Do you know what version of the team? [ie rising sophs, juniors, and seniors only, or any incoming freshmen?] Guests?
2011 Roster is up [FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]Brittani Bartok[/FONT][FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica] - Undergraduate Assistant Coach [/FONT]
I noticed that as well. Not sure what happen there. Hard to keep track of the good players much less the role players. Though I am happy see that Maria is back. She had a great sophmore year but was hurt last season. Kept her out all year. I'm wondering who will be the back up strikers that get PT. I honestly have no idea what Sarah Thompson, Bianca Gray, Brooke Elby bring to the table. Barly any info about these players.
To borrow a surfing analogy, Bartok always seemed one hard stroke away from dropping onto the face of a huge UNC-striker wave. I don't understand why it didn't click for her-- she showed exceptional talent in flashes, and I loved those yellow shoes! I am sorry that the combination of her playing time history and late season injury last year have resulted in her being off the field this year. I'm glad she is still contributing to the team, and hope she is happy with this result. In the future, any time I see some spunky UNC striker dancing around the field with yellow cleats on, I will certainly think of Brittany! I hope the Heels keep this up-- a gal has gotta give some thought to her footware.... . M'Bala is a mystery. She seemed to disappear very early? Just not a good fit, it would appear.
I really thought that Bartok would be back this year. It's been my observation that ACL tears generally take about 9 or10 months to heal, and it will be have been 10 months this August. If she doesn't come back until the year following, on the front line she'll not only be up against Ohai, Burchenal, and Rich, but will have to contend for playing time with highly rated Lindsey Horan, Reilly Parker, and Indi Cowie. I'm also sorry to see Erin Mikula gone. I thought she had potential. On the other hand, I'm not surprised to see Mbala not on the roster. The several times she was on the field last year she seemed really tentative and unsure of herself....not a recipe for lots of playing time at Carolina. And it's great to see that Maria Lubrano is back -lot's of home-grown 5'4" talent there! And...the beat goes on...they continue to mess with my mind regarding the height of the players. Rachel Wood has now been advanced to 6'0" and Premji is still theoretically the same height as Morris. (Did they never see them standing together on the field?)
Not sure they updated the information (including heigh) for returning players other than class and and title in the case of Bartok. I recall lots of height discussion (and concern) last year but think about the size of some of the best performers last year - Kling, Morris, Dunn.
I agree the height issue is misguided. I think it gets used as a convenient but inaccurate proxy for a lot of other variables that do matter: ability to get into the air; aggression and physicality; power on the ball; etc. The players you mention don't seem handicapped by their stature. Morris must have something like a 36" vertical leap, and Klingenberg and Dunn are both powerful and very physical players. "Height" is only an issue, if it coexists with a tendancy to shy away from contact, inability to power the ball or get into the air, or all three. Tall is always nice, but given the choice, I'd take aggression and skill in a smaller package, rather than tall and timid.
I agree with your insights about height listings. I'm only kind of kidding around with the inconsistent (and changing) height numbers that are listed on the roster. Playing ability is exactly as you say.
Video of Meg "Mighty Mouse" Morris: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXdih8crBig&feature=youtube_gdata_player"]YouTube - UNC Women's Soccer 5'2" Morris bench presses 175lbs‏[/ame]
Two late installments from Tar Heel Amber Brooks during the trip to WWC in Germany: http://www.ourgamemagazine.com/amber-brooks.html
Thanks for the pointer to Amber's blog. One comment in it I found particularly interesting: "After a painful 13 minutes, we played what we refer to as the “Barca” game. Our coaches were able to watch several of Barcelona’s training sessions last spring and since then have implemented a few of their drills into our practices. " I've been wondering to what extent Anson and crew were paying attention to Barca. This confirms it. Now, what will be the effects? More passing, more buildup? Could there be a 4-3-3 in the Heels' future?
Soccer Without Borders Q/A with former Tarheel, Tobin Heath: http://www.ourgamemagazine.com/tobin-heath.html
Now with Stanford essentially having finished up its 2013 recruiting (although they will undoubtedly add a few more) it's time for the other elite programs to plug some more holes. (Yea, yea, I know how absurd it is for girls not even yet in their junior years to commit.....) For UNC, I'm looking at Michaela Powers, Zoe Goralski, and possibly Jenna Romano. The latter two in ND's back yard may be a challenge, but we'll see. Plus there will be come interesting surprises I'm sure. One thing... As always it will be interesting to see how these recruits who have two years yet to play before entering college will fare during those years. Some will fade and some will come on strong. And what difference does it make WRT how they perform when they get here?
Good find! Once again it turns out that the recruit initiated the commitment and has wanted to be a Tarheel all her life. It is apparent that the overall reputation of the program is the best advertisement.
Pompous is the word, not funny. Were there any Tar Heels on the field for the last U20 failure? Or, future Tar Heels on U17 group that didn't qualify for the U17 WC? How about the failure of even having to play-in to this WC? How about the ACC Tournament loss to Wake? Or, the thrashing to Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament? The last thing the NT program needs is a UNC influence on their style of play. That's why our program has been caught by the world....direct play, lack of sophistication and athleticism doesn't cut it in the world game.
A. It was funny. In the make the pain stop sorta way. It is also the very first USWNT game ever with zero Tar Heels on the field. How'd that work out? It is arrogant and pompous for those who hate UNC soccer to believe the top players from the program with 2 of the last 3 and 3 of the last 5 NCAA titles are subpar and have no place on the USWNT b/c you don't like UNC winning or don't like Anson or whatever. B. If you look at the USWNT, the best and most successful WWC teams have had a larger number of Tar Heel alums than the "less" successful ones. Go count the rosters. And don't ignore the high level technical and tactical ability of the 1991/1999 teams. They weren't just outrunning folks. C. Your characterization of UNC style of play overall is wrong. If you've watched with unbiased eyes you'd have noticed UNC teams with very high quality close passing & triangles. And more than a few Tar Heels have a high level of technical ability. D. Your characterization of this USWNT relying upon athleticism is also wrong. This particular version is the least athletic across the board of any we've had. And they've played poor technical/possession soccer on top of that b/c Pia hasn't chosen more technical players in place of the "better" athletes. E. Don't confuse Jill Ellis related coaching and player selection problems at the 2010 U20s with UNC soccer style, ability, or even player selection.
I think you mean 2010 there. Kind of funny our disgruntled friend conveniently doesn't mention there were three Stanford players on that team also. Guess it slipped his/her mind.
doh. corrected. I don't think Stanford players were the "problem" w/ 2010 either. Ellis mismanaged that team badly. (and did you find that tweet funny? or was it just me?)