Special High Five Friday

SO we have this tradition in the office (Started by the lovely and enthusiastic Amanda Vandervort) called HIGH FIVE FRIDAY.

It’s a fun thing we look forward to every week, where we just go around and give high fives to each other to keep us motivated and to let everyone know how proud we are of them for putting all they’ve got into this organization. That being said, the British seem to not be quite fond of this celebratory action… or at least they're not in this office.

Of all of our High Five Fridays, today was VERY SPECIAL.

It started with a very short player orientation today, where all the Chicago Red Stars came into the office and toured the grandiose Toyota Park.

Then I got to do the most exciting thing in the world (for a nerd like me) - I got to explain how important it is for our players have an online presence and be active on Social Media websites like our Fancorner, Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter.

Interestingly enough, it seems that almost all of our players use Facebook more than any other social media platform. I know this is one of my favorite Social Media websites, and with its tremendous growth over the past five years and the new Facebook Connect platform, surely you can understand why it’s one of the players favorites too.

Surprisingly enough, not a lot of our players have heard of Twitter. This came to a shock to me, as I update my twitter (and the Chicago Red Stars twitter page) almost daily. However, I was very impressed by one of our players Natalie Spilger, who absolutely loves Twitter and knows what it’s like to work in a start up company.
Even more amazing is that she’s connected with eco-friendly soccer fans all over the world with her Green Laces Organization.

We’ve got some REALLY awesome players, probably the best in the league (you know I’m biased though). They all seem to have really great personalities, and I know they’ll be kicking everyone’s butt come April. AND I can’t wait to see them at their first practice on Sunday! I’ll for sure be taping it and making some type of magical first day of practice video, so keep a look out early next week on our Fancorner Video as well as our Youtube page for highlights and interviews from the first practice.

And to top off High Five Friday…

WE SIGNED CRISTIANE!!!

Check out the full release here: http://www.womensprosoccer.com/newsitem_ektid9500.aspx?team=chicago

What amazing news! I’m so excited she’s coming to Chicago, and we can’t wait to see all the Brazilian fans come out and cheer her on at Toyota Park. Perhaps I’ll bust out some Portuguese that I learned during the two weeks I spent in Brazil a couple years ago…