BOYDS, MD – September 15, 2009 - Two Members of the 2009 Washington Freedom, Lori Lindsey and Sarah Senty, were selected today in the first-ever expansion draft held by the Women’s Pro Soccer league to begin filling the rosters of the two expansion teams, the Atlanta Beat and the Philadelphia Independence. It is the first of many opportunities for player shuffling before the start of the 2010 season.
Each of the existing 2009 WPS teams were allowed to protect up to 10 players, but were required… Continue
By Becky Sauerbrunn
As our inaugural season draws to an end, I realize that it has taken me over four months to get to know my Freedom teammates. It is not because I am completely oblivious to others that it has taken me this long. I believe it takes a series of ups and downs to truly understand who a person is, and a soccer season is a perfect environment to facilitate this. As any true Freedom fan knows, we have had our share of ups and downs this season. We are in a playoff battle at the mom… Continue
By Becky Sauerbrunn
When asked to name great sports films people usually go with Hoosiers, Miracle, Rocky, The Natural, etc. What endears these films to us is the way these athletes overcome obstacles in order to become champions. We have this mentality in America where the underdog or “Cinderella story” victory carries so much more emotional weight. Who didn't choke back tears when Rocky stuns the world by defeating the scientifically-enhanced Russian while somehow bringing peace between two r… Continue
By Jim Higgins
It was a pretty quiet week around here in Freedom-land. Rather than try to make up something to talk about, I will just cut to the chase. I will say though that if you are a subscriber to Soccer America, check out the feature on Homare Sawa.
Articles:
Freedom Trying to Build Momentum in WPS (Washington Post, May 15)… Continue
[This is the first in a series of blogs written by Freedom defender Alex Singer. Enjoy. - Jim]
By Alex Singer
Last weekend I went back to Charlottesville for my last UVA Women’s Soccer team banquet. Every spring the girls, coaches, and their families gather for a night that consists of a dinner, awards, a highlight video, and senior tribute/farewell. This event usually marks the end of a season, but for me it went beyond just that. This was my first time back at school since I left in F… Continue
By Jim Higgins
I'm not going into what happened this weekend - that talk is for the forums. Just be forewarned that almost all of the links this week have to do with the aftershock of Sunday's game against Saint Louis.
Articles:
Wambach suspended 1 game - but so is Athletica's McNeil (The Telegraph, May 8)… Continue
[This is the first in a series of blogs written by Freedom defender Becky Sauerbrunn. Enjoy. - Jim]
By Becky Sauerbrunn
Throughout my soccer career I’ve had several coaches compare soccer teams to businesses. For instance, every individual is held accountable for their personal contribution to the group. Individuals must trust others to complete personal tasks or be able to communicate effectively if those tasks are not being completed to the set standard. An individual’s mistake must o… Continue
By Jim Higgins
If you haven't heard, a certain soccer icon will be in attendance at Sunday's game for a special ceremony being put on by the team. Many of the links below mention this event so I won't spoil the surprise.
On a separate note, you will notice that a lot of the links are national previews and reviews, which is an encouraging sign for the league in terms of gaining national attention.
As always, feel free to comment below. Otherwise, enjoy Sunday's game.
Articles:… Continue
By Jim Higgins
In preparation for our FSC match against FC Gold Pride - or maybe our May 3 match against Saint Louis Athletica that will include a Hall of Freedom induction ceremony for Mia Hamm and Siri Mullinix - here is the latest set of links. As always, feel free to add any below I may have missed. One link not included on here though is for Washingtonian Magazine, which has an article on Abby Wambach this month. Go pick it up and check it out.
On to the links.
Articles:… Continue
By Jim Higgins
By my previous post if you haven't guessed, I have spent most of my life the last couple of weeks working on our web site relaunch. Now that that's over, here is the latest set of links.
Articles:
In Home Opener, Freedom Musters a Tie (Washington Post, April 12)
Freedom makes first… Continue
By Jim Higgins
As you may notice over the next day or so, our WPS page has relaunched. This is only phase 1 of this project with more cool features to come but we are looking for feedback. If you have a comment to leave, head over to http://fancorner.womensprosoccer.com/forum/topics/womensprosoccercom-feedback and tell us what you think. Enjoy the new site! Continue
By Jim Higgins
Wow, what a crazy couple of weeks it has been and will continue to be as we prepare for our HOME OPENER! For those of you who can't get enough of the Freedom, we are at the SoccerPlex tonight playing our "feeder" team, the University of Virginia. Ok, they are not really our feeder but with 4 former Cavaliers on our roster, and with the rights to a fifth, it sure can seem that way.
Wow, enough of the rambling - here a ton of clips from the past few weeks. This list is by no means… Continue
By Jim Higgins
It's GAMEDAY!!! Many of the players have been waiting for this for a long time and I can't believe the day is finally here and that I get to share in the experience with them. After two days of sunny weather it is a little overcast this morning but with it being only 8 a.m. here in Cali, hopefully that will change.
I can only imagine what the players are feeling but for me personally it is cool to see how far things have come since I joined the Freedom in August. At times things… Continue
By Jim Higgins
I will post more sometime tomorrow after we get to LA but I wanted to let everyone know that we have named our Tweeter ... or is it Twitterer ... or I dunno, but our Twitter updater during Sunday's Inaugural Match will be GK Kati Jo Spisak. Make sure you add her to your list @kjspisak.
See you in LA! Continue
By Jim Higgins
I owe a huge thanks to goalkeeper coach Nicci Wright, who provided me with the following update from the road.
One week after losing to Sky Blue FC 1-0, the Freedom finally got the offense going with a 3-2 win over the defending NCAA champion North Carolina Tar Heels at Legion Stadium in Wilmington, N.C. Oddly enough, UNC had jus… Continue
By Jim Higgins
A little bit of a lighter post today. In a fun event yesterday, the Freedom's own Glory was invited to participate in Fox 5's Mascot Challenge at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School Wednesday.
Here is the video of the final showdown between the mascots for the Nationals and Wizards - with a small cameo from Glory.
And here are a couple of photos.
… Continue
By Jim Higgins
So, apologies are in order for starting this cool daily update from preseason, only to have it last about a week before I can't keep up with it. I do have a good reason for being so AWOL the past week - between getting ready for the preseason match against Sky Blue FC on Saturday and getting the media guide off to the printer today, things have been a little chaotic to say the least.
To give you an idea of how fast things have been going around here, I will give everyone a brief… Continue
