I've been informed by the manager of the Spirit Reserves that they will be representing the W-League in this tournament after the Pali Blues declined to participate.
Well boo on them, then! >-( The fact that the W-League is still sending a representative makes me think that it wasn't that the W-League brass didn't like the idea of one of their own playing against three WPSL teams, instead that it was just the Blues deciding the competition was too minor-league for them. Well, sucks to be you for turning down the opportunity as an extra title to your name! Any word on why the Laval Comets weren't asked (or were and couldn't/wouldn't come)?
Actually, I think it's more likely due to finances. They already spend a lot on traveling to places as far away as Seattle and Denver.
Well, maybe. But when you already have a big travel schedule - and you have the resources of what used to be two clubs - what's one more travel weekend? I'm not convinced.
It's thousands of dollars that may not be in their budget which was undoubtedly set prior to being invited to this competition. They've put a lot of their combined resources into players and upgraded playing facilities (playing at home depot center, even the non main stadium fields, is more expensive than playing at a high school).
You can race a dog, a cat and a badger, but it's an odd foray. Has there ever a better segue for Stadium Love?
http://www.usadultsoccer.com/news_article/show/381234?referrer_id=926661 Anyone know why the Aces aren't listed as WPSL?
I was told this past weekend by the head of the Arundel Soccer Association that almost all of their expenses would have been paid: flights, hotel, meals. So it's probably not the money.
Hmm... well maybe they weren't able to reschedule their 2 home games happening during the competition. One of them is a big promotion: Double Header with the LA Galaxy.
Yes, I could see why they wouldn't want to mess with that. The Charge unfortunately scheduled the tournament without consulting with the other teams first. Meanwhile, I have a preview of the tournament online now: http://www.allwhitekit.com/?p=12965 . Thanks to SiberianThunderT for the Houston Aces section.
The Charge were not given the option of when to host. They were told by USASA when the tournament was going to be held.
That wasn't my impression based on a conversation with the president of the Arundel Soccer Association, but it was a pretty casual conversation, so I might have misunderstood. On another note, you don't have to be in attendance to watch. There's a livestream available at http://fb.me/2BDtGuyNd
Finals: Third place: ASA Chesapeake Charge 3, Real Salt Lake Women 0 Championship: Washington Spirit Reserves 2, Houston Aces 0
Want to see a world-class goal? Go to http://www.usadultsoccer.com/page/show/1010311-us-soccer-national-amateur-championships, scroll down to the game video toward the bottom, and move it to 3:57:10. That'll be Kelsey Pardue clinching the championship for the Washington Spirit Reserves.
So (some of) the apparent invitees for 2014 could be: MEN: USL-PDL: Michigan Bucks [1-0] Kitsap Pumas (Washington State) NPSL: New York Red Bull U-23 [3-1] Chattanooga USASA's two bids: not sure these have been played yet, can't seem to get a good schedule from their site. The streams on their site are likely from 2013. WOMEN: USL-W: Los Angeles Blues [6-1] Washington Spirit Reserves (Washington, DC) WPSL: Beach Futbol Club (Rendondo Beach, CA) [1-0] Houston Aces 2014 National Womens Championship - Amateur Division: Olympic Club (San Francisco?) [8-0] Cobb United 2014 National Womens Championship - Open Division: New York Athletic Club [2-1] ASA Charge With three women's teams in California, I would guess that the Coast would be the location for them; this may lead to the men's and women's tourney's to be separate. With my Michigan Bucks possibly in this, they would be a good host. (The Bucks usually play at a youth tournament on Memorial Saturday, so that may be a conflict.) Thanks to Star City for the location of Olympic Club; I was trying to find this myself. http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/2014-open-amateur-cups.2005196/#post-30225383 StarCityFan: "The Olympic Club appears to be based in San Francisco."
Looks like the Maryland Bays (Open) and NY Greek Americans (Amateur) would be the other two men's representatives, according to this writeup.