Warm Greetings to Kick Off 2009

Warm New Year's greetings from the league office! We're kicking off 2009 with a ton of momentum and a great new television partnership as we head towards the 2009 WPS Draft in St. Louis on January 16th.

We've got some happy news to report: on Sunday nights, fans will be able to enjoy our National Game of the Week, courtesy of the FOX Soccer Channel. The channel, which is available on basic cable or sports channel packages (check with your cable or satellite provider before the season), is a renowned source for the world's best soccer, like the English Premier League and Italian Serie A. The production crews will include some of the same folks who put on the FOX NFL games, and while we don't know the announcing lineups yet, they'll be names you recognize.

As for the draft, it'll feature a lot of names you don't recognize – at least not yet. We had some very impressive showings at last month's combines (one on each coast). Just yesterday, I watched the behind-the-scenes footage from the West Coast Combine (in San Diego from Dec. 11-14), and it really brought home the idea that we're doing a good thing for the game of soccer and for women's professional sports. The young women spoke on air, one after the other, about their hopes of becoming a professional athlete. It's an American dream: to be discovered, to compete at the highest level and make a name for yourself. And it's truly rewarding and exciting that the league can help it come true.

For me, though, the most poignant moment was actually when the coaches were speaking the night before the first tryout, telling the players just to relax and enjoy the game they love. And I heard one of my favorite quotes, as communicated by Sky Blue FC head coach Ian Sawyers: remember that pressure is a privilege, and it's what you do with that pressure that the coach will be watching.

We've all got great expectations going into the draft. It's in St. Louis, a real soccer hotspot – it's where MLS will be holding its draft and where thousands of soccer coaches will convene for the annual NSCAA Convention. It's how we bring the top talent coming out of college as well as the W-League and WPSL into our league. I think it'll be exciting for fans and a great way for the coaches and general managers of the league to stock their teams with the talent they discovered in the recent combines.

Until the next posting…stay warm!