Friday night in Philadelphia, PUMA and Women's Professional Soccer unveiled the new 2010 WPS Home and Away Uniforms, including the official kit debut of the newest franchises, the Atlanta Beat and Philadelphia Independence. The launch event, which took place hours after the 2010 WPS Draft, highlighted veteran players from the league's nine teams as well as newly drafted professional players who proudly wore their team colors for the first time.

Who can count the number of articles that have been written about the big black cloud that is looming over the Women's Professional Soccer league in the United States?
With the Chicago Red Stars failing to secure reserve funding in order to participate in the 2011 season, sportswriters are pointing fingers and predicting future doom for the remaining clubs.

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- The start of the 2010 Women's Professional Soccer season did not go exactly as planned for Chicago Red Stars midfielder Megan Rapinoe.
A key fixture on the 2009 squad, Rapinoe was sidelined for the first three games of this season as she recovered from mononucleosis.
"With the mono, you can't have contact, which is quite frustrating," Rapinoe said.

The 2010 WPS draft will be conducted this Friday, at 9:00 am CST, ending months of speculation by Women's Professional Soccer fans as to which players will be selected by which teams. For Red Stars fans who were paying close attention this past week, however, the next addition to their team's roster may have already been revealed by coach Emma Hayes herself.

Union

You can look at a variety of recaps to the Union's 1–1 draw with Real Salt Lake from the Salt Lake Tribune, the Daily News, a hilariously error filled piece in the Inquirer, mlsoccer.com, from goal.com, and, why not, the Miami Herald. Or you can save yourself some time and simply read our post-game report.

Two weeks ago last Thursday, on the eve of the Women's Professional Soccer draft, Chicago Red Stars' front office staff were running around like their hair was on fire in a desperate attempt to acquire a replacement for starting goalkeeper Caroline Jönsson. The resulting trade of team captain Lindsay Tarpley to St.

The Chicago Red Stars, who have yet to score against Sky Blue FC, found the back of the net twice Saturday, only to have both goals negated by offside calls. Meanwhile the visitors, who showed little offense throughout the match, once again took advantage of a broken play to score the single goal through Natasha Kai to decide the game in their favor.

That was fast; cf. the weekend when I thought she'd have a week or two left. Nope.
-FS

Life if often unfair. And nowhere is this more evident than in the world of sports where coaches often lose their jobs when players fail to do theirs. On Monday, the Chicago Red Stars announced that Emma Hayes was "relieved of her duties" as head coach following the team's dismal start to the season that saw them lose four of their first six games, all of them by shutouts.

In what could be considered the biggest upset win of this WPS season to date, the Chicago Red Stars, at the end of a tumultuous week of changing coaches, defeated league-leading FC Gold Pride and ended their five-game winning streak with an early second-half goal from Kosovare Asllani. Michael Kajdas reports from Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill.

Great to see Ella Masar with the goal and nice knee slide celebration! Love the passion.

By the way there is no sound for this video so put some tunes on and make your own sound!

JM

Coming off of two games with no goals, Amy Rodriguez put the Independence ahead of Chicago Red Stars in the 53rd minute after a scoreless first half.

Only nine minutes later, Ella Masar headed a bending cross from Casey Noguiera past Independence keeper Karina LeBlanc to bring Chicago level.

Posted by Jared Montz

The Jared Montz Soccer Podcast is presented by OnlineSoccerAcademy.com – a Jared Montz Soccer, LLC company. The Online Soccer Academy is your gotta have it, need to train now, want to get better, trying to prepare for Saturday's game, 24/7 coach. It teaches you how to train on your own time outside of team training through easy to learn from online training videos.

Fan favorite Lindsay Tarpley, the first to score a Red Stars goal and very much "the face" of the franchise in its first year, has been traded to the Saint Louis Athletica for goalkeeper Jillian Loyden. Just one in a series of surprises on WPS draft day. Read more at our WPS page.

If you go to the site of any WPS team these days you're likely to see a counter displaying the days, hours, and minutes before opening day. We're something like three months away, with a bit of March Madness in between, but with the days getting longer, you can definitely feel the soccer in the air!

The Chicago Red Stars, 2009 vintage (pictured). Fans who have not been following off-season developments may not recognize their team when they see them this year. Of the 18 players who made up the 2009 roster, only eight remain. But the Red Stars will still be playoff contenders, while providing entertainment aplenty in a league that is absolutely steeped in talent.

Via Alyse LaHue, the Chicago Red Stars have a new iphone app, which purports to have streaming video of Red Stars games. If you've been reading the blog at all recently, you'll know this is something that makes me very excited.
From an interface perspective, I'm a little disappointed. The app is really just a series of bookmarks to a website hosted by Ollin Omnimedia (for those of you who thought I was nerdy, you might want to check out the company's index page).

Heather O'Reilly and Natasha Kai combined for an early goal that would be all defending WPS champions Sky Blue FC needed Sunday night in their home opener. The visiting Chicago Red Stars came close but were unable to break through against their hosts, eventually coming up on the wrong end of a 1-0 result.

Opening Day is special. It is a day of renewal. There is a sense of optimism that pervades every team. A sense that anything is possible and everyone is expected to be part of the festivities. It's an annual holiday for all teams. Not every team gets to host the All Star Game, not every team gets to play in the finals, but every team does get an Opening Day.

It was called back but what a nice goal that would have been at the 1:37 mark.

JM

Image via Chicago Red Stars

This week's guest on the Jared Montz Soccer Podcast is Natalie Spilger of the Chicago Red Stars. Not only does Natalie play professional soccer for a living she is also the founder of Green Laces. Green Laces is a non profit helping to make our planet more environmentally friendly by wearing green laces on your shoes and making a promise to the planet.

Casey Nogueira and Cristiane (pictured right) each netted a second-half goal as the Chicago Red Stars defeated the host Boston Breakers, 2-0, on Saturday in Women's Professional Soccer play at Harvard Stadium.
Nogueira made her first WPS start and leads the Red Stars with two goals this season.

Here are some links focusing on the Chicago Red Stars' first win of the 2010 WPS season, a 2-0 victory over the Boston Breakers on Saturday:
• ESPNChicago.com
• Chicago Tribune
• Daily Herald
• Boston Herald
• Boston Globe
• Bleacher Report
• ChicagolandSoccerNews.

Jared Montz chatted with Chicago Red Stars defender Natalie Spilger for his podcast. If you have 23 minutes to spare, listen in on an interesting interview.
CLICK HERE for the chat!
You can access Montz's online soccer academy page at JMSoccer10.com.

Bleacher Report contributor Lauren Salter chatted with Chicago Red Stars goalkeeper Kelsey Davis, but it wasn't about the X's and O's on the pitch. Salter focused on Davis' community service work, the Red Stars' partnership with Ronald McDonald House Charities and more.
CLICK HERE to read Salter's piece on BleacherReport.

Despite a 2-0 road victory over the Boston Breakers, the Chicago Red Stars maintained a 7th-place stance in Goal.com's Women's Professional Soccer Power Rankings.
The Red Stars could change the order quite a bit this Saturday if they find some success on the west coast when they take on the first-place FC Gold Pride.

The Chicago Red Stars earned their first road victory since their inaugural 2009 WPS road match against Saint Louis Athletica, topping the Boston Breakers, 2-0.
So with the win, Bleacher Report decided to lift Chicago out of eighth place and into fifth.
Check out the rest of Bleacher Report's power rankings.

As promised in my JMS Podcast interview with the Red Stars' Natalie Spilger last week I am posting the highlights of the Red Stars game. Nice to see them get their first win of the year!

JM

The Chicago Red Stars and United Soccer Leagues W-League affiliate Chicago Red Eleven will play in an exhibition match at 6:30 p.m. Friday, May 21, at the Schwaben Athletic Club, 301 Weiland Ave., in Buffalo Grove.
Last year, the two teams battled at Benedictine University in Lisle, with the Red Stars earning a 1-0 victory.

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- The Chicago Red Stars travel out west to Castro Valley, Calif., to take on four-time FIFA Women's World Player of the Year Marta and the league-leading FC Gold Pride for a 9 p.m. CT match on Saturday in Women's Professional Soccer action.
This marks the teams' first head-to-head matchup of the 2010 WPS season.

By Paul D. Bowker, Red Line Editorial
OAK BROOK, Ill. - Halfway through a recent Chicago Red Stars practice, three attackers moved ahead with the ball, precisely targeted in on the goal. Immediately, Kate Markgraf sprinted into the middle of play from her defensive position. Soccer class was in session.

CASTRO VALLEY, Calif. -- The Chicago Red Stars fell to first-place FC Gold Pride, 2-0, on Saturday in Women's Professional Soccer play at Castro Valley Athletic Stadium.
The Red Stars had to play for approximately 65 minutes with only 10 players on the pitch. In the 25th minute, Red Stars defender Ifeoma Dieke was issued a red card for fouling Gold Pride's Kelley O'Hara in the box.

Pride keeper Nicole Barnhart held the back line and FC Gold Pride added a fourth game to their winning streak by defeating the Chicago Red Stars 2-0. What a difference a year makes! The Pride was at the bottom of the standing around this time last year. Now they are sitting on top for the second week in a row.

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Red Stars will have four representatives on the U.S. Women's National Team when the squad faces Germany at 5 p.m. CT on Saturday, May 22, in Cleveland, Ohio. Red Stars defender Kate Markgraf makes her return to the U.S. WNT along with fellow Chicago defender Marian Dalmy, goalkeeper Jillian Loyden and midfielder Megan Rapinoe.

Want to take a look at predictions for Saturday's Union match against FC Dallas? You can start with our very own. Then you can take a look at the preview at goal.com. You can buy tickets for the game here. Let's get another huge crowd people the team needs us!

MLS Insider wonders if certain keepers can keep their job.

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- The Chicago Red Stars start a three-game homestand this Saturday when they welcome the expansion Philadelphia Independence for a 6 p.m. match at Toyota Park. This is the first meeting between the two Women's Professional Soccer clubs.
Both teams are coming off losses in last week's competition when the Red Stars fell to FC Gold Pride, 2-0, and Philadelphia was dealt its first loss of the season, a 2-1 decision against Saint Louis Athletica.

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- The Chicago Red Stars fell to the expansion Philadelphia Independence, 1-0, on Saturday in Women's Professional Soccer action in front of 5,645 fans at Toyota Park.
The Independence improved to 3-1-2 and the Red Stars dropped to 1-4-1 on the season.
"I think everyone is somewhat frustrated, but I think this is the time where it tests our character a lot," Red Stars defender Marian Dalmy said.

Like an ever-recurring nightmare, the Chicago Red Stars gave up an early goal for the third time in six games and spent the remainder of play Saturday evening against the Philadelphia Independence trying to find the equalizer that just wouldn't come. Despite Coach Emma Hayes' previous admonitions to her players about defending the first and last five minutes of each game, the Red Stars failed to clear the ball from in front of their net during Philadelphia's opening assault.

It's always good to score early, particularly when you are on the road. Joanna Lohman did just that when she scored her first goal of the season in the sixth minute of the Philadelphia Independence's visit to Chicago Red Stars, burying a ball from Amy Rodriguez. Lohman had scored in three of the team's four preseason matches.

Peter Wilt lets his sports' team support influence his emotions for better and worse. Here he reacts to Chicago Fire goalkeeper Matt Pickens giving him his 2006 US Open Cup championship medal

I tend to be an emotional person and need to work to avoid both highs and lows in my life. I also tend to let sports results effect my mood inordinately.