Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Emma's First Impressions


Chicago Red Stars Head Coach Emma Hayes spilled her guts in a Q&A with Red Stars' Amanda Vandervort.

Emma talks about her first impressions of Chicago, her thoughts on going to scout the Olympics in China and her planned style of play. Here's a player she may want to consider!

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

The Dartmouth Connection


The Chicago Red Stars have minor league affiliates in the final four of both the W-league and WPSL playoffs and they're both backstopped by Dartmouth goalkeepers.

FC Indiana, with Kristin Luckenbill (Dartmouth '01) in goal, emerged battered, but victorious in the W-league Central Conference Championship match-up Sunday evening 4-3 in overtime over Ottawa. FC Indiana advances to the W-League final four in Virginia Beach along with Pali Blues, Washington Freedom and Seattle Sounders. FCI wll match up against Seattle and Pali Blues will play Washington in the semis.

The MYSC Lady Blues scored early against the Brevard County Cocoa Expos Monday night and held on for a 1-0 victory to advance to this weekend's WPSL final four in Sacramento. A solid defense and Lauel Peak's (Dartmouth '09) spectacular goalkeeping held the Sunshine Conference champs scoreless.

Good luck to both teams in their respective championship weekend tournaments and thank you Big Green for producing two great goalkeepers.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Leslie's Trip to Chicago


Injured USWNT star Leslie Osborne spent yesterday in Chicago promoting the Chicago Red Stars and Women's Professional Soccer (WPS). Leslie, who is from Brookfield, Wisconsin, and played and coached with Chicago's Eclipse Select Soccer Club, flew in from LA late Friday night. She was picked up by Red Stars Head Coach Emma Hayes ridiculously early Saturday morning and taken to the IWSL Fall Seeding Meeting in Schaumburg, which started at 7:30 am. Leslie's not new to public appearances and showed her experience in the professional way she handled her appearances in Chicago.

Leslie, Emma, Red Stars Director of Sales Greg Zaskowski and i spoke to all the IWSL U-8 and U-9 team representatives before Emma and Leslie left for another appearance on Chicago's lakefront.

While Greg and i met with IWSL's upper age team reps through the day, Emma and Leslie met the crowd at the Chicago Beach Soccer Invitational.

i didn't see the reaction to their appearance firsthand at the beach tournament, but Emma and Leslie were very well received in Schaumburg and reports i heard from the beach were also very positive. If you were there, let me know how you thought it went. Like our two US/Brazil viewing parties earlier in the month, these two appearances demonstrate the different audiences the Red Stars are reaching out towards. If we can be successful attracting traditional women's soccer fans from suburban families and traditional men's soccer fans from the city, we will have an exciting and diverse fan base to support the team.

i spoke to Leslie about her missed opportunity in China and she was philosophical about it. She noted that this will give her more experience in broadcasting, which could prepare her for opportunities in the future.

As i type, i'm getting W-League playoff updates from Emma who is at the Central Conference Championship in West Lafayette, Indiana. Late in the game, Ottawa holds a 2-1 lead over Red Stars affiliate FC Indiana.


EDIT: Laura Del Rio equalizes for FCI in final moments of regulation!!!!

EDIT2: THREE GOALS IN OT! A "world class goal" by Del Rio according to Emma, another by Veronica Phewa for FCI to make it 4-2 and then a PK for Ottawa to make the final score FCI 4, Ottawa 3. The Lionesses advance!! Congratulations to Shek and everyone at FC Indiana!

Friday, July 25, 2008

A Day Brightener


i received a phone call today from Chicago Fire legend and fellow Ring of Fire member Lubos Kubik. He was at the airport waiting to board a flight to Hong Kong and the Beijing Olympics where he will serve as Piotr Nowak's Assistant Coach for the United States Men's Olympic Soccer Team.

We talked about getting together in October when he plans to be in Chicago and he offered to help the Chicago Red Stars source players in Eastern Europe.

Lubos has always been one of my favorite people in soccer. He was a very special player, has a great soccer mind and is as kind as anyone in the game.

i asked him to give Piotr and soon-to-be-new Fire forward Brian McBride my best and wished him well in China.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

News From the Annex




The Toyota Park Annex (aka as the Chicago Red Stars office) has been rockin' with action lately. Consider:

* The interior rehab was recently completed with the addition of cubes for our sales staff and interns.
* The exterior design was completed yesterday with the addition of Red Stars and Toyota Park logos, Women's Professional Soccer word mark and a number of red stars.
* We've been planning for Leslie Osborne and Emma Hayes' appearance Saturday afternoon at the Chicago Beach Soccer Invitational this weekend.
* Leslie and Emma will be joining Red Stars Director of Ticket Sales Greg Zaskowski and me at the IWSL Fall Seeding Meetings this Saturday morning.
* The Red Stars Managers Monthly Meeting is today
* Emma's travelling to West Lafayette, Indiana this weekend for the W-league Central Conference Final Four featuring host FC Indiana, Chicago Gaels, Toronto Lynx and Ottawa on Friday and Sunday.
* Staff members are meeting daily with IWSL club leaders to discuss partnerships.
* The team continues to sell season tickets at a healthy clip of 50 per week. We are pacing well for our goal of 3,000. If you haven't already done so, i recommend putting your $50 deposit down now.
* Red Stars Director of On-Line Marketing Amanda Vandervort is working with the League on preparations for the League's social networking site, which will launch in time to follow future WPS and Red Stars players at the Beijing Olympics.
* Amanda's also working on a new merchandise site that will be easier to navigate and allow us to offer more Red Stars items.
* Emma has been on the phone non-stop using her network to gather updated information on the world's best women's soccer players in preparation for the WPS allocation of USWNT players in mid-September and the three WPS drafts in September, October and January.

The Chicago Red Stars are now in full operational mode.

Monday, July 21, 2008

i'm back....

ok, i swore last year that i wasn't going to go back, but today i did. Chicago Red Stars launched its Facebook page recently and i broke down and rejoined, so i could be part of the Red Stars Facebook community...in the interests of keeping up with the Red Stars social networking efforts and increasing my accesibility, i suspect that my return to MySpace can't be too far behind.

If you're on FB, feel free to Friend me...and buy me a virtual drink...or pirate hat.

Arrrrr!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

A Warrior

Tonight I saw history repeated. I saw a real warrior knocked down. In the final USWNT game before departing for China and the Olympics, Abby Wambach broke her leg while trying to score her 100th goal for the USWNT.

She managed to force a smile and showed amazing inner strength and fortitude while being treated on the field.

Sadly, I was in Washington, DC eight years ago when Chris Armas tore his acl on the RFK field less than a month prior to the Sydney Olympics. And tonight, at Torero Stadium in San Diego, I saw another Olympic dream crushed.

Chris was a warrior, too and I am sure that like the former US Men's captain, Abby will work harder than ever and get back up after tonight's crushing blow. It will simply have to wait until the WPS season.

Get well Abby!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Red Stars Affiliates Roll

Chicago Red Stars W-League affiliate FC Indiana clinched the W-league Midwest Division title Sunday with a 2-0 win over Kalamazoo.

The Chicago Gaels 1-0 win over Minnesota yesterday reduced their magic number to one in order to clinch second place in the W-League Midwest Division and a playoff spot.

The Red Stars WPSL affiliate MYSC Lady Blues can clinch the WPSL Midwest Division title and a playoff spot tomorrow night with a win at the Chicago Breeze.

Good luck to all three teams.

FC Indiana hosts the Chicago Gaels Thursday night at 8:00 pm ET at Kuntz Stadium.

i am off to San Diego today for WPS BOG meetings and the USA vs. Brazil Women's National Team game tomorrow night.

Expansion, marketing, broadcast and player issues will dominate the meetings. All good and exciting stuff.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Hi Ho, Hi Ho...

Well, work in my position doesn't exactly require any heavy lifting, so i don't want this to come off as complaining, because i'm not.

After a long and fruitful night promoting the Red Stars at the Fire game* at Toyota Park Saturday, i put in 12 hours today, but it was all good and fun.

This morning i left for Judson College at 10 am for the WPSL game between local FC Twente3 and Chicago Red Stars WPSL affiliate MYSC Lady Blues. After trying to watch two soccer games Friday night only to have them both cancelled by lightning, it was great to have such a beautiful day today to watch this game. The Madison, WI based Lady Blues won 5-0 and maintained the best record in the WPSL Midwest Division. A victory Wednesday night at the Chicago Breeze (who feature Red Stars supporter Corrie Eastland), will clinch the Midwest Division title for the Lady Blues.

After speaking with FC Twente3 Coach Richard Drake and Lady Blues Coach Ben John, i took off for GameWorks in Schaumburg for the Red Stars first viewing party ever. It was also our second overflow "sellout" as Red Stars fans filled tables in the viewing room as well as in the overflow Stadium Bar area to watch the USA beat Brazil 1-0 on a second half strike by Amy Rodriguez and hear from Red Stars GM Marcia McDermott (in person) and Head Coach Emma Hayes (via internet at halftime). Red Stars staff distributed promotional materials, raffled off prizes and talked up the team to the crowd.

i then drove to Milwaukee to drop off 100 Barcelona/Chivas tickets and meet up with my friend Valdemar Escobar for a bar-b-que and discussions about promoting the Red Stars in Milwaukee's Latino community before heading home 12 hours after the day began. Sitting in the sun watching a soccer game, hosting a soccer viewing party at GameWorks and talking soccer at a Sunday evening bar-b-que - it's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it ;-).

* Saturday evening, we started at 5 pm promoting the Red Stars to fans tailgating before the Fire game at Toyota Park. The pre-game promotion was shortened when TP management asked us not to pass out anymore Red Stars brochures or window clings in the parking lot, because we didn't ask the Fire's permission. We'll be sure to ask first next time. Hopefully they'll say yes. We then entertained a number of youth soccer and corporate leaders in our suite while watching the Fire pull off a terrific extra time victory over Toronto FC. Afterwards, we mingled in the TP Stadium Club, then i met up with many Section 8 die-hards at Beefy's on Harlem - the unofficial post game meeting place of Section 8. By midnight i was ready to call it a night.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

FC Indiana Loads Up For 2009



Exciting news release from FC Indiana today:

INDIANAPOLIS, IN, July 12, 2008 — FC Indiana announced the re-signing of Mexico international Monica Ocampo for the 2009 season.
Ocampo, 21, was one of twenty finalists in contention for the title of 2006 FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year.
She has represented Mexico 45 times, scoring 31 goals, her most recent coming last October in a 1-1 tie with the US in Albuquerque, N.M.

“Ocampo has shown great potential with her performances for our club and the Mexican national team over the past two seasons and she will add great quality to our squad,” said FC Indiana coach Shek Borkowski.
Ocampo is the typical player Borkowski likes as she has technique, temperament and vision. In two seasons with FC Indiana, Ocampo scored 18 goals and assisted on 8 in 18 matches, while helping the club to 2007 Women’s Premier League national title and and this season to a first place finish in the United Soccer Leagues (USL) W-League - Midwest Division.

"I like technical and quick football – the way FC Indiana play," Ocampo said. “I hope to continue the success I’ve experienced here and hope to bring even more success to FC Indiana and the fans. I can play in the centre or on the wing, behind one or two strikers. I wanted to continue my career with FC Indiana because of the club’s attacking football philosophy."
“Ocampo has always been a priority, her vision and composure will be key to our future success. Her goal scoring rate at the international level is excellent,” said Borkowski.


The signing gives more credence to the Lionesses' new boast in their standard "About FC Indiana" paragraph at the end of their news releases. FC Indiana's description as "North America's only professional women's soccer team" has been replaced by:

FC Indiana is the world's leading women’s professional soccer club. FC Indiana is the most successful women’s professional soccer organization in the history of the United States. FC Indiana is two-time Women’s Premier League Champions (2005 and 2007) and winners of the 2005 U.S. Open Cup.


There may be a few people that would question the boasts above, but no one will ever accuse the Chicago Red Stars W-League affiliate of lacking self-confidence!

FYI, though FC Indiana is the Red Stars affiliate, no mechanisms have been put in place that would give the Red Stars any preference on FC Indiana players, including Ocampo.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Players, Players, Players



Lots is (are?) going on with WPS this week.

Most important is the long awaited announcement of the WPS player acquisition timeline.

Condensed version:

Week of Sept. 15: U.S. WNT / U.S. WNT Player Pool Allocation
Week of Sept. 22: Draft of Top International Players
Oct. 6: WPS General Draft of Domestic & International Players
Dec. 10-13: WPS West Coast Combine
Dec. 17-20: WPS East Coast Combine
Week of Jan. 14: WPS Post-Combine Draft
Beginning Feb. 1: WPS Tryouts in Teams' Local Markets
March 1: WPS Pre-Season Begins
April 4/5(TBD): WPS Regular Season Begins


Long version.

Answers to all your questions about the allocation of the US Women's National Team players to WPS teams.

Here's a good WPS update (including expansion info) from Commissioner Tonya Antonucci via USA Today's Beau Dure.

Chicago Red Stars minor league partners FC Indiana, Chicago Gaels and MYSC Lady Blues are also busy. Red Stars W-League affiliate FC Indiana smacked the previously undefeated Minnesota Lightning on the road the other day 6-0! The Red Stars W-League partner Chicago Gaels are the next test for Minnesota this Thursday night at 7:30 pm at Loyola University's soccer field on Devon and Hoyne. I'll be there along with much of the Red Stars staff including General Manager Marcia McDermott and Head Coach Emma Hayes. Please stop by and say hi at half time. During the game, join us as we watch potential WPS players on both sides. MYSC Lady Blues will be playing WPSL rival FC Twente3 on Sunday, July 13th. Kickoff is set for 11:00 am. The match is at Judson University in Elgin (I-90 west to Route 31 south...turn left at first stop light and then an immediate right into Judson...left at stop sign and follow road to the field)...FC Twente3 also play Friday night at Loyola v. Ohio Premier at 8:00 pm.

i'm in San Diego next week for WPS Board of Governors meetings and the USA vs. Brazil women's national team game on Wednesday, but i'll get back in time to join Emma in Indianapolis for the FC Indiana vs. Chicago Gaels contest at Kuntz Memorial Stadium. Earlier in the year, FCI came out ahead of Chicago 3-0 and the Gaels will be looking to end the Lionesses undefeated mark in 2008.

The USWNT game in San Diego is one of two matches next week vs. Brazil that can be watched with Chicago Red Stars fans and staff at local Red Stars viewing parties.

Emma will be at Sunday's Brazil/USWNT game at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Colorado, but she will be piped in at halftime for a live Q&A with fans at GameWorks in Schaumburg (601 N. Martingale). I'll be at the viewing party with Marcia and other staff. Lots of free stuff - chips, salsa, soda, GameWorks game card, Fair Game Women's Soccer Magazines and raffle prizes including USWNT bobbleheads and Red Stars merchandise to those attending. Party starts at 1:30 pm and the game starts at 3:00 pm.

Emma will handle the Q&A at Wednesday's viewing party at Fado Irish Pub in person. This party is for fans 21 and over and starts at 7:30 pm with food and drink specials. The Brazil/USWNT game starts at 9:00 pm. Fado is at 100 W. Grand in the River North section of Chicago.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Zombies and WPS Players


The headline topics are not related (hopefully anyway) except that they're the two topics in this post:

Instead of road tripping with Section 8's buses to Columbus for the Fire's frustrating 2-2 tie with the Crew yesterday, i took in the historic reunion tour of seminal 60's British invasion band The Zombies at their Summerfest stop on Milwaukee's lakefront.

The tour started in March with four of the original five members in tow (guitarist Paul Atkinson died four years ago), but only frontman Colin Blunstone and keyboardist Rod Argent stayed on through the summer. Argent bass player Jim Rodford and Rodford's drummer son replaced Chris White and Hugh Grundy on the tour. Besides their chart topping hits "She's Not There", "Tell Her No" and "Time of the Season", they also played Argent's 70's hit Hold Your Head High. The Zombies songs have held up well over the last 40 years. As one recent review noted:
Next to the Beatles, the Zombies may have been the most mature and sophisticated songwriters of the early British Invasion. If this sounds like a wild overstatement, break out your guitar and try to play their stuff. Unlike competing acts like the Kinks and the Yardbirds, the Zombies actually knew the meaning of the terms minor key and modulation.


On a TOTALLY different matter, later this week, Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) is expected to announce a timeline for the acquisition of players by its teams. The timeline will show when the US Women's National Team (who defeated Sweden yesterday 1-0), other domestic players and international players will be distributed. Much thought, debate and consideration has gone into this timeline and i'm excited to see it publicized, so all the League's stakeholders can have a better sense of the timing and mechanisms that will be involved in filling the team rosters.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Red Stars Hire Marketing Execs....and Other News You Can Use - All in the Red Stars Insider




If you are signed up for the Red Stars Insider, you probably already know that we announced the hiring of our final two department heads earlier today, veteran sports marketing executive Jeff Roth who will be our Director of Marketing, Sponsorship and Communications and soccer coach and internet executive Amanda Vandervort who will be our Director of On-Line Marketing and Camps (both of the new Red Stars marketing executives are pictured above - Amanda's the woman pictured to the right of center surrounded by her soccer team).

If you haven't already signed up for the Chicago Red Stars Insider, i suggest you do so here. In addition to getting the latest updates on the Red Stars in the news like this article by former Chicago Fire Assistant General Manager/Real Salt Lake General Manager Steve Pastorino, you'll be able to read the latest about the USWNT, the Red Stars affiliates and Red Stars partners like Windy City Rollers and the Illinois Women's Soccer League.

The Red Stars Insider has quickly turned into a pretty good source of info on the world of women's soccer in the midwest as well as a source for Red Stars 411 and associated interests.