Pushing Beckham

I've spent the past few days working to organize a club event at the Copa Minnesota match up between the LA Galaxy and the MN Thunder.  The Galaxy will feature international soccer superstar David Beckham in his only non-MLS city tour stop this year.

My goal is to get as many BTFC players out to the game as I can.  I've worked with the Thunder to secure an entire seating section for our club, and I'll now try to get word out to the Bangu Tsunami teams through the team managers to place orders.  This will be a huge hassle to try and coordinate ticket orders, distribution, check collection, seating assignments, etc for 40 teams.  But it's worth it im my book. 

True, Beckham is a draw for soccer and non-soccer fan alike.  But more important to me is the team and club bonding opportunity this presents, the opportunity for the kids to watch arguably our (the US's) best home grown soccer product in Landon Donovan, as well as watch one of the top US soccer icons Cobi Jones in likely his last field appearance after a distinguished soccer career.  This is about exposing our kids to the US soccer culture, about watching soccer stars live, and about making a clear statement that our club not only supports high level soccer, but also supports the efforts of our local professional soccer organization. 

It baffles me to see the utter lack of promotional effort by the local community clubs.  Browsing through them, I do not see ONE SINGLE BLURB about the upcoming event.  The clubs that many consider to be strong soccer clubs in the area - Eden Prairie, Woodbury, Lakeville, Wings, St Croix - NOTHING.  It is clear to me that many people out there just don't get it.  Either they don't think supporting the local pro team is worth the trouble because the Thunder plays in the second pro division (the USL First Division), or they don't grasp the importance of building a soccer culture here in the US and what that does for the game as a whole.  It's frustrating for someone like me to see this as I know how important the MN Kicks were to my own soccer development.  I know the same holds for Manny Lagos (MN Thunder President) and Amos Magee (MN Thunder Head Coach).  Man, they're both Blackhawks alum.  You'd think that club at least would support the Thunder efforts.

The Thunder seems pleased with early ticket sales, so we'll see what happens.  I'll do what I can to expose our players to what I feel is important to them.  Hopefully there is interest from families in our club to take part in the event.

Gopher Game vs Penn State

I had the U14s and U11s get together at ELR Stadium in St Paul to watch the Gophers play NCAA Top 10 team Penn State.  It is important that the girls watch as much high level soccer as they can and it is important that we continue to support the Gopher program.  Our club has had a good tie in with the U of M program, with many BTFC players on the Gopher rosters in recent years. 

Though Penn State was a better team overall, the Gophs hung in there and battled, taking the game to OT before scoring the winning goal on a free kick for the upset.  A great result for the Minnesota program, and a great game for the girls to experience. 

Moreover, it is important to me that the U14s look to mentor the younger girls.  My plan is to have the older girls come in and work with the younger girls this winter.  It will help the older girls as they now try and teach skills to others, something that will help in their own overall technical understanding, and it will help the younger girls as they can build relationships with the older girls, girls who the younger ones look up to in this club.  I've been very up front with the U11 group.  We are modeling their development plan after the one used with the current U14s, with the goal of contesting for another regional championship in 2010.  The U14s are good, the U11s have the potential to be better.  The U11s hear me talk about the U14s all the time, and it's good for the younger girls to be able to put a face on the older team as a whole through direct contact.