Boston Breakers midfielder Leslie Osborne (Brookfield/Waukesha Catholic Memorial) is one of 24...
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I've got this weird mental block - I always have to remind myself whether it's CHRISTIE Rampone, or CHRISTINE Rampone. (It's Christie.)
Embarrassing, right? I wonder how people like, say, FIFA deal with it. Turns out they have a very simple way of making sure they don't make that mistake. Click to continue reading...

But Torrance's Shannon Boxx is not among the 10 female players on the FIFA short list this year.

Marta has won the award three times in succession.

Here's FIFA's list of the male and female nominees as announced today.

And here's the WPS press release heralding the accomplishments of the players nominated who play in the league:

Sonia Bompastor FRA/Washington Freedom - Led the league in assists (6) while tallying four goals and was selected as WPS Player of the Month for May.

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My recent posts on ESPNChicago.com:
• Oct. 29: Mike Banner's versatility pays off
• Oct. 28: Fire's, Rev's depth put to test this season
Also in the news:
• Cuauhtemoc Blanco: Blanco to leave Fire for Mexico
• U.S WNT: U.S. tops Germany, 1-0 / Local focus: Red Stars forward Ella Masar came into the game in the 73rd minute for Amy Rodriguez. Click to continue reading...

Gansler coaching the team during the 2001 season.
Former Wizards Head Coach and 2000 MLS Cup Champion Bob Gansler has been named to the 2010 Builder Ballot for the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Last season, Gansler finished second behind Bruce Arena on the Builder Ballot by one vote, with no one entering the Hall from the ballot. Click to continue reading...

ONEONTA, NY (October 19, 2009) – Four highly respected coaches and six nationally recognized administrators have been named to the Hall of Fame's Election 2010 Builder Ballot, the National Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum announced today. The ten finalists are:

Bruce Arena, current coach of the Los Angeles Galaxy
Chuck Blazer, FIFA Executive Committee Member General Secretary of CONCACAF
Dr.

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ONEONTA, NY (October 19, 2009) – Four highly respected coaches and six nationally recognized administrators have been named to the Hall of Fame's Election 2010 Builder Ballot, the National Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum announced today. The ten finalists are:

Bruce Arena, current coach of the Los Angeles Galaxy
Chuck Blazer, FIFA Executive Committee Member General Secretary of CONCACAF
Dr.

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For the last time, it's pronounced HUE-clees!

The Boston Breakers site just announced Angela Hucles is retiring from professional soccer. She says:

I always wanted to involve myself in things I was passionate about and give 110 percent.

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Red Stars midfielder to face Germany on Oct. 29
Chicago Red Stars midfielder Megan Rapinoe was one of 18 players named to the U.S. Women's National Team on Monday for the team's Oct. 29 match against Germany.
This year she has played in all seven of the U.S.'s international matches, posting two goals, an assist and a team-high five points. Click to continue reading...

Defender Brittany Bock, 22, received her first call-up to the U.S. Women's National Team today in the wake of a 12-day camp at Home Depot Center and ahead of the Oct. 29 game against Germany.

She was an integral part of the Sol's defense last season.

Also named to the roster were Torrance's Shannon Boxx of the Sol and USC product Amy Rodriguez.

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GOALKEEPERS (2): Nicole Barnhart (FC Gold Pride), Hope Solo (St. Louis Athletica) DEFENDERS (6): Brittany Bock (Los Angeles Sol), Rachel Buehler (FC Gold Pride), Lori Chalupny (St. Louis Athletica), Amy LePeilbet (Boston Breakers), Heather Mitts (Out of Contract), Cat Whitehill (Washington Freedom) MIDFIELDERS (8): Yael Averbuch (Sky Blue FC), Shannon Boxx (Los Angeles Sol), Tobin Heath (North Carolina), Angela Hucles (Boston Breakers), Lori Lindsey (Washington Freedom), Carli Lloyd (Out of Contract), Heather O'Reilly (Sky Blue. Click to continue reading...

The Chicago Fire can inch closer to a playoff berth Friday night when they take on the host Los Angeles Galaxy for a 10 p.m. (CST) match at The Home Depot Center (televised on ESPN2). Both teams are 10-6-11 with 41 points. If either team wins and D.C. United loses Sunday, they will join the Columbus Crew as the only postseason qualifiers to date. Click to continue reading...

Book your trip today! Want more information or to get some first-hand feedback? Read letters sent to the NSCAA by previous participants.

Today I had the great pleasure of speaking with April Heinrichs, who you'll of course know as one of the first players on the United States women's national soccer team and later became the Head Coach.

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Before I get started, yes that really is a living albino alligator. Lisa Cole of the Boston Breakers is in San Francisco this weekend watching games, so last night we took a jaunt to the California Academy of Sciences to take in a little NiteLife. This place is AWESOME. Basically, the Academy is a museum/planetarium/aquarium in Golden Gate Park.

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Crunching some numbers and shaking them until they give up some useless information about the 148 players who played in Women's Professional Soccer this season:

• Five players - Kristine Lilly (Boston Breakers), Aya Miyama (Los Angeles Sol), Caroline Jonsson (Chicago Red Stars), Becky Sauerbrunn and Homare Sawa (Washington Freedom) all played every minute of every game.

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I've just arrived home in San Francisco and am about to start working on some video footage from the All-Star Awards dinner. But before I do, I thought it would be nice to pick up where I ended my blog yesterday and share a bit more from the WPS All-Star weekend.

Saturday night, we held the First Annual WPS Awards Dinner in the Versailles Ballroom at the Chalet Hotel in St.

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Not many surprises here.

The WPS awards were handed out Saturday night ahead of Sunday's WPS All-Star game in St. Louis.

The six award winners:

*Golden Boot Award - Marta (Sol)
*Defender of the Year - Amy LePeilbet (Boston Breakers)
*Coach of the Year - Abner Rogers (Sol)
*Goalkeeper of the Year - Hope Solo (Saint Louis Athletica)
*Sportswoman of the Year - Christie Rampone (Sky Blue FC)
* Player of the Year Award - Marta (Sol)

Quotable:

"Each player in the league has it as their goal to try for an award like this," said Marta on being named WPS MVP.

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Florida State Soccer To Host Coaches Clinic
Tony DiCicco headlines the Inaugural Coaches Clinic hosted by Florida State.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Would you like to learn from some of the nation's elite soccer coaches from the professional, college and high school levels? Click to continue reading...

Final shots for the day:

*Sol defenders Brittany Bock and Stephanie Cox and midfielder Shannon Boxx were among 26 players called into Pia Sundhage's 12-day USWNT camp that begins Sept. 21 at Home Depot Center. Bock gets her second call-up of the year after also making the U.S. roster for the May 25 game against Canada in Toronto she was forced to miss after suffering a heel injury in training the day before.

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Chicago midfielder, along with Lloyd and Rapinoe, to train with squad
On Tuesday, three players from the Chicago Red Stars were named to the U.S. Women's National Team's training session running from Sept. 21 to Oct. 2.
Red Stars midfielder Brittany Klein (pictured) joins the team with the hopes of earning her first international camp. Click to continue reading...

United States Women's National Team coach Pia Sundhage has named 26 players for a training camp running from September 21st to October 2nd in Carson, California. GOALKEEPERS (3): Nicole Barnhart (FC Gold Pride), Ashlyn Harris (North Carolina), Hope Solo (St. Louis Athletica); DEFENDERS (8): Brittany Bock (Los Angeles Sol), Rachel Buehler (FC Gold Pride), Lori Chalupny (St. Click to continue reading...

Photo: WPS Fan CornerThis hasn't been the best season for my MLS and USL-1 club teams: FC Dallas and the Austin Aztex have both struggled mightily, and short of a miracle or two, will both wind up at or near the bottom of their respective tables.
St. Louis Athletica, however, are a different story. Click to continue reading...

SlideTackles.net dishes final grades of Chicago's inaugural season
The Women's Professional Soccer playoffs are here this weekend. But missing from this group of four postseason teams are the Chicago Red Stars, who finished their inaugural season with a 5-10-5 record, 20 points and a sixth-place finish. Click to continue reading...

This is another WPS post, but I wanted to hit some other stuff first.
Chapka may be on to something, even though I couldn't naviagate the Buff site to save my life, and I couldn't figure out from the diagram how to make the pirate headband.
"Dan, why do you want to dress like a pirate? Click to continue reading...

Women's Professional Soccer finished its inaugural regular season yesterday (something many thought it wouldn't be able to do), with the final playoff berth not decided until the final moments of the penultimate game on the schedule.

Your final standings:

Team W L T Pts GF GA Los Angeles Sol 12 3 5 41 27 10 Saint Louis Athletica 10 6 4 34 19 15 Washington Freedom 8 7 5 29 32 32 Sky Blue FC 7 8 5 26 19 20 Boston Breakers 7 9 4 25 18 20 Chicago Red Stars 5 10 5 20 18 25 FC Gold Pride 4 10 6 18 17 28

(Wait, let me get this straight.

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                                                                                Photo by ISIphotos.com

By CHRISTA MANN

Week 20 marks the final weekend in the regular season of Women's Pro Soccer.

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                                                                                Photo by ISIphotos.com

By CHRISTA MANN

Week 20 marks the final weekend in the regular season of Women's Pro Soccer.

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Another busy weekend of soccer begins this afternoon at 4:30 p.m. when Real Madrid plays Toronto (live on ESPN) and at the same time the Pali Blues take on the Washington Freedom (live on Fox Soccer Channel).

Both the Galaxy and Chivas USA are out of town this weekend, but does that mean no live soccer locally?

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Your inaugural WPS All-Star Team:
Karina LeBlanc GK - Los Angeles Sol, Canada
Tina Ellertson D - Saint Louis Athletica, United States
Amy LePeilbet D - Boston Breakers, United States
Alex Scott D - Boston Breakers, England
Camille Abily M - Los Angeles Sol, France
Sonia Bompastor M - Washington Freedom, France
Shannon Boxx M - Los Angeles Sol, United States
Lori Chalupny M - Saint Louis Athletica, United States
Kelly Smith M - Boston Breakers, England
Eniola Aluko F - Saint Louis Athletica, England
Marta F - Los Angeles Sol, Brazil
The first order of comedy, of course, is that half of this team won't be available for the All-Star game itself, or for the WPS championship, thanks to the UEFA Women's Championship. Click to continue reading...

In Week 19 of Women's Pro Soccer, the Sky Blue FC (NJ) coach walked out on her team, a red card left the Boston Breakers shorthanded, and the two bottom teams pulled off some dramatic upsets.  Of all the surprises in Week 19, the drama in New Jersey drew the most attention.

On Thursday, Sky Blue FC Head Coach Kelly Lindsey abruptly left the team with no explanation at all.

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In Week 19 of Women's Pro Soccer, the Sky Blue FC (NJ) coach walked out on her team, a red card left the Boston Breakers shorthanded, and the two bottom teams pulled off some dramatic upsets.  Of all the surprises in Week 19, the drama in New Jersey drew the most attention.

On Thursday, Sky Blue FC Head Coach Kelly Lindsey abruptly left the team with no explanation at all.

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The Sol's Brazilian star Marta was the top vote-getter overall, being named on all coaches ballots, 94 percent of media ballots (hello, media types), but finishing second to Boston Breakers defender Amy LePeilbet on players ballots (hmm, guess Marta is not exactly popular among her peers?). And the top three players fans voted for?

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Women's Professional Soccer on Tuesday announced the selection of the league's First XI and the WPS All-Star Team Head Coach in preparation for its 2009 WPS All-Star Game. Each of the players selected are invited to the 2009 WPS All-Star Game. The players were selected based on votes by fans (25%), media (25%), coaches (25%) and players (25%).

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Women's Professional Soccer on Tuesday announced the selection of the league's First XI and the WPS All-Star Team Head Coach in preparation for its 2009 WPS All-Star Game. Each of the players selected are invited to the 2009 WPS All-Star Game. The players were selected based on votes by fans (25%), media (25%), coaches (25%) and players (25%).

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Chicago tries to finish the way it started, with a win vs. St. Louis
For many, it is difficult to imagine that the Chicago Red Stars' inaugural Women's Professional Soccer season is just about to come to a close.
The Red Stars wrap up their regular season against the team they first faced, St. Click to continue reading...