When Alex Morgan made her senior debut for USA on 31 March 2010, not even she could have imagined the life-changing developments that would ensue over the next three years.

While used as a substitute at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011™, Morgan was one of the first names on the teamsheet a year later at the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament in London. A remarkable 12 months was subsequently crowned with a nomination for the FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year award.

“First of all I was really honoured and then I wanted to see who I was nominated with,” Morgan told FIFA.com in an exclusive interview. “And it was my former colleague Marta and Abby [Wambach] my team-mate, who I really look up to.”

Role model
Indeed, it soon becomes clear just how influential Wambach has been on the 23-year-old’s career. “Abby has been huge for me. She’s such a great role model, not only for all the little girls out there who dream of becoming a professional soccer player, but for her team-mates as well,” Morgan continued. “She’s a really great leader and carries herself very well. Leading up to the World Cup and the Olympics I did extra training every day so that I could give her my best every time, because I know she is working hard and doing extra too. It was only fair to go above and beyond for her and do the extra work.”

Under Wambach’s guidance, Morgan became a pivotal member of the USA squad and she has played no small part in their recent successes. It will be some time before the memory of the striker’s decisive goal in the Olympic semi-final against Canada begins to fade.

“I remember those last three minutes of injury time at the end of extra time. I wasn’t even thinking about penalties,” recalled Morgan. “We just had this belief and I kind of knew something was going to happen and someone was going to score. I don’t know how, but I suddenly had so much more energy than I'd had the previous 45 minutes. When that cross came in, you see me and Abby both ready to head it in, but it came to me, which isn’t usual. Fortunately, I was able to put it in.”

I think the best part of my game is always being in the right position in the box, always wanting to score. Alex Morgan USA went on to win gold but their hunger for trophies did not stop there. Led by new coach Tom Sermanni, the team beat Germany in the final of the 20th edition of the Algarve Cup, where a brace from Morgan ended their opponents’ 22-game unbeaten run.

It was the latest in a series of performances that highlighted the forward’s development over the last three years. “A lot of people think that I came into the team and that it was very rapid progression from only getting a few minutes of playing time to becoming a starter,” Morgan said. “But I think that Pia [Sundhage] as coach had a plan for me and it worked out for both of us. I knew my role in 2010 and then it changed in 2011 to me coming from the bench and playing a little bit more. And once 2012 came around and I earned my starting position, my role changed again.”

Morgan is equally is perceptive when reflecting on the qualities that have propelled her to global stardom. “I think the best part of my game is always being in the right position in the box, always wanting to score. Just having that instinct and confidence - knowing that I am going to score, even if I have missed the last 20 shots.” It is a mindset that has certainly served her well until now.

New challenges
A new chapter awaits Morgan in April, with the kick-off of the freshly-minted National Women’s Soccer League. The forward will team up with Canada international Christine Sinclair in attack at Portland Thorns FC.

“I am very excited for the new women’s league starting there,” Morgan said. “My dream is to play in the US, to stay in the US. I am looking forward to playing here for many years so that young girls can grow up, dream of playing here and have that dream come true."

The new domestic league is not the only thing occupying Morgan’s thoughts, with her focus also turning towards the FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015. “The World Cup is always on our minds. I am very proud of what we accomplished in 2012 but there is much more looking ahead, like the 2015 World Cup. It never ends - once the Olympic gold medal was put around our necks we got a couple of weeks off and then we started up again. 2013 is definitely a year to prepare for the World Cup."

From GotSoccer Magazine

COMING HOME
15 years after she headed off to the University of Florida, Abby Wambach is coming home, home to Rochester, New York to play for the Western New York Flash. With her place at the top of the women’s game Wambach could have had her pick of destinations. Her new hometown of Portland, with its rabid soccer fan base and cultural cred was a distinct possibility. But Wambach called coming home to this unglamorous upstate New York town, “A no brainer. I’ve been away. I left when I was 17, 15 years ago,” Wambach marvelled to GotSoccer, in a recent phone chat. “My brothers and sisters have all had babies and are living different lives now than when I was in high school.”

The youngest of seven children, including four brothers, Wambach told us, “I don’t believe that I was born with a lot of athletic ability.” Instead she feels that, “I learned to be an athlete at an early age.” Wambach played all the usual sports growing up in that big family, and found that, “I enjoyed playing the sports that I was good at.”

Given her height and strength, it is not surprising that Wambach was good at basketball, and she would use those attributes to her advantage in her soccer career as well. Wambach is a tremendous header of the ball, and at times when a goal is badly needed, even during the Olympics, the U.S. team knows it can still fall back on the, “pump it in to Abby strategy.”

Although Wambach excelled at basketball in high school, she was even better at soccer, winning All America honors, as she set the Our Lady of Mercy goal scoring record with 142. That was just the start of her record setting. Wambach now owns the University of Florida mark with 96 goals, while showing versatility in her game with 49 assists, also a Gators record.

BALLON D'OR
Along with scoring goals, the other constant in Wambach’s career has been winning, winning games, winning titles and winning awards. This year Wambach finally won the ultimate individual award, the ballon d’Or, as the world’s best female player. When we spoke to the powerful striker in late November, Wambach emphasized how honored she was that four Americans had made it as far as the semifinal round.

Wambach, Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd and Megan Rapinoe were all then still in the running, and the eventual winner Wambach, told GotSoccer that it was all about the team. “There is no better honor,” she said of being grouped with her teammates, “because we play as a team, and that is what this team is about. We are team oriented, and that’s the only way we came away with the gold medal.”

That 2012 London Olympic win was spearheaded by as dangerous a strikeforce as women’s soccer has seen, in Wambach and fellow ballon d’Or finalist Alex Morgan. Rather than resent sharing the spotlight with her younger teammate, Wambach seems genuinely thrilled to have such a talented player to work with.

“It’s not a coincidence that this year Alex scored the most goals in the world and that I had my second best scoring season ever.” In fact Morgan’s 28 goals scored in 2012 were just one more than Wambach’s total, as the pair tied a long standing record for most goals by an American duo, with 55. That record went all the way back to 1991, but the distribution was not nearly as close then as it is with Wambach and Morgan. Michelle Akers accounted for 39 of those goals, with Carin Jennings Gabarra clearly the junior partner with 16.

Once again Wambach brings it back to the team when asked about her partnership with Morgan. “It’s like with Messi,” she says name checking her fellow Ballon D’Or recipient. “He’s surrounded by Iniesta, Xavi; all those great international players. It’s the same with me and Alex. There’s a peer thing,” Wambach notes. “Alex has some skills that I don’t have, and I have some that she doesn’t have.”

“Forwards sometimes have an ego,” Wambach admits, “but we both genuinely want the other to be successful, and we do keep challenging each other.” The presence of the equally, if differently gifted Morgan, is a relief to Wambach. “Without Alex there was not just a physical weight on me, but a mental weight,” Wambach told GotSoccer. “I felt the pressure to score the goals. Now,” Wambach exhales, “I can play more freely.”

LEADERSHIP
Wambach is also happy to share the scoring load, “With exciting young forwards like Sydney Leroux and Christen Press.” While praising the up and coming front-runners Wambach said, “As the older one in the group, I feel like I have to be there with answers for the younger players.” This is just one example of the leadership role that Wambach embraces.

Spend anytime around the Olympic champions and it is easy to see Wambach leading both by word and deed. She appears equally at home exhorting the group to greater efforts, or having a quiet word, one on one. Wambach believes that you grow into a leadership role and traces her rise to that role to, “2005, when a lot of the older players began to retire, and I had to take that role.”

“I think you do have to be born into it, a little,” Wambach reconsiders. “The key to leadership,” she believes, “is you have to have complete security with yourself. You have to listen, and you have to be open.”

Those leadership skills were put to the test when Wambach took on the job of player/coach with magicjack in 2011. Is coaching in Wambach’s future? “I’m not sure,” Wambach considered. “I’m not one of those people who thinks too far ahead.”

NEXT LEVEL
Not so long ago Wambach appeared to be slowing down. Injuries were beginning to take their toll, the WPS failure was a blow, even her goal totals were down. Playing for coach Pia Sundhage helped reverse the slide, as did a return to health, “I can’t believe how good I feel,” and the arrival of Morgan.

Sundhage’s departure is, “bittersweet,” for Wambach. “Of course it was hard,” she concedes. “You build a personal relationship, but you also build a gold medal winning team.” As for new coach Tom Sermanni, Wambach, “knows Tom from being on the opposite sideline and I respect him very much.” Wambach told GotSoccer that she had her first meeting with the new boss, “just yesterday, and he has very positive ideas on taking this team to the next level.”

Wambach makes it very clear what that next level is the Women’s World Cup. Wambach has won two Olympic Gold Medals, missing out in 2008 through injury, but the World Cup has eluded her. The failure of the United States to capture the Cup since 1999 was made even more bitter by the heartbreaking manner in which the prize slipped away from the Americans in 2011 against Japan.

First Japan equalized with a goal three minutes from time. Then, after Wambach put the U.S. in front in the 104th minute, the U.S. surrendered the lead a second time, eventually losing the World Cup Final on penalty kicks. The Americans exacted some measure of revenge when they won Olympic Gold by beating Japan 2-1 in London, but Wambach still wants that World Cup

“The second I stepped off of that podium in London,” Wambach recalled for GotSoccer, “I felt that void of not having lifted the World Cup trophy.” Wambach elaborated. “The heartbreak of 2011 will never leave me and I will do whatever it takes, and so will my team mates, to win the 2015 World Cup.”

THE FUTURE
Wambach will be 35 then, and barring injury will surely have long since passed Mia Hamm, as the all time leader in women’s international goals. With 153, Wambach needs just five to draw level with the U.S. legend. If things go according to plan, Wambach will still be playing in the NWSL when the 2015 Cup comes along.

Wambach has seen two leagues come and go, and she badly wants this third to be the charm. “I’m really excited about the league,” she said, while admitting to some concerns. “I am a little worried that with just eight teams, the teams and the players are spread all over the country. But,” she says, “You have to start somewhere.”

The future of the league is clearly very important to Wambach. “The success of the league is a responsibility and a challenge. I see it as part of my legacy, something I can leave behind.”

1. Preheat the iron for a minimum of 5 minutes on a medium (silk/wool) setting.

2. Place the patch in position, with the glue backing against the fabric.

3. Press the hot iron against the patch, and hold for no more than 10 seconds as a test. If the patch is fully adhered, you’re done! If the patch requires more time, increase the time in 5 second increments until good adhesion is obtained. We generally find that it takes about 30 seconds to properly melt the glue when you have found the right iron temperature setting.

4. If the glue is not melting, you may need to set the iron to a hotter setting. Repeat the procedure described in (3) – but be careful that you are not scorching the patch or any fabric that the iron may come in contact with.

5. It is sometimes easier to melt the glue by turning the article inside out, and ironing from the fabric side. Again, be careful that neither the fabric nor the patch is being scorched by the heat.

6. When the patch is securely attached, wait a while for everything to cool and the glue to set before moving

7. If you find that the patches come off too easily some time later, probably not enough heat was applied to melt the iron-on glue properly in the first place. When the glue is well melted, the patches usually are very secure.

8. Don’t use very hot water for washing, or very hot dryer settings, as these may cause the glue to remelt and the patches to disattach. Wash on a cool or warm setting, and dry on a medium or lower setting.

Stitching or Gluing Patches

1. It may not be possible to iron on the patches to some articles – like plastic backpacks, textured or stretchy fabrics, etc. In that case, the patches can be held in place with a few stitches, or they may be glued….

2. If you glue the patches onto very flexible backings, like thin plastic backpacks, it is necessary to roughen up the back of the patch with very coarse sandpaper before applying the glue. This is absolutely essential - because the iron-on glue is very smooth, and roughening the surface is necessary to allow the glue to get a good hold. We have found that Eclectic Products ‘Household Goop’ (available at Lowe’s and Home Depot, etc.) is an excellent glue for this purpose – but only if the back of the patch is well roughened.

3. If sandpaper is not available to roughen the iron-on backing, iron the patches onto a scrap piece of cloth as described in the first section above (an old worn out 100% cotton tee-shirt is ideal!). Iron from the cloth side for best results. Carefully cut around the patches, and then glue this new patch backing wherever you need the patches to be. Eclectic Products ‘Household Goop’ (available at Lowe’s and Home Depot, etc.) is, again, a great choice for this purpose.

P.S. Please keep the patches away from babies and small children as they present a choking hazard.

© Hurrah Awards-2008

Coach Rob and Tom are off with Tom's old coaching buddy Ron and new coaching buddy Daryl next week for some soccer learning and motivation. We will be meeting up with Velocity coaches and old coaching friends in the ballroom at the beautiful Mohegan Sun. We won't be dancing but there will be some young athletes taking the floor under the leadership of some very good soccer minds to help us all learn a little more about the dance of the beautiful game. Team events will go on as scheduled and be lead by other Velocity coaches.                    

While I don't gamble you can bet that at dinnertime I will be headed to some of the wonderful restaurants which will hopefully include Big Bubba's Barbecue.

We will be learning from the best at the 2013 Soccer Champions Coaches' Clinic. This clinic features multiple days of cutting-edge instruction and on-field demos by some of the world's top soccer minds. 2013 presenters include: the FA's Coaching Manager Dick Bate; FIFA Player of the Century, Soccer Hall of Fame Member & World Cup and Olympic Champion Michelle Ackers; Director of Coaching Education for the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Ian Barker; National Champion Collegiate Coach and Four-Time National Coach of the Year Ray Reid; and World Cup Champion, U.S. Olympic Gold Medallist and former WPS Boston Breakers Coach Tony DiCicco among others.

I am looking forward to seeing presentations by Maren Rojas former Bowdoin College coach and current Boston Breakers Coach and US Youth National Team Goalkeeping Coach.

Kristine says hello and gives the soccer secret from tsh on Vimeo.

The Boston Breakers made a big addition to their coaching staff, bringing in former University of Virginia assistant coach, Bowdoin College head coach and most recently the assistant coach at Boston College, Maren Rojas. An MVP keeper at the College of William and Mary in the early 90s, Rojas brings a wealth of talent to the Breakers. She led Bowdoin to five NESCAC Tournament appearances and the NCAA Tournament in 2007. During her days at the University of Virginia, Rojas helped guide the Cavaliers to four NCAA Tournament appearances. They also advanced to NCAA Tournament quarterfinals in 2005 and the Sweet 16 in 2006.

"I am incredibly excited to have the opportunity to work for an organization like the Boston Breakers in the new women’s professional league," Rojas said. "It will be a privilege to work alongside such talented players and coaches. I’ve had the utmost respect for the organization as a fan during the WUSA and WPS leagues and am looking forward to a competitive season in the NWSL."

Rojas, a Virginia native, has also coached at James Madison and Syracuse and in the U.S. Youth National Team, most recently in 2011. She also served as the Director of Goalkeeping for the Region I Olympic Developmental Program.

"I am very excited to have Maren join the Boston Breakers staff. She has been in and around the program in the past and made a difference for us," Breakers Head Coach Lisa Cole said. "So having her full time will improve us as a team and improve me as a coach."

Rojas holds a United States Soccer Federation "A" License and NSCAA Advanced National License. Last season at Boston College, Rojas was on the coaching staff that guided the Eagles to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and an 11-8-3 record.

"One of the many great things about Maren is her experience at so many things. She knows goalkeeping, has been a head coach, a top assistant at Division 1, and is experienced in team building," Cole said. "Her personality will be good for the team, and I look forward to working with her again."

BRUNSWICK, Maine - The Bowdoin College Athletic Department has announced that Fran O'Leary will be stepping down as head coach of the men's soccer program to join Toronto FC of Major League Soccer.

On Monday, O'Leary accepted the position of Assistant Coach and Director of Player Recruitment with Toronto FC. He will serve under new head coach Ryan Nelsen. Bowdoin will begin a national search for his replacement.

One of the most distinguished coaches in program history, O'Leary came to Bowdoin in the summer of 2005 and led the Polar Bears to unprecedented success. The two best seasons in program history came under the Dublin, Ireland native, as the squad posted an 11-4-2 mark and an NCAA Tournament berth in 2009. They followed it up with an outstanding 15-2-4 mark in 2010, which included the team's first-ever NCAA Tournament victory and appearance in the Division III Final Four.

Over the course of his seven seasons, O'Leary accumulated a record of 74-39-14, boasting a winning percentage of .638. Prior to Bowdoin, O'Leary also enjoyed successful coaching stints at Dartmouth, George Mason and Elmira.

"Toronto is a fantastic opportunity to stretch myself as a coach," says O'Leary. "However, it was still an incredibly difficult decision given how much fulfillment I have received coaching at Bowdoin. I do not have the words to do justice to my feelings about our team and the school."

"Although we are sorry to see Fran leave, we are excited for this new opportunity for him and his family," says Interim Director of Athletics Tim Ryan. "He is obviously a fantastic coach but is also a valued member of our Department and College community. We wish him the best of luck in Toronto."

Remember last year when a male high school wrestler forfeited a round in the state championships rather than wrestle a girl?  This time it’s a high school baseball team in Phoenix forfeiting the championship because their opponent’s second baseman is a girl. In both cases, religious beliefs were cited as the reason.

Who is at the center of this latest controversy? Freshman Paige Sultzbach, who played softball and volleyball in junior high, tried out for the Mesa Preparatory Academy baseball team because there wasn’t a varsity softball team.  She’s a talented player but isn’t bigger, better or more intimidating than any of her teammates. In fact she’s pretty much an average 15-year-old girl.

The Arizona Charter Athletic Association state championship baseball game was scheduled to be played Thursday night between Mesa Prep and Our Lady of Sorrows Academy. But Our Lady of Sorrows said its boys would not compete against a team with a girl and forfeited the game – and the state title – to Mesa Prep.

“As a Catholic school, we promote the ideal of forming and educating boys and girls separately during the adolescent years, especially in physical education,” Our Lady of Sorrows said in a statement, according to CNN affiliate KTVK.

“Teaching our boys to treat ladies with deference, we choose not to place them in an athletic competition where proper boundaries can only be respected with difficulty,” the statement continued. “Our school aims to instill in our boys a profound respect for women and girls.”

Our Lady of Sorrows is run by the U.S. branch of the Society of Saint Pius X which claims to run 88 schools worldwide. The group represents conservative, traditional priests who broke from the Catholic Church in the 1980s. According to a spokesman, the school is not part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix and Pope Benedict XVI has declared that the society has no canonical status.

Sultzbach’s mother, Pamela Sultzbach, believes her daughter and the Mesa Prep Monsoons were done a disservice.

“This is not a contact sport. It shouldn’t be an issue. It wasn’t that they were afraid they were going to hurt or injure her, it’s that (they believe) that a girl’s place is not on a field,” Pamela Sultzbach told the Arizona Republic.

“I respect their views, but it’s a bit out of the 18th century,” Amy Arnold, Mesa Prep’s athletic director, told the Republic.

Even the 18th century was more tolerant than Our Lady of Sorrows. If their adolescent boys don’t know the difference between playing sports and hooking up, maybe their educational methods should be revisited.

The Mary Sue writes:  “It’s almost sounds like telling women to cover up so men don’t grope them. No, just don’t grope them. Same thing here – just play sports.”

Mesa Prep and Our Lady of Sorrows played twice during the regular season, but Sultzbach sat out, as they were away games  and she felt a need to respect the rules of the home team. The final, however, was scheduled at Phoenix College on a neutral field and Sultzbach wanted to play.

Despite being hailed as state champions, Pamela Sultzbach believes Mesa Prep missed something.

“This team has worked so hard,” she said. “They’re undefeated. They had one game left. At our school, we’re taught that when you start something, you complete it, and they weren’t done.”

Nancy Hogshead-Makar, senior director of advocacy for the Women’s Sports Foundation, said the school’s decision to forfeit doesn’t aid its own students.

“In real life, these boys are going to be competing against the girls for jobs, for positions in graduate programs or in trade schools,” Hogshead-Makar said. “In every other area of their life, they are going to be competing side by side.”

What do you think? Were the boys right to forfeit?

Another pro women's soccer league will try to succeed where two previous attempts have failed.

The currently unnamed eight-team league will launch in the spring, U.S. Soccer announced Wednesday. The clubs will be located in Boston, Chicago, Kansas City, New Jersey, Portland, Seattle, western New York and Washington.

The sport has repeatedly shown it can draw large numbers of fans in the stands and on TV for the World Cup and Olympics, but women's soccer has yet to find a foothold as a pro sport in the U.S.

WUSA folded in 2003 after three seasons, failing to capitalize on the success of the 1999 World Cup. More recently, Women's Professional Soccer folded this year, also after three seasons.

With a vested interest in ensuring national team players have somewhere to play in the years leading up to the 2015 World Cup, U.S. Soccer is stepping in this time to seek to create a viable economic model. The teams still will be privately owned, but the federation will pay for the salaries of 24 national team players.

U.S. Soccer also will fund the league's front offices.

"We are subsidizing the private sector here to try to make it sustainable, to try to make the investments necessary by the private sector smaller," U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati said on a conference call.

The Canadian and Mexican federations also will pay the salaries of some of their players, with the same goal of ensuring their national teams are well-prepared for the World Cup. That means each club won't have to spend on salaries for up to seven players.

"We won't start off with the sort of deficits that we started the last two leagues with," Boston Breakers managing partner Michael Stoller.

The league will try to save money compared with the WPS in other ways, as well. Gulati said teams might sign fewer elite international players. Clubs will play in smaller stadiums to lower operating costs and will do less marketing.

"What we need is a sustainable model: less hype, better performance," Gulati said. "The hype will come if we have the performance."

U.S. Soccer could have held a residency program for its national team players, as it has done at times in the past. Gulati said new coach Tom Sermanni and other officials believe the best way for players to improve is by competing in a league.

The federation's involvement also will allow it to make sure the league's schedule doesn't conflict with national team activities.

U.S. Soccer has a handshake agreement with one national sponsor and is looking into a potential television deal, Gulati said. He expected some players would essentially be semi-pro, joining a team while working part-time or going to grad school, saving the squads more money on salary.

But with star power guaranteed from players on the Olympic gold medalist U.S. team, Stoller insisted: "This is a true professional league and standard of play."

"The one thing that has absolutely not changed is the teams' commitment to professional training and professional environment for the players," he said.