Steve Swanson Named NSCAA National Coach of the Year Well deserved, congrats http://www.virginiasports.com/sports/w-soccer/spec-rel/121713aaa.html
agreed, well-deserved. I just hope Va Tech's coach got a decent share of votes, too. He did a heckuva job.
Postscript to a Season http://uvamagazine.org/articles/postscript_to_a_season Warning: this can tear you up
No, no, no. Absolutely not. I haven't watched any of post-UCLA interviews, summaries or opinions yet. All I've seen was Moe in tears leaving the field assisted by Steve. It shattered my poor heart enough. One day I'll be ready, but not yet...
VIRGINIA WOMEN'S SOCCER 2014 SPRING SCHEDULE March 22 vs. Florida (WakeMed Soccer Park, Cary, NC) 4:00 pm March 29 at Washington Spirit (Maryland SoccerPlex, Boyds, MD) 7:00 pm April 4 GEORGETOWN (Klöckner Stadium, Charlottesville) 7:00 pm April 11 vs. Duke (Striker Park or Sports Backer Stadium, Richmond, VA) 7:00 pm April 25 vs. Old Dominion (Site TBA) Time TBA http://www.virginiasports.com/sports/w-soccer/spec-rel/031914aaa.html
Last year, if I remember correctly, Spirit webcast one of their their preseason matches, wouldn't it be fun?
That would be GREAT fun. I'd love to see that but I'm not sure if it's gonna happen this year There should be live audio commentary here: www.ustream.tv/channel/washingtonspirit Also https://twitter.com/jgordon1987 and https://twitter.com/Sarah_Gehrke are really good with live tweeting Spirit's games. Can't wait to see who's gonna play. I hope Doniak, McNabb and Torres all recovered from their injures. In other news I found out on twitter that apparently Krystina Iordanou defender from Vanderbilt is gonna transfer to UVA. She even played in UEFA Women's Champions League for Apollon in 2012. That's good to hear because defense has the biggest gaps.
Well UVA will definitely have some defense spots to fill(3 back line and DM). It will be interesting to see who fills Brian's spot whether Schaffer or colaprico can fill those shoes for 2014.
McNabb should be back from her injury so that's one less. I don't know if anyone can fill Brian's spot when she's unavailable but Colaprico would be my closest guess.
Watch this and tell me with a straight face they are not something different. You can't. There is college women's football and there is Virginia.
Other than my own team (FSU), I was really cheering for UVA. Beautiful, precise and dangerous soccer. I wanted another ACC team to win the big enchilada! Maybe one of us will break through this year, but UCLA only lost one player from a dominant squad, so the battle is definitely uphill!
Some words on UVa performance against Washington Spirit in here: http://www.sportsmyriad.com/2014/03/washington-spirit-vs-virginia-better-than-last-year/ Although Spirit dominated the game, I feel like 1:1 draw looks good. I don't know who exactly played defense for UVa in that game but looking at photos it was Torres, Douglas, Sonnet and Sroba. Maybe someone can correct me on that but if it's true this result looks even more impressive. Good to hear that Schaffer and Colaprico are stepping up. Looks like Doniak's getting back after injury too. As long the defensive holes will be filled, UVa will be more than fine.
Swanson has UVA playing an attarctive and effective style of football. He must have a different recruiting criteria for players than most schools.
After Iordanou we have another defender transfering to UVa this fall: Meghan Cox from James Madison. She's listed as a midfielder too. Interesting bit about her? She was starting kicker on high school football team. This could be useful for free kicks. She will be playing for Washington Spirit Reserves in W-League this year too. http://washingtonspirit.com/w-league/james-madison-duo-return-to-spirit-reserves/
... He must have a different recruiting criteria for players than most schools ... Very true. Some teams are very good because they recruit only the best of the best in terms of national team experience, some because they fill their teams with the best foreign talent, some a bit of both. Coach Swanson gets great talent coming his way no doubt, but they play a different style than everyone else because of the type of player he brings in - kids that pass/move/read the field and who can receive a ball incredibly well. Beautiful to watch indeed.
It would be interesting to read SW's recruit evaluation's and his vision of their future potential but I couldn't find anything detailing new signings at UVA. Rather than make public statements about his player's abilities perhaps Steve's style to let his players do their talking on the field. I reviewed the roster to look for common experience's which might suggest a preference but it's not obvious to me. The player profiles at time of signing are similar to other good programs yet Steve has the ability to spot certain qualities and help players perfect them. 9 x NT ( U17or U18 ) 5 x ODP 3 x All State H.S. 2 x Wash Spirit Reserves 2 x State Cup Champs 1 x Surf Cup MVP 1 x Gatorade Player 1 x Wash Freedom Youth 1 x All Region H.S.
I reject the hypothesis...credit should be given primarily to the coaching rather than the recruiting.
I agree. I believe that is what I said. Steve finds a good base of talent based on his vision and then helps perfect it. Clearly he did this better than any other coach this past season.