My Team – NWSL 2018

So.

After the double heartbreak of losing FCKC and then Boston I said I wouldn’t support a team in NWSL for 2018. It’s too soon. I just can’t turn my support on and off like that. So no, I’m not supporting an established team this season, but I am supporting a team.

I made my own. Not like a fantasy team or anything (but I will have a fantasy team as soon as NWSL Fantasy League is in action), it’s a team made of players I like to watch and see what they can do as individuals in their teams.

Here goes.

Starting 11:

Smith

Quinn     Erceg     Sonnett     Gilliland

Tymrak     Mewis,K     LaBonta

McCaskill     Stengel     Rapinoe

Subs:

GK    Bledsoe/Eckerstrom

D       Carpenter/Frisbie/Gibbons

M       Andrews/Laddish/Nairn/Weimer

F       Abam/Groom/Jenkins/Jordan/Leroux/Ohai

 

I tried to make it as much like a team as possible. I stuck to the roster rules for number of players. Fortunately, I like quite a few former Breakers, so my total is 20 + 6 Breakers. I have at least 1 player from every team, some federation players, some internationals.

I think everyone I picked could be a starter on the right club, but I had to choose a starting XI. I think they would make a competitive team in the league.

Some of these players are sentimental favorites and some are up & comers I’m interested in seeing mature, but all-in-all I think this will be a fun bunch.

If you’re in my boat and can’t pick another league team to support, try making your own. This was an unexpectedly cathartic experience.

Of course I have to say that I think the best way for the league to continue to grow is if fans pick a team already in the league to support and stick with them through thick and thin. I’ll get to that point again, but this year I think this plan works for me.

HAPPY NWSL EVE, Y’ALL!

There’s No City Like Kansas City

Way back when, in 2012, when the NWSL was announced and Kansas City was going to be one of the teams, the very first supporters group was formed. They called themselves the Blue Crew and I was all-in. The fact that I lived 600 miles away didn’t even enter the equation, I was going to have a pro women’s soccer team to support!

I’ve supported teams in all of the pro women’s leagues, but this was different. I could actually attend these games. I mean what’s a 9+ hour drive one way? Piece of cake for someone who likes to drive like me. So I scoured the internet for information. I bought season tickets. I kept in the loop for the supporters group. I was seriously all-in.

That was then, this is now. The FC Kansas City Blues are no more. No more long rides through Kansas. No more tailgates. No more bleacher seats and blazing sun. No more meet ups with a supporters group who accepted me even though I was old enough to be the mother of many of them.

It is very hard to accept that the city FCKC represented doesn’t want them. A city that wants to be known as “Soccer City, USA” can’t be bothered to fight to keep a team that has won championships while bearing their name. FC Kansas City. Doesn’t get more Kansas City than that.

I’m disappointed, and sad, and angry. I feel let down by the powers that be, by the league owners who supposedly vetted the owner that couldn’t be bothered to properly support the team he bought. By the people of Kansas City who couldn’t bother to show up for 2 hours on the day to show a little love to the team. By the other pro sports teams in KC who already have their share of the big pie yet couldn’t be bothered to share a crumb with FCKC. I’m sad for the truly dedicated people who worked for the team who really gave it their all to make this work. There are some really good people in the trenches who I hope can find a place in WoSo to keep doing what they do with such passion.

And I’m angry. Oh, am I angry. At everything..and nothing. At fans who didn’t show up, and advertisers who didn’t either. I’m angry that some guy with a checkbook bought the team and then hung them out to dry. At the owners who thought this was a good guy to sell a team to, to entrust with the livelihood of the players and the hearts of the fans. At SKC who could have done more to partner (not own) with FCKC to further both their interests, but didn’t. At every person who has ever said that women’s sports are less than. Tell that to the people who are losing their team and the people who are losing their jobs.

I’d like to thank every person who has been involved with FCKC. Every one. You made my experience unique and one I won’t forget.

And to KC Blue Crew – you all will hold a special place in my heart for your acceptance and your dedication to this team and this city.

I fell in love with FC Kansas City for many reasons and for as many reasons their demise breaks my heart.

#TNCLKC

A L💙VE LETTER

My Dearest FC Kansas City,

We met over five years ago. Me, a long time enthusiast looking for a team to love and you, a new team full of heart and enticing promise. It wasn’t love at first sight, not for me anyway. You were young, inexperienced and distant. All qualities that should have sent up red cards, but there was something about your willingness to reach out that drew me in. I played along willing to see where this could go, encouraged by your commitment to grow and keep trying to be better than yesterday. Our relationship became one of comfort and stability, mutual respect and fondness. Not the stuff of steamy romance novels but more like nights spent on the couch watching rom-coms.

I was happy, but something was missing. Even though you brought me the stars it just wasn’t enough. I wanted more. I wanted you to recognize our relationship for what it was. To be open and honest about who I was to you. For four years I waited..and waited..and waited..and waited. I dropped hints, then I dropped some more. I went public with my disappointment all the while hoping that my choice to stay committed to you was the right one. Then it happened.

You had a major change in attitude, you decided I was as important to you as you were to me. You finally saw me for who I truly am.  I would like to think you’ve loved me all along, but I can’t go that far. But you love me now. Openly. Freely. And that is the most important. Sometimes the journey is a long one, but the destination is all worth it.

So my dear FCKC – owners, staff, coaches, players, volunteers – I love you. Without reservation. Without equivocation. Entirely. To be recognized as who I am is all I’ve hoped for over this long courtship. You have my heart.

 

Openly yours,

Diane

 

 

Shedding a light…

Warrior Women of Football is a groundbreaking, collaborative, global movement to galvanize women athletes and together tell the stories of the burgeoning global revolution of women in football and the barriers they are breaking around the world. The Warrior Women movement will consist of: An interactive, web-based community platform where girls and women football players from around the […]

via About the Movement — Warrior Women of Football

Lifetime Kickin’ It To Florida Championship Weekend Sweepstake

Sounds great right? Who wouldn’t want 4 tickets, airfare and accommodations to the NWSL Championship. Hey I’d even take a swag bag or a jersey (also prizes). Seems sounds great is all we’ve got. I’ve searched high and low on My Lifetime and NWSL Soccer for any active link to the contest, or the official rules, or anything that says the contest even existed. Nada.

I mean there are mentions of it if you google, but they seem to be limited to sites that aggregate sweepstakes for those who make that their thing. But if you’re looking for anything official, not a character to be seen on any site you might think would be an official tie-in.

And you might rightfully ask why do I care? Well, I – and many others who inevitably entered wanting to have a trip to the Championship for free – would like to know if I won, or they won, or anyone won, or if the sweepstake was even a thing. I understand that all sweepstakes reserve the right to terminate the sweepstake if they suspect something untoward was taking place, like cheating the system to get entries you’re not entitled to. I’m not naive enough to think that doesn’t happen, but most sweepstakes will at least post something explaining that. Not this sweepstake.

So I guess I’m just throwing this out there to see if anyone has heard or seen anything about the sweepstake. If you have, hit me up here or on twitter @Deegley. If I won, I have a few extra tickets 🙂

When the Boot is on the Other Foot

For the record I am not a Hinkle fan, her play is good, but hasn’t ignited any passion in me. I am also not a fan of the religious arguments against homosexuality. I am ALSO not a fan of people who are gay or are gay allies using Hinkle’s bowing out of the upcoming friendlies as fodder for their hate.

-First off, we know nothing of her personal reasons for not participating and all speculation is just that. If no one will go on record, credible sources nor Hinkle herself, then it’s all just speculation.

-Secondly, the hate coming from gays and allies is just plain ugly and wrong and would be vilified by same if directed at them. It is not OK to do it to us and it’s not OK to do it to them.

-Third and last, actions and beliefs do come with consequences, IF Hinkle is acting on her beliefs then not playing for the NT during these friendlies is the consequence. I don’t think anyone would agree it’s a minor consequence given what players endure to get a call-up. The consequence should not be, should never be, the hate I have seen directed at her. It makes me very sad and a bit angry that the very people who preach “Love is Love” stoop to such disgusting lows to attack someone who doesn’t preach hate, she does after all play with gay players, but who is sticking to her beliefs and not promoting something she doesn’t believe in. However much I might disagree with her beliefs, and trust me I do, I also have to respect her for following them to this extent.

If you have been one of the people on social media making memes, saying she doesn’t deserve another call-up, or just generally being ugly about this, please reconsider your actions. If directed at the gay community much of them would be considered bullying and rightly so. Don’t be THAT person.

You can @ me if you like, but as always, please be civil.

And The Winner Is…

Another day, another WoSo award. Today’s reveal was the CONCACAF Awards 2016. Of course some (most) of the awards were just a popularity vote. That’s not the fault of the voters, that’s the fault of the people running the vote. This is not just confined to CONCACAF, the biggest award in women’s football is given by FIFA, and it’s no mistake it’s also the biggest popularity award.

This isn’t a ‘sour grapes’ article because my choices didn’t win, this is an ‘I’m pissed’ article because the women’s game, the players, and the fans deserve better.

I won’t go into all the minute details about how players are chosen to be in a particular list for each award, they are all basically the same – a technical committee ( I use the term very loosely) chooses a long list of who they think (OK, a long list of names they pull out of a hat) had an OK year in whatever category the list is for – then it’s narrowed down in a few different ways to a shortlist of 3 or 5 or 27 (maybe not 27, but why not, the outcome will be the same) – then the “real” voting gets underway. In some permutation that adds up to 100%, the vote is given to team coaches and/or captains, the media, and the fans. Doesn’t sound too bad so far, right? Wrong. This is where it really goes off the track. In the case of CONCACAF while the media and coaches/captains get one vote apiece, the fans get unlimited (may be limited by the amount of hours in a day and the stamina of your fingers) votes. Instant recipe for a popularity vote.  In the case of FIFA the process goes off the rails almost immediately, never mind the voting process. FIFA’s “technical committee” seldom gets the right players on the long list and therefor the right players seldom make it onto the shortlist. From there you go to the voting where many (if not most) of the voters only really know about a few of the more prominent names on the list . This is not confined to fans, this also includes the media and the coaches/captains. This brings us to the real reasons WoSo awards don’t reflect and reward the outstanding players in the game – the lack of exposure for much of the WoSo world game and the lack of respect.

It doesn’t matter if it’s one small confederation or all the confederations – if voters aren’t exposed to the players nominated how can they ever choose the ones truly deserving to be singled out with an award? You might argue that it’s hard to get WoSo on TV and you wouldn’t be wrong, but it’s not hard to get highlight reels on individual players. In today’s game most teams compile some type of video. Some leagues require it, some just do it for their own purposes, some players keep their own. We are in a digital age where anyone with a computer/phone to cast a vote could conceivably view a video. I don’t even entertain the production quality argument, how many of us have sat through a grainy phone video to see a favorite player or play? And if you’re shaking your head from side-to-side, get down – you could fall and hurt yourself from that high up. By exposing the technical committee, the media, the coaches/captain, and yes, the fans to all the players nominated at their level of voting would go a long way to solving the exposure problem. Until all WoSo is accessible, like 99% of BroSo is now, the award givers will have to work just a little bit harder here. Which brings us to lack of respect.

You might say that confederations and FIFA are working on the respect aspect, but are they working as hard as they could? Let me answer that for you, No. It would take very little work to treat the award process with the respect it deserves. In the case of CONCACAF all it would have taken was one vote per fan, at least FIFA got that part right. CONCACAF presented video clips of each nominee, which is what I would like to see, but then they opened the voting to allow fans to vote as many times as they possibly could for a favorite player. Even though the total fan vote only carried a third of the total voting, fans could still have swayed the results by voting non-stop for a fave over a possibly more deserving player based on merit not popularity. FIFA, by contrast, did only allow for one vote per fan, but was very lacking in the education of their electorate. You only need to look at who voted for whom to see that in many instances (as it has been since inception) name recognition was how most coaches/captains voted. It’s hard for all the member nations to keep tabs on all the other member nation teams and stand-out players. This is where FIFA needs to step up its game and show the nominees (and the voting nations) the respect they deserve. Awards at the confederation level and certainly at the FIFA level should truly reflect the quality and talent WoSo has to offer. They do not and it lies squarely at the feet of those organizations to do better.

I’m seldom at a loss on how to “fix” things, so here goes.

1. Vet the “technical committees” to make sure they are the most knowledgeable about the women’s game within the given framework.
2. Provide all electors with ample footage of the selected shortlist players so that they can cast an informed vote.
3. Establish well-articulated, merit-based criteria for each award.
4. Promote the vote all year, giving it gravitas as a true award and not a popularity or name recognition contest.
5. Emphasize the importance of recognizing the most qualified to meet the award criteria.
6. Limit voting to one vote per fan.

BroSo seldom has these issues with awards and in part it’s due to the wide exposure players get. WoSo isn’t there yet so we have to make sure that confederations and FIFA do what’s needed to make these awards meaningful and respected. The last thing we want to do is undermine the women’s game and the accomplishments of its greatest players by giving out awards that even the recipients know are often misguided.

If what fans want is a popularity contest give them one, just don’t disrespect the players by representing it as reflecting on their ability on the pitch in a given year.

If you have any ideas on how to make awards better, let me hear them in the comments.

 

 

An Orphan and an ID Clinic

As soccer fans, players, coaches, we ARE a community. Step up, someone needs our help.

Essays on Life

I ran an ID Clinic this past weekend for elite level, female high school soccer players in Toronto, Canada.

With an overflow of parents in attendance there supporting their kids and learning what they needed to do to help them succeed, there was one player, in grade 12, who was different. She was recently orphaned with her Mom’s passing.

Her Dad died when she was 1, and her mom died a few weeks ago.

Despite all of this turmoil, this player played for a good friend of mine and was one of the top players on one of the top youth teams in Canada last year as a grade 11 student. While other kids have parents doing everything for them, this kid worked many hours at a job to be able to survive financially as she was getting little help from her family, all the while being a top level soccer player…

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To my LGBTQ friends, colleagues and readers …

Thanks, Beau. In the current political climate this means a lot. As a proud lesbian, it is a scary time. My hope is there are more people like you out there and thanks again for using your voice.

Duresport.com

I’m not going to lie. I grew up with a backwards attitude. Yeah, Athens is a college town, but it’s still in Georgia. At both my rough-and-tumble public school and my vaguely Christian-ish (and generally wonderful) private school, homophobia reigned. “Gay” meant “weak.”

It took me a few years to realize that I knew gay people. Those guys we knew in Savannah who lived together with their bulldogs? Yeah. My relative who only married a woman as a business deal of sorts? Yeah.

In college, I met plenty of people who were out. And my attitude changed.

College will do that to you if you go to the right place. My perceptions on Muslims changed. I had known a couple of Jewish neighbors at home, but now I was seeing observances of all the holidays and learning much more about the religion and the culture. And I met gay people…

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Xenophobic?

I’ve been away from this blog for some time, but today I’m forced to write by my utter disgust at the way many people are characterizing Abby Wambach’s questioning of “foreign” players on the USMNT as xenophobic.

If you’re reading this you’re probably aware of her statements concerning dual national players chosen by Klinsmann to play for the USA. Up until recently most players chosen to put on the US jersey have been homegrown, meaning born and raised in the US and within the US development system. Klinsmann has chosen to go outside that system looking for players and as a result has called in many dual national players. In varying degrees these players were born/raised/played for a portion of their lives outside the United States and for other development systems.

Wambach has questioned their motivation and commitment to play for the US. If you look at this from the perspective of someone born and raised in the US, advanced through the US system, and who has worn the US jersey for almost all of her adult life, I think it’s easy to see where her questions come from. But does it qualify as xenophobic? Does Wambach have a fear of these players? I would unequivocally say no. There is absolutely no basis for her to be fearful, nor has she expressed any such fear. Does Wambach hold them in contempt? Again an unequivocal no. She may harbor dislike for Klinsmann and his coaching choices, but she has never expressed dislike for the players involved.

Xenophobia is a serous charge to throw at someone and whether you agree with her word choices in asking the question or not, simply asking someone to discuss their motivation and commitment to play for and represent the USA  does not make them xenophobic.

And today I read something that really is my main motivation to blog. As part of an article on Wambach’s supposed xenophobia it was said that while the writer had no indication that any of Wambach’s comments were racial in nature it couldn’t be dismissed that several of the players in question were of color. And of course it was all contextualized with references to the current election. To conflate Wambach’s comments about dual nationals with this election and the pure hatred that is being put forth by a candidate is irresponsible and just plain inflammatory.

You don’t have to be a fan of Wambach to see that this is just wrong.

If you have a different perspective, let me know in the comments. Respectful discussion is always welcome.