I am excited about the Beat offseason thus far with some nice talent joining the team. That being said, I do like some kind of continuity to a team instead of just forming an almost entire new team (like the Beat did from 2010 to 2011). So far we have Reynolds, Lipsher, Lloyd (through Twitter...though nothing official yet), and Salem returning to the team. What are the educated guesses as to other 2011 Beat players returning? I know with 5 teams now, the roster spots are at a premium..and with the Beat team of 2011 noticeably of lesser talent than the other teams, quite a few of the players might not make a roster for 2012. I was surprised to see Salem returning - I liked her play a lot, but thought size might cost her. It seems like the Beat have added quite a lot of midfield talent in the offseason, so spots there might be scarce. Now, with me being about as much of an expert on women's soccer as I am an expert on rocket science, here's my thoughts on the possibilities of 2011 Beat players remaining with the club for 2012. Any thoughts/opinions/facts on the matter would be appreciated as well. Alison Whitworth - not likely since Lipsher was just resigned and Henninger/Henderson likely as #1. Might stick around as a #3? Heather Mitts - Galanis/Lloyd connection...my guess is she returns Megan Jesolva - I'd like to see how she'd fare with some decent attacking options to pass to. She kind of fell out of favor in the second half of 2011, but I thought she was one of our better players in the first half of last season. Kylie Wright - the #7 draft pick from last season and the player the really wanted from last season's draft. If she returns, then I guess that means she really was the player they coveted, and not just a way to save money by drafting lower Kacey White - she'd make a nice sub, though pricetag might be too high for sub duty? Kelly Parker - I'm guessing not much chance of returning, but they did spend draft picks on her Lauren Sesselmann - she'll be the longest serving Beat player if she returns. I'm thinking she's gone, but she did just get her first cap for Canada so maybe she might stick around. Meghan Lenczyk - With Press and the forward(s) to be added in the draft, my guess is she is gone Cat Whitehill - I thought I read somewhere that she was thinking of a pseudo retirement (maybe in favor of broadcasting?) Keeley Dowling - has she even recovered from injury? India Trotter - not even listed on the Beat website any longer. I didn't think she'd be back, but she'll be missed just because of her great personality
Whitehill has gone to Boston, I think. Her husband is there, so that makes sense that she'd want to be there with him. I hope Parker comes back--she was a play maker for the short time she was with us & would likely be successful with the addition of our new players. Thanks for the analysis!
Whitworth = Sorry to say, but she may be done. Mitts = Philly was picking up most, if not all, of her salary last season. She was good for PR and what-not, but we're better off with Reynolds. Jesolva = I really hope so. She had some real flashes of brilliance early on (anyone catch the preseason game vs. NC?) I felt Galanis gave up on her early, but she tears it up on the right side. Can you imagine a 2-layer attack with Press/Leroux up front and O'Hara/Jesolva right behind on the flanks? White = I was happy to have her come to Atlanta and hope she does stick around, but the midfield is filling up fast and I'm not sure I see a spot for her. I think she's a quality player and it would be a shame to see her relegated to the bench or with no spot in the league at all. Parker - Seemed like a nice addition last season, but took a lot of ridiculous chances when she got within 20-25 yards of goal. Of course, having nobody else on your team within that 25 yards doesn't give you much choice I guess. Your point about the draft picks is true. If we don't re-sign White, Parker, or Sitch, then we pretty much traded a lot of good draft spots for a marginal 2 month pick-me-up. Sesselman is back, despite only seeing limited minutes over the last 2 years (mostly in defense IIRC), but it gives us another NT'er to boast about. Lenczyk is with Philly now. Dowling is an interesting question. Not sure if she's fully recovered yet, but we still need to be thinking about defense as we'll be losing at least our 2 CB's for USWNT duty. Also, don't forget Marquez who was the unsung hero in the defense last season. I'd love to see her back as well!
Bianca D'Agustino just signed with Boston. Side note - I count the Beat roster at 18 now (the 3 draft picks included). If I remember correctly, they kept 20 last season which leaves room for only 2-3 rosters spots for 2012?
She's still in the U23 pool, but I really never saw much potential while with the Beat. A non-issue for me, but I hope she can improve and get some playing time with Boston. Need to pad that roster out some more to allow for some cuts (maybe pick up some cast-away draftees from Philly). I'll be really curious to see who shows up for tryouts, too. Still hoping White, Marquez and Jesolva are re-signed and we need to get some back-up CB's (Marquez, for starters) for the OLYs.
hadn't heard that but boy it looks like she and others sure made the right decision......the offers in wps are so so low...
Ironically, we might just see more of the 2010-2011 players than we thought. A couple of the WPS teams are sticking around and playing in lower leagues (WPSL). No word from the Beat if they plan to do this yet, but it does seem like they are cutting ties with all of the 2012 additions. Section of Fitz's email to players: If the Beat do field a WPSL level team for 2012 (not sure how the stadium payment is affected by league being suspended...is he still on the bill for it or not? If the suspension means he doesn't have to pay...then I see no Beat team in 2012...if he still has to pay, then you gotta get income from somewhere). Point is, if they do end up fielding a team, I could see them adding many of the lower contract players from previous seasons. And final point - I think I officially hate Borislow now!
*sigh* I was a season ticket-holder for all of 5 days. I'm sorry we won't get to see the 2012 Beat take the field as we were shaping up to be a formidable contender for the season. I feel awful for the players and hope they are all able to land on their feet in the aftermath. I'm concerned about the deafening silence from our club today. It would really be nice to get an "open letter to the fans" from Fitz (as SBFC have already done). I'll start holding my breath..... now. Also, I noticed Emma Hayes tweeted that she'd been calling players all day long. I hope Fitz/Galanis did a little more for the ladies than send out the aforementioned email. That "We wish you all the success in your future endeavors." line just makes my skin crawl. Hopefully they will try to integrate into another league for this season (I'm guessing it would be WPSL, but a Spaghetti Junction Shootout against the Silverbacks would be amazing). The Silverbacks should really try to capitalize on the Beat's, um, what's a less permanent word than "demise"?, and get some sort, any sort, of attention for this season (yeah, right, because winning that championship brought them all sorts of media coverage). Also, as much as I disliked Borislow when he first started his antics, then transitioned to outright hatred when it came to light how he'd been treating his players, I think WPS is using him as a scapegoat and it's working pretty well so far. He basically gave them a convenient "out" for this season and will take 95% of the blame. I think it was Hofstetter who said a lot of potential sponsors they were courting bailed when the USSF sanctioning was in question, but, of course, WPS isn't going to put that in their statement. Not that I'm trying to talk you out of hating Dan.
I just checked & still haven't gotten anything. Guess we'll be looking into the Silverbacks. We can probably get both men's & women's season tickets for less than what we paid for one Beat season ticket (of course, we had gotten "good" seats for the Beat, and Silverbacks is all general admission). Hope to see some fellow Beat fans there. I almost wish that we hadn't had the excitement of all the new players only to be even more disappointed that we won't get to see them win some games. I hope that we'll still have a chance at some of these same players when the league resumes next year. What is sad is that I had just said last night that I didn't know how I was going to wait until May for the WPS to start...now I'll have to wait an entire year +. Damn!
The cruel twist of fate (personally speaking) in all of this is that I was just thinking the other day that I should make the drive up from Auburn to catch a couple of games this season. Sigh.
I am not sure if you are talking about the Silverbacks men's or women's team but the men's team isn't general admission at all. Just wanted to make sure you knew that. Still a good time, but I really wish they played 5 minutes from my house like the Beat did rather than 45 minutes on the other side of town(without traffic).
Thanks for the Silverbacks men's team info--I was not aware of that. We're actually in the opposite position as you; being in the Decatur- area, it's much, much easier for us to get to the Silverbacks park that it was to drive up to Kennesaw!
Beat didn't want to give up season Looks like Fitz didn't vote to suspend season. http://www.mdjonline.com/view/full_story/17371361/article-WPS’-unrest-not-limited-to-pending-suit
Re: Beat didn't want to give up season What makes you say that? The only time in the article it mentions something that was contentious (around when it mentions Fitz) was the deal between WPS and Dan. The article never give details on the vote to suspend - we've even heard elsewhere that the vote to suspend was unanimous among the five owners.
Re: Beat didn't want to give up season Where did you read that Fitz didn't vote to suspend the league? I didn't see that anywhere. I'm assuming all 5 agreed to this.