Time to start a new thread for 2009. The link for the 2008 thread can be found at Stanford University 2008 [R]. Congratulations to Paul Ratcliffe for being selected as NSCAA/adidas National Coach Of The Year. Congratulations to Kirby Falk and Marisa Abegg for being selected in the WPS Inaugural Draft. [link] Kirby was selected 10th overall by the LA Sol, & Marisa was selected 26th overall by the Bay Area Gold Pride. And one of my all-time favorite players, Natalie Spilger '04 was selected 16th overall by the Chicago Red Stars. Congratulations to everyone.
Congrats to Stanford. Seems like they have the best incoming class in the country. They will dominate for the next few years. They have talent and major depth. This year they were great to watch, next year watch out they got needed experience. Hope the college cup come to the west coast soon!!!
I'm surprised that Falk got selected ahead of Abegg, considering that Abegg has had so much experience with the national team. Is there a reason why she was picked so low? What was the draft order?
Congrats to Kirby and Marisa. Stanford's loss is the WPS's gain. They left very big shoes that need to be filled. It was fun watching them on the internet the past few years and in person at the Georgia Invit. They will be sorely missed. All the best to them at the next level. Thanks for anchoring the defense and leading the team.
Stanford Budget Cuts Any word on soccer cuts? Maybe less games out of region? Maybe Women's Soccer should sell football tickets at Friday night soccer games. Stanford football isn't pulling its own weight AP Source: Stanford Considering Cuts to Athletics
Re: Stanford Budget Cuts Regarding the departing defenders -- who fills their shoes? Regarding sports cuts -- sadly when college sports get cut often it is Mens' Soccer that gets the ax. Short of that, it may be that, those season-opening cross-country (womens and mens)soccer tourneys might be axed. Non-conference games could also be cut, complicating the national ranking methodology
It seems that Bowlsby chose his words carefully by saying “revenue shortfall”, not budget deficit. More on that later. Revenue not only includes gate receipts but also corporate sponsorships and also the revenue stream from the Stanford Athletic endowment. A shortage of $5MM projected over three years probably means the Stanford Athletic endowment took a huge hit. Stanford’s athletic endowment is the largest in the country, valued at > $500MM before the economic crisis hit. [link] Stanford’s athletic department relies on approximately 5% of the endowment as an income stream to fund a certain portion of the department’s operating expenses, i.e. $16MM annual athletic aid [scholarships]. [link] If the $500MM endowment dramatically shrunk in value, which is not beyond the realm of possibility, I can see where Stanford has a problem with the reduced income stream sustaining the athletic scholarship portion, hence the revenue shortfall. Part of the fix that they’re looking at is attacking the operating expenses part of the budget. I suspect that the travel costs have significantly gone up the past fiscal year and that if the term budget deficit was used, it would be far higher than the $5MM that is the projected revenue shortfall for the next three years. Salary freezes seem to be in order. With Cooney going to the WPS, will a new assistant coach be hired or will that position remain unfilled? Travel expenses will go under the microscope. The travel squad will probably be pared to 18; 16 would be drastic. Selection of opponents will be tricky because of where Stanford is located, it can be difficult to find a handful of out-of-conference teams within 300 miles or so that are playoff-worthy. Sure, you can play the likes of a San Jose State but will that kind of experience adequately prepare the team for tough conference play and eventually the playoffs? I’m sure Stanford can schedule 11 games against WCC, Big West, WAC, Big Sky teams within a bus ride, but the level of competition becomes regionalized, might as well form a super-conference with these other teams because you’ll get to play them year after year. It’s not like you’re going to see WVB not schedule Penn State, Nebraska, or Texas, or for WBB not schedule a trip to Tennessee. Those two programs have championship tradition because they schedule tough out-of-region games to help prepare them for the league and eventually the playoffs. When WVB and WBB stop flying to these places, then I can see WSOC stop flying east. Gone are the days when the season starts in Boston and a few weeks later go to Denver; fly to Portland then Annapolis; I don’t see more than one trip per season. And these trips will look less of a junket by taking a travel squad of just 18. Beyond these, I’m not sure I’d want to cut any more unless the intention is to field a mediocre team. Cutting programs wholesale remain a possibility but I don’t see that happening to WSOC. I’d like to see 85 pointy-ball scholarships be cut to a more manageable level, but that’s not likely to happen. If Stanford were to cut programs wholesale, I’d be taking a hard look at the rowing and sailing teams because their equipment makes those programs very expensive to manage. The wrestling and both gymnastics teams might be cut because of the high insurance premiums for the athletes. The golf teams have a high operating expense because it seems that they are saddled with a significant portion of the Stanford golf course’s operating expenses. The golf course expenses need an accounting sleight of hand, no way they’re going to cut the program that nurtured talents such as Tiger Woods and Tom Watson. The quick fix is that pointy-ball becomes a competitive bowl-bound program, the stadium gate receipts and additional TV exposure will quickly eradicate that $5MM revenue shortfall. I’m hopeful, but it’s hard to see that happening in the next three years though. ===== Re: Marisa. There are two reasons I can think of why Marisa slipped to 26th. One reason is that she could have had a bad combine. Another reason is that she could have informed the teams that while she’s interested in playing pro, she intends to finish her last two quarters and finish her degree in Human Biology from Stanford. That would make her unattractive to all but one team, a team that she could practice with several times a week without having to leave Stanford. If one were to leave early and come back to finish two more quarters, paying your own tuition would easily cost $30M. it’s a hefty chunk of change and I’m not sure the WPS salaries come close to that. Re: Kirby, here’s what the LA Sol coach had to say about his selection [link] Not bad for someone who's 6 ft tall. Losing those two could be a huge hit. From the time of Sauer to Spilger to Hunt to Buehler to Abegg, there has always been a returning central defender who's an All-American or a youth national team member. I see Alicia as a good candidate to play CB. We’ll also see how well Alina Garciamendez and Mariah Nogueira settle in to their new team. The coaches are high on both, and both have youth national team experience. One, or both of them could eventually play there by season’s end. One could worry, but I think the future looks bright.
"With Cooney going to the WPS, will a new assistant coach be hired or will that position remain unfilled?" Jay Cooney is leaving Stanford? Has that been announced? Where is he going?
Thanks for the very thoughtful analysis of a situation that probably is being repeated at other schools. Another problem if travel budgets are restricted so that there are less out-of-region games is that it will magnify the already very serious problem with the RPI. This will hurt the West Region teams even more than they already are being hurt.
Losing those two could be a huge hit. From the time of Sauer to Spilger to Hunt to Buehler to Abegg, there has always been a returning central defender who's an All-American or a youth national team member. I see Alicia as a good candidate to play CB. We’ll also see how well Alina Garciamendez and Mariah Nogueira settle in to their new team. The coaches are high on both, and both have youth national team experience. One, or both of them could eventually play there by season’s end. One could worry, but I think the future looks bright. [/QUOTE] I agree that Alicia is a good candidate, and she does have some youth national team experience(she was on a U-20 team in June, 2007). Saw her with KelleyO and incoming Frosh, T.
Jay Cooney Don't know if he's officially gone yet as schools don't usually announce when someone leaves, but he's on the FC Gold Pride staff. Here's a picture at last week's draft.
Stanford have yet to announce who have signed NLIs this signing period. It may take time for the press release, and I’m not sure everyone will sign an NLI. Nevertheless, the following have committed to play for the Card: Aly Gleason – GK Merced, CA Buhach Colony / San Juan SC Region IV team Madeleine Thompson Corvallis, OR Corvallis HS Annie Case Washington, DC Maret School / FC Virginia Everyone gets a free AOL account for life.
Nina Watkins [link] San Francisco, CA University HS / Marin FC Region IV team Lindsay Dickerson – GK Los Gatos, CA Saint Francis HS / DeAnza Force U17WNT pool Alina Garciamendez Fairview, TX Ursuline HS / Dallas Texans U16WNT La Seleccion Mexicana Sub-20 Femenil
Mariah Nogueira Westminster, CA Marina HS / Slammers FC U16WNT Rachel Quon Lake Forest, IL Lake Forest HS / Eclipse Select U17WNT Courtney Verloo Tualatin, OR Tualatin HS / FC Portland U17WNT
Only One Rachel Buehler Only One Rachel Buehler That's the link to the start of the story on the US Soccer home page. When the home page changes you can still find the story at There's Only One Rachel Buehler
Re: Only One Rachel Buehler Unfortunately not the best article. Despite the single, perfunctory disclaimer, the article made her sound like a dirty player, which she is not.
Re: Only One Rachel Buehler She is clearly an evil disturbance in the Force, as witnessed by the Caution in the game against Denmark today, Oh wait-- two former UP players were cautioned as well. Never mind - clearly poor refereeing.
Ali Riley appears to have put in a good game in the New Zealand national team's 1-1 draw with Canada at the Cyprus Cup this week. She contributed to the Kiwis' score-tying goal. The write-up on the NZ Federation site is here. The Football Ferns play Russia on Sunday. Original link: http://www.nzsoccer.com/plugins/newsfeed.cgi?rm=content&plugin_data_id=26876
No surprise here. Ali should have come away with some conference awards last season. She was instrumental in the Card's defense. Her incredible speed alone completely snuffed more than a few threatening attacks. Already looking forward to this Fall.
Farm Players to Pali Apparently the Pali Blues want to be known as The Farm Club! Feb 13: Pali Blues Add Stanford Forward Christen Press Feb 27: Pali lands US youth international I'll leave it to more skilled punsters to integrate the Pali/Paly references.
Hear, hear. I thought both Riley and Press were slighted in terms of conference recognition for their performances game in, game out, last season. But that's looking backward. I. too, am looking forward to the fall.
Out of curiousity, do any of you Stanford fans know what the process is for giving conference recognition? Are players nominated for consideration by the coaches? Are there limits on the number a coach can nominate? Can coaches vote for their own players? Anyone know how the process works?
