CARSON, CA – Thursday, April 2, 2009 – The Los Angeles Sol of Women’s Professional Soccer, fresh off a 2-0 defeat of the Washington Freedom in their first-ever match, have signed forward Liz Bogus to a developmental contract, the club announced today. Per club and WPS policy, terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
The 25-year old Bogus tallied 31 goals and 18 assists during her four-year career with Arizona State University, picking up the Pac-10 Conference Freshman of the Year award in 2002 and earning Pac-10 First Team honors in 2002 and 2005. She joins a Los Angeles Sol side that already features three-time defending FIFA World Player of the Year Marta and U.S. National Team fixtures Shannon Boxx and Aly Wagner.
“Bogi possesses exceptional pace and athleticism,” General Manager Charlie Naimo said. “She is a terrific all-around player that will truly be an asset to this team.”
The 2002 Gatorade Utah High School Player of the Year will join former ASU teammate Manya Makoski on the pitch for the Sol.
For all women soccer fans March 30, 2009 marked a new day in history. After six long years women’s professional soccer finally returned to the USA. As a fan and player I was so excited. I was eager to finally watch my hometown team the LA Sol finally take the field, especially Marta. I was so pleased by the crowd turnout of almost 15,000 people. The atmosphere at the HDC was amazing, thanks to the Galaxy and now Sol supporter group Angel City Brigade. If you where at the stadium or watched the game on TV I’m sure you where able to hear us cheer along the Sol. Make sure to come by section 121 and sit with the ACB and cheer the Sol on.
As I check the soccer blogs and forums it seems the two main topics of discussion are:
Did Allison Faulk really score the first goal? Or did she foul Scurry? Well as I watched the replay over and over (even on freeze frame on my DVR) it doesn’t look to me like Faulk touched the ball and she did kind of run into Scurry. However, the ref did not call it so the goal stands period. Even if Faulk’s goal would not have counted I do believe the Sol out played the Freedom and deserved to win.
Almost 15,000 fans for the first match now what? Can it last? Ok now lets be realistic, since it’s the first league match of course their will be more fans that are expected for the rest of the season. WPS goal is about 4,000 – 6,000, which I do think is doable. I do think we will have a bigger picture of how the league is doing and how it will do in about the third season. But I hope their is not a severe drop off in attendance.
By the way I re-watched the match as I recorded it on my DVR man Miyama was amazing she was all over the place. Marta was Marta, amazing skill. Faulk was a good solid defender. I’m defiantly looking forward to watching Johanna Frisk play in a game, she looked really well in training.
Bridgeview, IL (March 26, 2009) – The Chicago Red Stars and The Globe Pub have formed a partnership, uniting Chicago’s newest professional sports franchise and the best soccer bar in the United States, as named by USSoccer.com in 2007 and 2008. The partnership will provide soccer fans in the Windy City a way to interact with Red Stars players and transportation options to matches at TOYOTA PARK.
“The Red Stars are excited to partner with a pub known worldwide for catering to soccer fans,” said Red Stars General Manager Marcia McDermott. “There’s no better place in Chicago to watch the inaugural WPS match than at The Globe.”
The Red Stars will kick off the inaugural season of Women’s Professional Soccer at The Globe on Sunday, March 29th with a viewing party for the first WPS match. Fans of all ages can sit alongside the Red Stars players to watch the WPS season get underway as the Washington Freedom and Los Angeles Sol meet on the pitch at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. The match begins at 5:00 pm, but the festivities will commence at 4:00 pm. Chicago Soccer will join in the party with a t-shirt giveaway before and during the match, and Red Stars prizes will be raffled off throughout.
“The team is very excited about the start of WPS,” said Red Stars Head Coach Emma Hayes. “We hope our fans will come and join us in what is a historic occasion at our home pub, the Globe.”
In addition, Chicago Red Stars season ticket holders will be able to pick up their season ticket packages at the viewing party.
The Globe will also host a viewing party every Sunday night of the regular season for WPS Sunday on FOX Soccer Channel (FSC). Five of the nationally televised contests will feature Chicago, and Red Stars players will be at The Globe for eight additional parties when the team isn’t also in action.
“We at The Globe are delighted to partner with the Chicago Red Stars,” said Globe Owner Jamie Hale. “The Globe has always been the destination point for serious soccer fans, and this partnership with the Red Stars will give our patrons a great opportunity to interact with team players and a fun and convenient transportation option to get to Red Stars games.”
In addition, The Globe will sponsor a fan coach for the Red Stars’ first match, Saturday, April 4th at St. Louis Athletica. The bus will depart The Globe (1934 W. Irving Park Rd., Chicago) at noon and return following the Red Stars’ match. The $50 package includes a game ticket, transportation and refreshments. Reservations on the fan coach can be made by contacting The Globe at (773) 871-3757.
When the Red Stars are home, The Globe will also provide transportation to TOYOTA PARK. A $15 charge covers round-trip transportation and refreshments on the bus, but not the game ticket.
BOYDS, Md. (March 23) – The Washington Freedom announced today that Mark Washo will be the Freedom’s new President & General Manager, replacing outgoing President & General Manager Joseph Quinn. Washo was most recently the acting President of the ticket sales services company he founded, MMW Marketing Sports and Entertainment. Previous to running his own consulting company, he was the Executive Vice President of the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer, supervising Ticket Sales/Operations, Customer Service, Marketing and Community Relations. Washo will immediately take up his post in the Freedom offices in Germantown, Md.
“We are grateful to Joe Quinn for his stewardship of the Washington Freedom over the course of the last year as he led us through the preparation phase of the organization,” said Freedom Chairwoman Maureen Hendricks, “Now we are thrilled to have Mark join the team. He brings a wealth of experience, talent, and know-how to the Freedom.”
Washo boasts an impressive resume including stops at three of the most successful franchises in MLS. Under Washo’s leadership, the Chicago Fire achieved the highest total ticket sales revenue in club history in 2008. This achievement includes all-time highs in full season tickets, group tickets and total tickets sold.Prior to joining the Chicago Fire, Washo was the Senior Vice President of the New York/New Jersey MetroStars. He was promoted to Senior Vice President of the MetroStars after serving as the team’s Vice President of Ticket Sales for four seasons. Washo joined the MetroStars after spending the previous five seasons with D.C. United as the team’s Senior Director of Ticket Sales.
Washo’s success in ticket sales led him to author the book, “Break Into Sports Through Ticket Sales,” which is regarded as the go-to manual for all young professionals seeking to acquire a job and succeed in ticket sales.
“I would like to thank John and Maureen Hendricks for providing me with this tremendous opportunity to lead the re-launch of the Washington Freedom,” Washo said. “I am excited to get started and be reacquainted with many old friends in the greater DC area soccer community. We are looking forward to strong crowd support for our home opener on April 11, and encourage all our fans to join us in the celebration.”
Instead of taking breakfast orders last Sunday, the waitress reclined in a booth at Norma’s Family Restaurant in downtown Watsonville and let the customers come to her.
“I’m praying for you,” one of her regulars said. “And I don’t go to church too often.”
Many in the Pajaro Valley are praying that Priscilla Meza can trade serving platters at Norma’s for a career with FC Gold Pride, one of seven teams in the new Women’s Professional Soccer league that launches next month.
The 22-year-old waitress has become a local inspiration, an unlikely prospect in an upper-crust sport played on the groomed fields of suburbia.
Meza wasn’t involved with the elite youth Olympic Development Program. Her college experience consists of one season at Cabrillo College. She has played on local rec teams here and there while living on her own since 16 because both parents have been in and out of prison much of her life.
Now Meza will learn Thursday if she is one of the 10 players who survived the Gold Pride’s first cuts. The final roster — 22 players, including four on the developmental squad — will be determined by March 25.
“Three more days,” Meza said Sunday, referring to the time left to show she belongs on a team of famous Olympians, World Cup winners and NCAA stars. (Read More)
Ok so today was the much awaited Sol Fest and let me tell you it was amazing. For all those who attended you know what I’m talking about. So this next blog entry I’m going to write it as the super soccer fan that I am.
Well as you can see I was able to get my Marta picture and autograph but man it cost me. Why, well see I’m really sick I have a cold / flu whatever you want to call it. So at 11:15 or so I made the 2 mile drive to the Home Depot Center. Sol Fest was awesome even though I was hating life. For about 2 hours you could watch the team practice which was awesome. They did a whole bunch of drills and at the end did a scrimmage.
You could also have a tour of the Home Depot Center which included a locker room tour. I did not do this cause I got in line for autographs. The funny thing was that their was 6 tables where the players would sign autographs. However, the staff did not know which table Marta would be in, so it was luck of the draw. So lucky me, I was in the line where she signed autographs. But let me tell you when people saw that Marta was in our line people started going crazy, cutting in line and all. So it took some time for the people that where in that line to get the autograph, I’m guessing about an hour and a half. Can you imagine me standing their with my fever, headache and sore throat, hahahahaha man I’m a super fan I guess. Many times I thought about just saying, “screw” and leaving but I didn’t.
Up close Marta is pretty small and it makes you wonder how someone so petite can be so amazing on the field, size just doesn’t matter I guess. Marta is pretty cool, but you could not really talked to her cause they where rushing the signings cause of so many people in her line. I just said hi and asked for a picture in spanish and she responded in Portuguese and she told me thank you for coming. When she was signing my soccer ball this crazy lady rushed security and got right in her face and kept screaming at Marta, “I love you I love you, can I get an autograph.”
By the time I finally met her it was about 230 and i was only able to get Aly Wagner, Brittnay Bock, Katie Larkin and Katie Hooker autographs. By this time I was ready to go home and climb into bed. However, sitting on my desk in my new prize possession my Marta autographed soccer ball.
One thing I will say about Sol Fest is that it was great to see so much diversity at the festival. You saw every type of soccer fan, the soccer moms and dads, kids, teenagers, college and high school players, women, men, but for me the biggest surprise was the huge turn out of the Latino and Brazilian community. It was great to see so many Latino / Brazilian families supporting women’s soccer. But I guess its safe to say a girl from Brazil can be given credit for that. Make sure you check out the Sol’s album page to see more Sol Fest pictures.
On February 22, 2009, Marta made her first public appearance since joining the LA Sol at the Soccer Nation Expo in Los Angeles. As promised, the Women’s Soccer Show was there to fill you in on the action!
The 3-time FIFA Player of the Year was received with much excitement and fanfare by her loyal, and new fans alike, and she, graceful as ever, seemed to enjoy most of it.
At first, Marta gave off a somewhat nervous vibe as she was introduced to the crowd. She seemed to be in a daze as her fans snapped pictures and hollered the occasional, “I love you Marta,” “Juegas muy bonito,” or “You are the best Marta”. It’s understandable how the roaring crowd could be intimidating for the petite player, and I couldn’t help but notice the big sigh of relief she let out when she sat down and started signing autographs. But who could blame her for feeling a bit anxious. February 21st marked a new chapter in life.
She seemed overjoyed when the occasional Brazilian / Latino fan would say something to her in Portuguese or Spanish in an attempt to start a conversation (I believe she understands a bit of Spanish but does not speak it fluently). Hopefully with the support of the Brazilian / Latino community in Los Angeles she will find it easy to adapt to her new home.
Through the entire time she was all smiles when the star struck attendees would ask if they could take a picture with her. While taking pictures and video of Marta, I couldn’t help but notice how charming she is when interacting with her fans and the LA Sol staff. There is something truly special about her that captivates you. Could it be her warm generous smile? Her superhuman soccer skills? Or maybe her superstar status in FIFA?
The best part of the event was when she left the autograph booth to head out to the main soccer field for a game of “Kingman” soccer. As you can see in our video, the scene looked more like a TMZ shoot on Robertson Blvd. About 20 people started following her, snapping pictures, shaking her hand and requesting for autographs. For an instance I thought I was back in 1999 hearing, “Mia, Mia, Mia, Mia,” but now it was, “Marta, Marta, Marta.”
During the soccer match, Marta would occasionally do some crazy trick or move, but as luck would have it we had already turned our cameras off. Watching her up close in action was a treat, kind of reminiscent as watching Ronaldihno play in 2006 (Barcelona USA Tour). If you are able to catch her in action, GO!!!! I promise she won’t disappoint. She truly is the best women’s soccer player.
Marta’s next promotional stop will be in New York City on February 24th and 25th for the WPS Team Kit Unveiling event and media tour. She and other WPS players, including, Johanna Frisk, Heather O’Reilly, Hope Solo, Amy Rodriguez, Carli Lloyd to name a few, will be modeling the leagues home and away uniforms, designed by Project Runway winner Christian Siriano. League officials will also be doing media rounds along with a few WPS stars.