Elizabeth Lambert Spurs Facebook Interest

This blog post is part 7 of a series discussing my experiences with social media as they relate to advocacy issues that highly affect the women’s sport sphere. This is an assignment for a class I’m enrolled in as part of John’s Hopkins University’s Digital Communications program.

On Friday, we all saw the below video of New Mexico professional soccer player Elizabeth Lambert, who astonishingly displayed unsportsmanlike conduct in a game against Brigham Young University. (She’s since been suspended indefinitely from the league).

The cultural fascination with violence displayed by women in sports is nothing new. The 2008 WNBA fights gave the league more attention than they’ve ever gotten. And we all know how upset everyone got when Serena Williams gave a tennis ref a piece of her mind.

But what I find particularly interesting with the case of Elizabeth Lambert this is the varied Facebook interest that this act of violence has spurred.

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Japan women’s soccer cancels trip to United States due to swine flu; Wambach suspended for tackle on Daniela

This one made me laugh out loud in my chair.

A headline on USA Today reads Japan cancels games against U.S. women due to swine flu.

Japan was scheduled to play the U.S. team  in Texas on May 20, and in Utah on May 23,. The team was also scheduled to travel to Canada for a game in Toronto on May 25.

“Japan’s health ministry confirmed the fourth case of swine flu on Sunday, a day after the country’s first three were reported. The ministry said the fourth case is a teenager who recently returned from Canada on a high school trip with the three others. The Japan Football Association, which announced the decision, said it may have to pay damages for breach of contract,” USA Today reported.

Can anyone say… overkill? This is like the 100th most dangerous thing in in the U.S. (and Mexico) right now. I feel like they run more of a risk getting sick by drinking tap water.

Haha I think they should be more afraid of running into Abby Wambach Read more

Washington Freedom and DC United Double Headers announced

FYI – To any local Washington, DC folks… Washington Freedom just announced their double headers with DC United. I highly recommend you check this out (at least once). The DC United games are a lot of fun, particularly if you’re sitting in the Barra Brava fan section.

Anyway, the Freedom’s press release on the double-header announcement  is below.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 4) – The Washington Freedom, in conjunction with D.C. United and the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission, announced today the clubs are set to play three doubleheaders at RFK Stadium. The matches are scheduled for May 23, June 13 and July 18, with the Freedom playing the opening match on all three dates.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity for both organizations,” Freedom head coach Jim Gabarra said. “We’ve done these in the past and they were hugely successful from both teams’ points of view. I think it offers fans of D.C. United a chance to see our product and offers our fans a chance to see D.C. United’s product. I just think it’s a great mixture of two different markets and for us to be able to play at RFK again for three games, we’re looking forward to it.”

The first game, on Saturday, May 23, features the Freedom taking on Sky Blue FC (New Jersey/New York) at 5 p.m. followed by United taking on Real Salt Lake at 7:30 p.m. Originally scheduled for June 14, the Freedom will now take on the Chicago Red Stars on Saturday, June 13 at 5 p.m. followed by United facing the Chicago Fire at 7:30 p.m. The final double-header on Saturday, July 18 features the Freedom facing Saint Louis Athletica at 5:30 p.m. United will face the Colorado Rapids at 8 p.m.

“We are very pleased to once again partner with the Washington Freedom,” said United Executive Vice President Stephen Zack.  ”We are excited about the launch of WPS and feel these double headers offer a great opportunity for our fans to experience the woman’s game.”

For Washington Freedom ticket information, please call 202-587-KICK (5425). For more information on D.C. United ticket packages, please call 202-587-5000.

Washington, DC welcomes back women’s professional soccer

I’d like to be one of the first sports reporters in Washington, DC to say to the Washington Freedom… we’re glad you’re here.

Washington, DC once again has a women’s professional soccer team, the Washington Freedom.

These ladies will be playing at the Discovery Sports Plex in Germantown, MD, with (hopefully) a few featured double-header at RFK Stadium with DC United. They announced their schedule a few weeks ago. (see below)

The Freedom’s roster can be found here. Notables include Abby Wambach, a forward (and one of the leading scorers) from the USA Soccer Team, as well as some key international draft picks, including Sonia Bompastor of France and Lisa De Vanna of Australia.

On the communications front, I’m a huge fan of how the Washington Freedom is active on a variety of social media platforms. For example, not only do they have their own Facebook Fan Page, but they also have a Twitter account and a YouTube channel.

Hopefully they’re reaching out to local youth soccer teams (the club leagues, in particular) to ask coaches to send e-mails to their players, promoting the Freedom’s Facebook Page. DC-metro area is full of incredible talented women’s soccer players, so generating a crowd, especially in suburbia, should be no problem.

I may be attending some of their games this year to promote their schedule and visibility in the area. I’m especially looking forward to games when the Freedom could be playing a double-header with DC United, the professional men’s team in the area (whose fans are awesome, by the way).

I know this isn’t exactly the best source, but here’s what Wikipedia says about the founding of Women’s Professional Soccer (interesting)…

“As a result of the US Women’s National Team‘s (US WNT) first-place showing in the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup, a seemingly viable market for the sport germinated. Feeding on the momentum of their victory, the twenty US WNT players, in partnership with John Hendricks of the Discovery Channel, sought out the investors, markets, and players necessary to form the eight-team league.

The WUSA played for three full seasons, suspending operations on September 15, 2003, shortly after the conclusion of the third season. Neither television ratings nor attendance met forecasts, while the league spent its initial $40 million budget, planned to last five years, by the end of the first season. Even though the players took salary cuts of up to 30% for the final season, with the founding players (who also held an equity stake in the league) taking the largest cuts, that was not enough to bring expenses under control.

In the hopes of an eventual relaunch of the league, all rights to team names, logos, and similar properties were preserved. Efforts to line up new sources of capital and operating funds continued.

In June 2004, the WUSA held two “WUSA Festivals,” featuring matches between reconstituted WUSA teams (often with marquee players borrowed from other teams), in order to maintain the league in the public eye and sustain interest in women’s professional soccer.

With the WUSA on hiatus, the Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) and the W-League regained their status as the premier women’s soccer leagues in the United States, and many former WUSA players joined those teams.”

Regardless of how it happened, we’re happy they’re here. It’s going to make an exciting spring/summer season for soccer in DC. I hope some of the suburban Maryland youth teams go out to the games and support these women.

Here’s the schedule (click the picture if you want to check it out for yourself):

USA soccer wins U-20 World Cup

Some more exciting soccer news – team USA won the under-20 World Cup title on Sunday, defeating champion North Korea 2-1.

Before I even move on to the details of the game, I have to say – it’s incredible that women under 20 years of age are given the opportunity to compete on a world level (they’re not even out of college yet).

Then, to go down to South America and win – that’s truly incredible.

USsoccer.com has been tracking the team’s thoughts and feelings through their MatchTracker tool.

Nikki Marshall, a junior at Colorado, explained what she felt in that moment,

“Standing up on the podium after the game was surreal; a feeling I have never felt before. Surprisingly (ha ha) I could not control my emotion and I had tears of joy in my eyes. We sacrificed so much to be here and it all became worth it when that gold medal was placed around us. It was a great a tournament and a great moment in my life.”

According to ESPN, USA capitalized on first-half goals from Sydney Leroux and Alex Morgan.

ESPN reports,

“Leroux, who was born in Canada and now plays for UCLA, found the net in the 23rd minute with a shot from inside the box that ricocheted in off the defense, and Morgan, who plays for Cal, scored in the 42nd with a left-footed shot from 20 yards that went high into the goal.”

Congrats, ladies!

NCAA Women’s Soccer: Championship results

Below is a recap of the NCAA championships across divisions for women.

On the Division III level, the Messiah Falcons defeated the Greensboro Thunder, 5-0, for Messiah’s second national title in four years. According to NCAA, the 5-0 victory was the largest winning margin in the 23-year history of the tournament.

There was an exciting game on the Division II level, as the match up went into two sudden death overtimes. Janae Godoy took a 10-yard shot with 2:13 left to lift Seattle Pacific to a 1-0 victory over West Florida. Check out the shot in the video below. So exciting! Those girls will certainly remember that moment forever.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgSkJ4Ih0Pw

North Carolina took the Division I crown, as the Tar Heels clinched their 19th NCAA Championship, defeating Notre Dame 2-1. The full story can be found here.

Congrats to everyone!

“Football Under Cover”: Documentary about women’s football (soccer) in Iran

A new documentary (released this year) discusses the reality of women’s soccer players in Iran.

The plot: An amateur female soccer team from Berlin goes on a nerve-wracking journey trying to carry out the first female soccer match in the history of Iran. And it happens in front of over 1,000 cheering female fans.

According to Cinema Without Borders, Football Under Cover won two prizes in Berlin film festival, The TEDDY for the Best Documentary Film and VOLKSWAGEN Audience Award.

This documentary has been capturing attention across continents. For example, check out this NPR article. Also, popular soccer blog, The Global Game has even featured information about this movie.

Can anyone figure out where we can see it? I’d love to view this.

Check out the trailer below.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyMc0bW_b8M

Laura Delaney hosts NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer blog

I must say – it’s exciting when you browse through the NCAA’s student-athlete blogs and come across an NCAA Division III blog from an athlete at your former college. I’m so glad to see Laura Delaney, the captain of the women’s soccer team at The College of New Jersey posting her thoughts on this season on NCAA.com.

You may not be as excited as I am, but I think this is a leap forward for both TCNJ and the NCAA, as least as far as editorial coverage of female sports is concerned. Providing student-athlete blogs across divisions of sport is a stellar idea. Each individual athlete has a personal idea and story and perspective to share with the world.

Newspapers  — if they’re smart — can draw content from these blogs and frame stories around them. Athletes — if they’re smart — will be completely honest. Athletic departments — if they’re smart — will not put heavy restrictions on what the athletes write.

Even though Laura has only written about four posts, the idea of this option for her is novel.

This is a great opportunity for Laura to find her own perspective on the season. Her blog can act as a personal diary – a measure of success in terms of attitude and outlook. She can push herself through the goals she sets and writes about and she can measure success based upon whether or not these goals were met.

Right now, TCNJ women’s soccer is 7-3-1 on the season. The three losses were to Smarthmore, Montclair State and Steven’s Tech.

In her October 10 post, just two days after her teams’ loss to Steven’s Tech, she provides some great commentary of what it’s like to be a captain in the face of adversity:

“It is hard to convince thirty girls that despite numerous setbacks, there is a chance to succeed and push beyond the limits of expectations. It was even harder to convince myself. I do not doubt for a second that my team is a group of talented, hardworking girls and together, as a group we can be successful. In both our wins and our losses of the season we have proven to be ample competitors but an underlying sense of restlessness and fear reside in our team mentality.”

Those words serve as a message to her team – she’s saying that she still believes in them and they need to get past their fears to become winners.

I hope this blog develops to be useful for her. I’m so happy to see she was chosen to write for NCAA, and I wish her and the rest of the women’s soccer program at TCNJ the best of success.

I just wish she’d post a few more blogs to keep us, her team and the rest of the NCAA in the loop with how she’s doing.

Torres Wins Silver, USA Soccer Goes for Gold

Dara Torres clinched the silver medal in the 50m freestyle event on Sunday, losing by 0.1 seconds to Britta Steffen of Germany. “Holy crap” is the only thing that came to mind when I saw that finish. She exited the pool with watery eyes. She deserves nothing but congratulations for her efforts this year, and she was successful in her efforts to steal earned attention internationally as the oldest woman to compete in the Olympics. She brought home three three medals from Beijing.

In the semifinals, Torres showed great sportsmanship as she held the race when Sweden’s Therese Alshammar tried to rectify her torn swimsuit. Torres warned officials to wait. I guess wisdom really does come with age and experience. I wonder how many other Olympic athletes would hold the race for a competitor.

Also, I read this morning on Women Play Sports that our U.S. Women’s soccer team is headed to the finals after beating Japan, 4-2.

The US will be facing Brazil, who beat Germany earlier today by a score of 4-1.

“The US has a chance to win their third gold medal ever in women’s soccer. They’ve had much success here in the Olympics, only losing one gold medal final. The US has a chance to show their soccer dominance to the rest of the world, once again,” Andrew said.

It’s going to be exciting to watch that game. It will be broadcast live on NBC at 9am on Thursday.

Women’s Performances in Beijing Thus Far (some highlights)…

An exciting weekend in international sports as Beijing gets started. It’s only been just over three days and we’ve already seen some incredible performances. Below are some highlights of what’s happened for the women over the weekend, broken down by sport.

I thoroughly enjoy the positive impact that Wikipedia has made on my life, as well as to the quality and access of information available. Therefore, trusting the online contributors, I took what’s there and compiled a list of updates on women’s performances from the weekend. If you have anything to add, please do so in the comments field at the bottom of this post.

Friday, 8/8

Soccer:

Norway beat defending champion United States 2–0 in group G for soccer (women’s football).

Norwegian striker Leni Larsen Kaurin‘s second-minute goal was the fastest-ever goal in the women’s Olympic football tournament.^[2] Meanwhile, reigning World Cup champion Germany drew 0–0 with Brazil in group F.^[3] Host China won its opening game by beating Sweden 2–1 in group E.^[4]

Saturday, 8/9

Archery:

South Korea set an Olympic record in the ranking round of women’s team archery.

Weight lifting:

Chen Xiexia of China won the Women’s 48 kilogram (that’s 105 lbs) Weightlifting competition, successfully completing all her attempts winning the gold with 95kg (209 lbs) in the snatch and 117kg (257.4 lbs) in the Clean and Jerk for a total of 212kg (466.4 lbs) a new Olympic Record.

Fencing:

The United States swept the medals in the women’s sabre event, the first U.S. podium sweep of a fencing event since 1904. Mariel Zagunis took gold.

Soccer:

Norway qualifies for the quarterfinals of the women’s football tournament with a 1–0 win over New Zealand.

Air Rifle:

Kateřina Emmons of the Czech Republic wins the first gold medal of the games, setting an Olympic record for both the qualifying (with a perfect 400) and final scores, in the women’s 10 m air rifle.

Sunday, August 10

Archery:

South Korea set a world record for a 24-arrow team match, in their victory over Italy in the quarter finals of the women’s team archery event.

Air Pistol:

Guo Wenjun of China wins gold in women’s 10 metre air pistol and sets a new Olympic record for final score with 492.3 points, after Natalia Paderina of Russia had bettered the Olympic qualification record to 391.

During the medal ceremony, Pederina and bronze medalist Nino Salukvadze of Georgia shared a symbolic embrace as their two countries continued to war; the two had been friends since they both competed for the Soviet Union. (see picture to the right)

Swimming:

Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice sets a new world record in women’s 400 m individual medley, winning Australia’s 400th Summer Olympics medal. Second place Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe also finished below the previous world record.

The Netherlands team wins women’s 4 x 100 m freestyle relay final with a new Olympic record of 3:33.76.

Darra Torres won the silver in the 400m Free Relay.

Weight lifting:

Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon of Thailand wins gold in women’s 53 kg weightlifting and sets a new Olympic record for clean and jerk. This is Thailand’s first medal in the 2008 games

Cycling:

Nicole Cooke of Great Britan took the gold medal in the Women’s Road race.

Women’s Springboard:

Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia of China took the gold medal in the women’s synchronized springboard competition.

Judo:

Xian Dongmei of China took the women’s Judo gold medal.

Swimming:

Inge Dekker, Ranomi Kromowidjojo,Femke Heemskerk, Marleen Veldhuis of the Netherlands took the gold medal in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay.

… and much more to come later.

Women’s Performances in Beijing Thus Far (some highlights)…

An exciting weekend in international sports as Beijing gets started. It’s only been just over three days and we’ve already seen some incredible performances. Below are some highlights of what’s happened for the women over the weekend, broken down by sport.

I thoroughly enjoy the positive impact that Wikipedia has made on my life, as well as to the quality and access of information available. Therefore, trusting the online contributors, I took what’s there and compiled a list of updates on women’s performances from the weekend. If you have anything to add, please do so in the comments field at the bottom of this post.

Friday, 8/8

Soccer:

Norway beat defending champion United States 2–0 in group G for soccer (women’s football).

Norwegian striker Leni Larsen Kaurin‘s second-minute goal was the fastest-ever goal in the women’s Olympic football tournament.^[2] Meanwhile, reigning World Cup champion Germany drew 0–0 with Brazil in group F.^[3] Host China won its opening game by beating Sweden 2–1 in group E.^[4]

Saturday, 8/9

Archery:

South Korea set an Olympic record in the ranking round of women’s team archery.

Weight lifting:

Chen Xiexia of China won the Women’s 48 kilogram (that’s 105 lbs) Weightlifting competition, successfully completing all her attempts winning the gold with 95kg (209 lbs) in the snatch and 117kg (257.4 lbs) in the Clean and Jerk for a total of 212kg (466.4 lbs) a new Olympic Record.

Fencing:

The United States swept the medals in the women’s sabre event, the first U.S. podium sweep of a fencing event since 1904. Mariel Zagunis took gold.

Soccer:

Norway qualifies for the quarterfinals of the women’s football tournament with a 1–0 win over New Zealand.

Air Rifle:

Kateřina Emmons of the Czech Republic wins the first gold medal of the games, setting an Olympic record for both the qualifying (with a perfect 400) and final scores, in the women’s 10 m air rifle.

Sunday, August 10

Archery:

South Korea set a world record for a 24-arrow team match, in their victory over Italy in the quarter finals of the women’s team archery event.

Air Pistol:

Guo Wenjun of China wins gold in women’s 10 metre air pistol and sets a new Olympic record for final score with 492.3 points, after Natalia Paderina of Russia had bettered the Olympic qualification record to 391.

During the medal ceremony, Pederina and bronze medalist Nino Salukvadze of Georgia shared a symbolic embrace as their two countries continued to war; the two had been friends since they both competed for the Soviet Union. (see picture to the right)

Swimming:

Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice sets a new world record in women’s 400 m individual medley, winning Australia’s 400th Summer Olympics medal. Second place Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe also finished below the previous world record.

The Netherlands team wins women’s 4 x 100 m freestyle relay final with a new Olympic record of 3:33.76.

Darra Torres won the silver in the 400m Free Relay.

Weight lifting:

Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon of Thailand wins gold in women’s 53 kg weightlifting and sets a new Olympic record for clean and jerk. This is Thailand’s first medal in the 2008 games

Cycling:

Nicole Cooke of Great Britan took the gold medal in the Women’s Road race.

Women’s Springboard:

Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia of China took the gold medal in the women’s synchronized springboard competition.

Judo:

Xian Dongmei of China took the women’s Judo gold medal.

Swimming:

Inge Dekker, Ranomi Kromowidjojo,Femke Heemskerk, Marleen Veldhuis of the Netherlands took the gold medal in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay.

… and much more to come later.

Wambach Broke Leg, Missing Olympics

I read on the Pretty Tough blog [one of my new favorites in the blogosphere] that the US women’s soccer team played Brazil the other night for a friendly game. Only it didn’t turn out to be a regular night. Amy Wambach rushed to try to reach a ball defended by Brazilian player Maria Rosa late in the game, collided with her and suffered a midshaft oblique fracture on both her tibia and fibula [aka, she broke her leg and can't play in the Olympics].

As you can read in one of my earlier posts, Wambach is the strength of the USA team’s offense. This is a severe blow to a team who is picked to bring home the gold.

This really sucks for Wambach, too, who was at the high point of her career.

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