I thought this guy was the a Godfather of women's soccer? http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/may/07/sepp-blatter-godfather-womens-football
some undergrad or sports medicine grad student should look into what brand and stud pattern and sole plate the shoe was when a girl tears her ACL compared to total. Soccer has a lot of bladed studs for Nike (e.g. mercurial) that are nonexistent in Men's football for instance. would be interesting to know about the shoes. Almost all NFL cleats are round studs not blades.
apparently in "Men" knee torque was same, but would be interesting to know for women and actual incidence of ACL tear. http://www.scienceofsocceronline.com/2008/03/cutting-edge-research-studs-blades-and.html
One study showed no difference in valgus stress between male and female dancers, but did show a difference between male and female athletes. Training?
I would stay away from magista and mercurial... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...-boots-experts-claim-unhappy-coincidence.html
The NWSL has listed 14 players eligible for their draft to be held this coming Friday. How will the 5 graduating Tar Heel seniors fare? My (highly prejudicial) take is this. Katie Bowen - first round. If scouts have in any way adequately rated Katie, she has to be one of the first 9 players! She's fast, aggressive, fearless, skilled, coachable, and a wonderful and kind being to boot. Paige Neilsen - second round. I will admit that Paige may be overlooked, but if the scouts have done their homework, she will be a real catch for some team. Assuming that she gets the chance to prove herself, she will surprise a lot of people. I predict that she will start in the NWSL next year as a defender. Summer Green - second round. Her talent will show itself in due time. S0me team should take a chance on her in the second round. Bryane Haeberlin - 4th round. 23 keepers have tossed their hats into the ring. I think that Bryane may be the 3rd one chosen. I'm just not sure which round that will be. Surely by the 4th! Alexa Newfield - 5th round (assuming that they have 5 rounds this year.) Given her seemingly chronic knee injury status, I'm not sure which team will want to take the chance. But, given her talent, it could all work out. If she goes it will be in the last round.
Well, Well, Well. 4 of the 5 Tar Heel seniors were drafted today by NWSL teams, and Brie signed in Germany to play with Pottsdam. (That's all five seniors to the pros!) Two surprises for me. Katie not going in the first round and Alexa going in the third round along with Paige and Summer. Can't quite figure out Katie not being picked higher. Maybe it is because she is so versatile and pro teams really are looking at specialization for a specific slot? In any case Kansas city got a steal in the second round with Katie. Alexa apparently made the case that her injuries are behind her, because by picking Alexa in the third round Kansas City passed up a lot of scoring fire power (including Janelle Flaws, Big Ten Forward of the year in 2013, All American, and two years on the Mac Herman watch list.) Congrats to Alexa!! Of all the teams that Paige could have gone to, Seattle is the one with the most solid defenses returning. It will be a challenge for her to show in the NWSL's best defense for the past two seasons. (Their left back is retiring, but Seattle drafted left back Carson Pickett as the heir apparent for that slot. But do not underestimate Paige. If she decides to return from Pottsdam in Germany to play in the NWSL, she will start at defense. She is a very smart player with the aggressiveness and physical chops. Summer will have to make her mark at Seattle too. The regular season winner of the NWSL for the past two seasons, she will be in the boat with a load of top talent. As for Brie, she apparently has signed with Pottsdam in Germany and will not be playing in the NWSL in the near future. Her leadership skills in the net are tops, and she might someday play in the NWSL, but this year keepers were just not in demand as demonstrated in the draft. (The first keeper was chosen 26th (third round), after Paige)
I don't follow college soccer so much, but do follow NWSL, and I think Bowen, despite her obvious talent, fell to the second round for a few reasons: 1) she takes up an international spot, 2) there were rumors that she wasn't fully committed to playing in the US but wants to play abroad, and 3) she'll be gone for the Olympics and any pre-Olympic prep time.
FCKC fan here. I was super excited to see Katie Bowen dropped to us in the 2nd round and even more excited to see that KC actually signed her to contract today. I'm familiar with her but just curious, as to where you guys think her best position would be in the pros?Because from what I gather from research she's played about everywhere but goalie for UNC. Also, excited to see what Newfield can do if she can stay healthy. Seems like a great fit for the club. I'm a local coach here in KC and am excited to see what Dorian Bailey can accomplish at UNC. She is a special player and I hope her injury recovery is going well in Chapel Hill.
Hello, I saw this post a week ago & thought for sure someone would have answered it by now, but since not here we go: ... as of this moment, Katie is listed as a midfielder on FC Kansas City's roster. Before seeing that, I was going to have to say she was most probably going to be used as CB depth for KC, & I think a pairing with Sauerbrunn would probably be one of the best things to ever happen to Katie... she has the quality (better at this point of her career imo) to be the next Julie Johnston. It's really hard to pin-point what Katie's best attribute is (because she has so many really good ones) but I would have to say her versatility is right up there. You made the comment about how she has played everywhere, but interestingly enough I believe the one position she didn't play, defensive midfield, is the one position I believe she can be VERY good at in the pro's. I would not have been surprised at all if FCKC started her along Buz, but I think D.Scott's return makes that very unlikely now. With UNC, Anson seemed to prefer playing her on the left wing. He tried her a few times @ attacking midfield, but that seemed to never last longer than a half before the regular central midfielders returned. I have a hard time believing she will beat out Tymrak for that 11 spot, but it will be interesting to see if Vlatko juggles things in preseason to see if Tymrak is viable down the right to make things comfortable for Katie down the left. Her skill set very much favors her to fill the Merrit Mathias/Heather O'Reilly role that Vlatko likes to have opposite Tymrak. I still believe HAO will be going to Rio (especially after McCaffrey's sub-par performance in Q's), so with KC planning to have no Sauerbrunn, no HAO, & no Scott I expect them to develop Katie in one of those roles. She would be excellent at all three. I'm going to say Center Back. Good CB's are hard to come by in the NWSL, and Katie is a rock.
and I should probably add that I forgot Katie was used on right wing first... so she probably wouldn't have a problem doing that if Tymrak keeps the left.
Thanks for your assessment. "She has the quality (better at this point of her career imo) to be the next Julie Johnston." I sure like the sound of that quote. Central midfield is looking pretty crowded for FCKC at the moment, I'd love to see Bowen slide next to Saurbrunn for years to come. Especially since that seems to be an area of need. Can't wait to see her in KC, whatever position she ends up playing!
Your welcome! To emphasize her versatility, Katie Bowen was used as a left back in her last two starts for New Zealand. I don't think she was ever used as a wide back at UNC or for NZ before now.