Monthly Archives: January 2010

Kelsey Finders Leaves Missouri State, Joins Arkansas State

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Missouri State Bears, Kelsey Finders (2012)

JONESBORO, Ark. (1/12/10) – The Arkansas State soccer team has made its first addition to its roster for the 2010 season adding a transfer from Missouri State University in forward Kelsey Finders.

Finders will be a junior with two years of eligibility remaining in the fall of 2010. Finders was named to the Missouri Valley Conference all-freshman team after her first season playing for the Bears and ranked second in goals scored with seven after her first season.

Finders finished her career with MSU with seven goals scored and helped lead the Bears to the MVC Tournament semifinals this past season.

“Kelsey is a talented attacking player who will be another offensive weapon for us to utilize up front,” said ASU assistant coach Lisa Berg. “She is sure to bring energy to the program this spring and next fall. We are very excited to have Kelsey join our Red Wolves Family.”

A former teammate of current ASU players Stasha Siers, Lyndsey Patterson and Michelle Clark, Finders graduated with honors from St. Charles West high school in St. Charles, Mo. while serving as her high school team captain her junior and senior seasons. She notched 35 goals and 22 assists during her four years at St. Charles West while earning all-conference honors all four years and all-metro and all-state honors her junior and senior years. She was also named the St. Louis Post Dispatch Player of the Week.

Finders played club soccer for the Missouri Premier team and was a member of the Missouri ODP team.

Fox Soccer Announces 2nd Channel, HD Plus Arrives March 1st

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Fox Soccer plus logoFrom the FOX Soccer website comes the announcement of a second soccer channel!

Fox Soccer Plus, a new network intended to complement Fox Soccer Channel and complete the ultimate soccer fan experience, is scheduled to launch in fan-friendly high definition on Saturday, March 1, 2010.

Fox Soccer Plus is scheduled to kick off with an impressive lineup of live soccer matches during the network’s first week. Barclays Premier League games are set to air March 6-7, the FA Cup quarterfinals are taking place, and Italy’s Serie A is in full swing. Specific teams and match times will be determined in the coming weeks.

Click on this link to enter your zip code and current TV provider – CLICK HERE – and Fox will provide a form you can complete that they will forward to your provider letting them know you want the new channel.

Kansas City Included In World Cup Bid List

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US World Cup Bid CitiesNEW YORK (Jan. 12, 2010) – The USA Bid Committee has concluded its eight-month host city selection process and today announced the list of cities that will be included in its official bid book to FIFA to host the FIFA World Cup™ in 2018 or 2022.

Eighteen cities – the maximum allowable by FIFA – have been identified as official host cities and will be included in the formal bid book that the USA Bid Committee will submit to FIFA on May 14, 2010. These 18 cities represent the entire country in the national bid and will continue working with the USA Bid Committee both on the development and promotion of their local and national campaigns during the next 10 months leading up to FIFA’s final decision, scheduled for Dec. 2, 2010. The cities will also participate in the planning of the site visits that will be made by a technical delegation from FIFA expected to take place in September 2010.

The 18 cities that have been selected for inclusion in the official USA Bid Committee bid book that will be presented to FIFA are, in alphabetical order: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle, Tampa and Washington, D.C.

“The United States is equipped and ready to offer FIFA the opportunity to host a passionate and successful World Cup where fans, teams, partners and media can experience the beautiful game at its highest level while allowing the world soccer family to focus on the utmost mission of the game that benefits the world as a whole,” said Sunil Gulati, the Chairman of the USA Bid Committee and President of U.S. Soccer.

“Today our hopes of becoming a host nation are strengthened many fold by the announcement of the 18 cities we will submit to FIFA on May 14,” continued Gulati. “These 18 cities share outstanding leadership with a vision and understanding of what a FIFA World Cup™ would mean to the United States, along with how well we can play the role of host to visitors from throughout the world.”

To meet the maximum number of 18 cities that can be included in the official bid book to FIFA, the USA Bid Committee had to eliminate nine candidate host cities that had remained under consideration into the final round. In alphabetical order, those cities are Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Jacksonville, Oakland, Orlando, St. Louis and San Francisco. Among the nine eliminated cities, four were host cities when the United States previously hosted the FIFA World Cup™ in 1994: Chicago, Detroit, Orlando and San Francisco.

Shelby Stewart Joining The Missouri State Bears

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Shelbee Stewart, Parkview Vikings

Shelbee Stewart, Parkview Vikings

I caught up with Shelby Stewart on Saturday at Lake Country Soccer where she and her friends were preparing to battle for the Winter session title in their division. I was interested in hearing about her recent verbal commitment to play soccer for the Division 1 Missouri State Bears.

Stewart heads into her senior year with the Vikings, where she will be a three year Varsity starter after not playing her freshmen season due to transfer limitations. She will join another Springfield SC alumni, Tara Bailes (Catholic 2008) on the Bear’s squad. The Missouri State Bears finished the 2009 season with a record of 9-6-3, making it to the semi-finals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.

Stewart scored 25 goals to go along with 11 assists her junior year at Parkview. Her speed and leaping ability are top-tier and will be critical elements in her development as a college player. She shares her thoughts and experiences on the recruiting trail in this video:

Major Upgrades Coming to Lake Country Soccer

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Lake Country Soccer signageThere are some major structural upgrades coming to the Cooper Soccer Complex thanks to major contributions by Rick McQueary and his family and Harry Cooper and his family. A recent News-Leader article highlights some of the details:

Harry Cooper and Rick McQueary each donated $400,000 to help install artificial grass on one and possibly two Soccerplex fields. The Springfield-Greene County Park Board voted Friday to accept the gifts and to continue a fundraising effort to add more improvements to the fields. Parks director Jodie Adams said the artificial turf will prevent rainouts and help lure high school and college-level soccer tournaments to Springfield.

“Our goal is to have all three fields go to synthetic turf,” Adams told the board. “That way we can put on tournaments with a big number of teams. This opens a whole new world for us.”

The two gifts are part of a planned $1.5 million makeover of the Soccerplex. Along with synthetic grass surfaces, the fields will get updated lighting, bleachers and scoreboards

The 6th Annual Southwest All-Star game will be played at a new location this year since construction is anticipated to begin in May, once Tournament and League play for the Spring are completed. Cooper #1 will be the starting point for improvements as Kelly Ross, Executive Director for Lake Country Soccer, details in my interview with him. He discusses the plans for Cooper #1, which include an artificial surface and upgraded lighting that he describes as TV quality, as well as improvements to the stands. Cooper #2 is also in line for artificial surface and the third field targeted is Field #10, located on Pythian next to the Concession Stand, which will also get lights. Here’s the video interview:

UPDATE – St Louis Post-Dispatch looks at the growing trend in that area of High Schools adding artificial surfaces

Teal Bunbury Wins Hermann Trophy

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Teal Bunbury, Akron Zips

Teal Bunbury, Akron Zips

ST. LOUIS, MO. – (Jan. 8, 2010) – Senior forward Kelley O’Hara from Stanford University and sophomore forward Teal Bunbury from the University of Akron are the winners of the 2009 Missouri Athletic Club’s Hermann Trophy, presented to the top female and male players in NCAA Division I soccer. The winners were decided by a vote of NCAA Division I soccer coaches who are current members of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).

Bunbury (Prior Lake, Minn.) led the nation in goals (17), including five game-winners and five assists. He was the 2009 Mid-American Conference Player of the Year. Bunbury is the first player in Akron history and just the third sophomore to receive the prestigious crystal soccer ball trophy. Bunbury’s Akron teammate last season, Steve Zakuani, was the 2008 runner-up for the MAC Hermann Trophy.

Bunbury led the top-seeded and undefeated Zips into the College Cup final, where they lost to national-champion Virginia on penalty kicks. In late December, Bunbury decided to enter the 2010 Major League Soccer Super Draft. Teal’s father Alex enjoyed a successful professional career and is a member of the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame.

The first runner-up was Harvard senior forward Andre Akpan (Grand Prairie, Texas) followed by Wake Forest junior midfielder Corben Bone (Plano, Texas).