I contacted the newest entry of the WPSL and found out that they are looking for feedback from the fans of the game. Not just about the website or the games, but how they can make the experence better for all parties involved. Finally, an ownership group that wants our opinions. Good, bad or indifferent. Contact information is on the website, www.steelcitysparks.com
Hmmm. Well, hard to think of, sight unseen. My main gripe with SDWFC was that they had absolutely no merchandise. I hope this team at least has t-shirts, maybe. Seems like a team would actually want to do that to raise funds, etc. I'll be extremely curious to see their venue. I was under the impresssion that it's indoor, but of outdoor dimensions. Sounds interesting.
Wow, they're doing one way down in Harmarville? Incidentally, the New Castle Location of the matches gets me wondering: the PDL (and I assume the W-League) has a rule that I think no more than 5 players can come from a single college. Is there a similar rule in the WPSL? Makes me wonder what our team will wind up looking like. Hopefully a CMUer or two, pretty please? I reckon there'll be some variety, as YSU isn't that far up and over.
I wouldn't be surprised if they end up having a couple of players from the Rock. They had a couple of D2 All Americans this past season. Also I hope they can get Meghan Schnur an alum of nearby Butler HS. She was a freshman this year at UConn and was Big East freshman/newcomer of the year for soccer. Also the 4 person rule from the same college team stems from a NCAA rule.
I've written match reports for www.a-league.com in the past covering the Hounds, I'm planning on covering the Sparks as well. The reports can be found here: http://www.emayhem.com/profiles/profile.php?profile=662 Their's even an e-mail update option. *WARNING* - this site will also contain other works of fiction, some of which may not be suitable for children.
Although Meghan is on the New England Mutiny roster, her team will be in Pittsburgh for games on June 5 and 6. They will play the Steel City Sparks on June 5 at 7 PM at Plum High School and then will play FC Indiana on May 6 as part of a double header - FC Indiana will play exhibition games with New England and Steel City.
I think that several players will be from WUSA and more will be recent graduates, so I don't think the college rule will have a major impact. I was at the tryouts today and saw at least one player with a WVU bag and a few had Duequesne t-shirts and at least one was a SRU graduate. I suspect many of the players will already have graduated. There were several players who are graduating college this year, so the team may be a bit older than you think, and will not be greatly affected by the college rule.
Not only are many of the players out of college already, several players are playing outside of the area. Included in those trying out were local players who play at Miami (Fl), NC State, Virginia Commonwealth, and James Madison.
I think that many of the Steel City Sparks players either are graduating this year or have already graduated. I think that the school best represented in the starting line-up will be graduates of WVU. Many schools outside of the Pittsburgh area will also be represented, including Miami (Fl), NC State, Michigan, James Madison, Virginia Commonwealth, University of Richmond, Ashland University.
The Sparks have put up a partial roster http://www.steelcitysparks.com/ They do have 5 players from WVU, but I believe most are graduating this year, so they would not be affected by the NCAA rule (their college eligibility ended May 1). A high percentage of the players on the partial list are finished with college. Most of those still in college are on the reserve team, but those players also come from several colleges.
It looks like the Steel City Sparks exhibition games next Saturday against Grand Rapids and Penns Forest will be at 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM at Avonworth http://www.avonworth.k12.pa.us/List...e=http://www.avonworth.k12.pa.us/default.aspx
This Saturday's game between the Steel City Sparks and Maryland Pepsi Pride is the WPSL game of the week http://www.wpsl.info/
The Pittsburgh Post Gazette has a review of the Steel City Sparks and schedule http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04140/318556.stm
Some of the players from Westmoreland County are profiled in today's Tribune Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/sports/s_195201.html
WPSL has updated the Steel City Sparks Home Page to include a complete roster http://www.wpsl.info/sparks.html
Here's the complete Sparks roster from the opening day program 0 Blind Allyn SRU 0 Cox Megan Richmond 0 Haire Mellisa WVU 0 Niman Emily PWSI Eclipse 0 Schneider Erika PSU 1 Schumacher-Hodge Mandela NC State 2 Biddle Courtney Mississippi 3 Arsenault Sarah SRU 4 Barnes Katie Cyberrays 5 Abbott Chrissie WVU 6 Tekotte Jamie Edinboro 7 Stoia Lisa WVU 8 McKasson Erin Lockhaven 9 Agredano Netta Pitt 10 Gantz Blair SRU 11 Kruze Rachel Charge 12 Holmes Caitlin Duquesne 13 Ducharne Naomi Akron 14 Duracky Katie Akron 14 O'Connor Ashley Long Island 15 Artuso Sarah Akron 16 Benacci Chery Ohio Premier 17 Coleman Rianna CUP 18 Riggins Kambria WVU 19 Bracco Lauren Duquesne 20 Dybvig Meghan Purdue 21 Stimmel Dana Duquesne 22 Weimer Ashley WVU 23 Kohlmyer Lesley Wheeling Jesuit 25 Knauss Tara NC State 26 Bartkus Nicole Cleveland Eclipse 27 Harper Jaclyn NC State 28 Cocchi Natalie WVU 29 Richards Rebecca Ashland 30 Utchel Tara Bucknell 31 Safran Nicole Miami (FL) 33 Burgess Stephanie Beadling 34 Woods Katelyn Loyola (MD) 35 Zanti Lisa WVU 40 Lowry Annie North Stars 41 Oldenburg Stacey Edinboro 45 Crumpton Abby Beat 57 Kane Laura WVU
The Sparks' youger keeper, Emily Niman, should be able to give Erik a scouting report on the Washington Freedom because she will be at the Freedom's game with the Northen Virginia Majestics on Wednesday in VA.