I watched the Silverbacks play Hellenic last night and I noticed that Tara Minnax was playing left back. She is quite good and would be a good addition to the Beat next year.
I always liked the name Silverbacks since the Silverback is pound for pound one of the strongest animals on early and 20 to 27 times stronger than man according to Animal Planet. But I thought Silverbacks was the name for the USL team in Atlanta? BTW, you couldn't really name a WPS team Silverbacks because a Silverback is the Alpha Male!
Both the Atlanta men's and women's USL teams are called the Silverbacks. It's still not as bad as the Long Island W-League team that for one year was called the Lady Stallions.
If that's the case I wish they named the WPS Atlanta team the Silverbacks. They would be the strongest and meanest team in the league! I didn't even know there was a women's USL. I thought it was just the WPSL. Damn, how many women's soccer leagues are there??
The women's USL is called the W-League. It's roughly equivalent to the WPSL but with more of an east-coast focus while WPSL is mostly west-coast. You can probably start a lot of arguments over which one has the better teams, though I would lean toward the W-League.
The players in that league probably earn a few hundred dollars a week or so? Are all the players on each team from the local area to prevent travel expenses from getting to high? I made a post in the WPSL section quite a while ago but it was never answered. LOL! I guess not enough traffic in that section.
Almost all of the W-League teams are 100% amateur since it's against NCAA rules for college-eligible players to play alongside professionals, and college-eligible players make up the bulk of most W-League rosters. There are a couple of pro teams like FC Indiana and Buffalo, but only a couple. The rosters for most W-League teams are filled with local players, but some elite teams like the Pali Blues and the aforementioned FC Indiana recruit players from all over the country (and the world) and as a result are a cut above the rest - last year's teams could probably have been competitive in the WPS. (Heck, about half of the players on the Freedom pro team are from their 2008 W-League roster.) That being said, I'm very proud of the 2007 Washington Freedom, who managed to win the league championship despite pretty much every player on the roster having some sort of established tie to the area or the team - no ringers for us!
So the 2007 Washington Freedom were totally amateurs and no one from that team is on the Freedom today? As long as those WPSL teams are not college teams the players can be paid just like how they can work any job outside of college. Are the players in WPSL paid at all??
Atlanta Attack was the dreadful name of our indoor soccer team back in the late eighties. Good thing the Kansas City people thought enough to change it back to the Comets after they moved there. I absolutely hate these singular-plural-adjective-noun-verb names. We need more ferocious animals, weather occurrences, natural disasters, and mythical warriors! Who's with me?
I don't absolutely hate them, but don't like a lot of them and think that "Beat" was one of the all-time worse. We definitely need more ferocious animal names like "Thrashers"......
At least the other teams can psyche themselves up for a win every week next year vs Atlanta using the immortal words of MJ, "Just Beat It."
No, not at all: Lori Lindsey, Ali Krieger, Sarah Senty, Alex Singer, Madison Keller, Sarah Huffman, and Emily Janss were all on that team (and I may be forgetting some people). But they were amateurs at the time. In particular, Sarah and Alex (and possibly Madison) were still in school. I don't know about WPSL rules because the Freedom amateur team is in the W-League. If the WPSL rules are the same, then players can be paid. But the NCAA won't allow their players to play alongside professionals, so a team that pays its players would need to fill its roster with players who've either exhausted their college eligibility or just don't care. However, I understand that there are loopholes involving paying for a player's expenses, so players can get some money, it just can't be a "salary."
Yeah...Team Dynamics (the same group running the Independence) has 3 W-League teams...two are "amateur" and have collegiate players and the third is "professional" and has none.
It has been awfully quiet on the Atlanta Beat front of late. Anyone hear any news through the grapevine?
I was thinking about this just today (no, really ). Haven't heard a thing. If this owner wants the same success the original Beat had, or better, he had better get his act together and start marketing the team--now. Otherwise, he'll end up with Silverbacks attendance numbers and be one- or two-and done. And don't give me that line of bull that advertising doesn't work; tell that the millions of advertising pros who are making tons of money doing it, and the companies they represent who are doing well because of it. Soccer, whatever the flavor, is going to have to climb down out of its ivory tower of arrogance and get with the masses, else the whole thing go back to the dark ages in this country. You have to get the word out, I don't care what anybody says.
Well, the fact that they've posted a PR job is encouraging in the "they are still alive" sort of way.
STL was really quiet (at least, the FO was if the forums here weren't) until very close before the season began. I wouldn't worry too much. =-)
We got this email msg regarding season tickets a couple of weeks ago: [FONT="]ATLANTA BEAT UPDATE…[/FONT] [FONT="]SEASON TICKET RELEASE…[/FONT] [FONT="]The Beat wants to give you a quick update on the season ticket roll-out plan. As you have already declared your allegiance to the club via your registration on the website, you are first in line to get the best seats in the stadium. The plan is to contact you just after Labor Day to begin working with you to select the perfect season seats for you and your friends, family, or company. Once that is completed, we will have a private pre-sale for the members of Georgia State Soccer. The seats that are left will be opened to the general public.[/FONT] [FONT="]STADIUM INFORMATION…[/FONT] [FONT="]The Beat’s next big announcement will be the designation of our home stadium and pitch. While we cannot give out the details yet, just know that we are working very hard to provide you, our fans, with an incredible game day experience. You will not be disappointed! [/FONT] [FONT="]COACH AND PLAYER NEWS…[/FONT] [FONT="]As you know The Beat is continually moving forward with exciting news and updates. Last week we welcomed our Head Coach, Gareth O’Sullivan, to the Beat family. He has already started the recruiting process and is scouring the globe in search of the best players in the world. [/FONT] [FONT="]BEAT FANS…[/FONT] [FONT="]Please be sure to tell your friends and family that the best way to get the best seats to Atlanta Beat games is to buy season tickets…and to do so early! It is not too late to register at the www.theatlantabeat.com[/FONT] [FONT="]This is an amazing time for women’s pro soccer in Atlanta and we are excited about providing you with the best team on and off the field. Our affordable, fan-friendly environment will be a special place to gather with friends and family. We are committed to being the “Best in the World” and look forward to having you join us for the ride.[/FONT] [FONT="]For more information, please contact us at:[/FONT] [FONT="]www.theatlantabeat.com[/FONT] 678.298.4713