a few reporters yesterday (I had a conflict that involved cat-herding, I mean, youth soccer coaching) about the progress toward a new women’s soccer league.

The important takeaway wasn’t what was said. It was who said it.

If you read my last post on the matter, you know that there was some chatter suggesting that this new women’s soccer league was some sort of pipe dream of people who weren’t involved with U.S. Soccer. Gulati’s conference call made it clear: U.S. Soccer is at the table with the interested parties, with the most recent meeting taking place a few hours before the conference call. (That meeting did not include Dan Borislow or the WPSL, Jeff Kassouf reports. More about the WPSL shortly, but I’m not turning this post into another Borislow discussion thread.)

So what happened at the meeting, or what can we say so far? Let’s check Gulati’s comments: “quite positive,” “preliminary discussion with the National Team players,” “still being worked on” … in other words, nothing concrete.

But from U.S. Soccer’s perspective, things are changing. Support for a domestic women’s league has always seemed tepid. Now, Charles Boehm writes:

According to sources with knowledge of the situation, U.S. Soccer officials have concluded that the medium and long-term interests of the women’s program are best served by carefully fostering a pro or semipro league rather than maintaining a costly, and perhaps counterproductive, residency program for the core of the national team. Soccer Wire understands this to involve U.S. Soccer underwriting some or all of the cost of substantial salaries for established national teamers.

That’s not to say the new league suddenly has everyone following the same agenda. The WPSL, which tossed together an Elite League last year to include four pro teams (three formerly in WPS) and some of its top amateur sides, is still moving forward. The WPSL’s comment:

The WPSL Elite is still expanding for the upcoming 2012/13 season and expect a great season.

But the WPSL isn’t showing any outright hostility. Meanwhile, the USL is happy to move forward on multiple fronts.

USL continues to actively support the Federation’s leadership in the establishment of a viable women’s professional soccer league.  Simultaneously, we remain focused on strengthening the W-League for the 2013 season which was the home to many of the continent’s top players in 2012.

Maybe it’s impossible to make everyone happy in the women’s soccer turf wars. A better word might be “content.”

The skeptics are out on Twitter, with former Sky Blue GM Gerry Marrone asking this:

Then from the other end of the spectrum:

To which the Boston Breakers’ Lisa Cole replied:

The “better than nothing” argument (or, technically, the “better than the leagues that use college players and have to wrap up in July” argument) is hard to refute. Other leagues around the world have built on years of relative stability. Now they have enough cash to throw at U.S. players to lure them overseas. Lesson to be learned?

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soccer

New women’s soccer league: Must be some misunderstanding

Posted on by Beau Dure
Going pro at the Soccerplex again?

While the USA’s post-Olympic tour rolls on, a quiet effort to rebuild pro soccer in this country is still in progress. It’s hard to gauge how well that effort is going because much of it is going on in private. Meanwhile, the public information is either dispiriting or tawdry, depending on your point of view.

By now, many women’s soccer fans have read the Shaun Assael/Peter Keating/Lizzie Haldane story on magicJack in ESPN magazine’s “franchise issue.”  The story, with the clever headline “MAGICTRICK,” is not yet available online. You won’t find a bunch of former (current?) magicJack players publicly breaking their silence about their team’s wild year in WPS, but you will find more magicJack-related comments from both named and anonymous sources than we’ve seen in one place before. The story is reported and written very well.

In case you’ve missed it, here are a few highlights:

– More tales of Dan Borislow’s lavish spending on magicJack and then on the national team in London.

– A few more stories of Borislow’s behavior with the team, including rather personal questions about players’ sexuality. Borislow’s defenders would point out that the accounts are anonymously sourced.

– More accounts, both anonymous and directly quoted, suggesting Borislow takes a “my way or the highway” approach to many of his business and personal pursuits.

Those parts are mostly about Borislow the person. Like Hope Solo, he’s talented, driven and controversial. Whatever you think of him, you’d have to concede that he could write a lively memoir.

Then we get to the parts that are of greater interest as we roll forward with women’s soccer:

– The story depicts a large rift between the players in Borislow’s good graces (mostly, but not all, current national team players) and those who weren’t. An anonymous player says some teammates bragged about the big bucks they made for a couple of minutes of work on an ad campaign. Another anonymous source says original head coach Mike Lyons was fired within a few minutes of Abby Wambach complaining about him. Non-magicJack player Cat Whitehill, quoted by name, says she thinks Wambach and company likely didn’t want to see teammates mistreated but could’ve been more vocal about it. (Disclaimer: We don’t know what, if anything, the national team players said privately to Borislow about the issues.)

– Several top players are still on the magicJack payroll, and Borislow says he’s looking into some sort of team. No further description given.

– A telling direct quote from Borislow: “We should not have a pro league in this country unless they get paid real wages.”

That leads us to the as-yet-unnamed new league that was announced hours before the Olympic final. And this league has detractors beyond Borislow.

Not much has been said in public about this league. But several things said in private are worrisome. Or flat-out wrong.

Two things in the “wrong” category:

1. The new league will not be professional. It will be. The whole point is to get out of the W-League and WPSL restrictions (necessitated by the NCAA) on paying players and playing beyond late July. The new league’s backers intend to be professional. Moving to the new league would not be, as someone told me, a lateral move from the W-League.

2. U.S. Soccer is/was out of the loop. Nope. U.S. Soccer even knew the press release was going out at an unusual hour. (To be clear: It wasn’t U.S. Soccer’s decision to announce the league just then. But the federation was consulted, and it has been working with the new league’s backers.)

I’ve been told otherwise by people who have firm professional positions in women’s soccer. That leads to a question: Why? Why are they telling me something wrong? Is that what they heard? From whom?

Perhaps we shouldn’t be using a Genesis song for the headline here. Let’s try Led Zeppelin.

Communication breakdown … it’s always the same …

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