National Sports Center Blog

Unique Name, Classic Soccer

by Marie DeMars, NSC media intern

This blog is the fourth installment of a series introducing the teams of the PUMA vElite tournament. The vElite group aims to increase the caliber of competition at the USA Cup, and the teams are hand-picked and then invited to play during the USA Cup Weekend tournament.

Snohomish Youth Soccer Club established Snohomish United in 1989 as the competitive branch of the club. This year, they’re hitting the road to find out how competitive they can be in the vElite series at the SCHWAN’S USA CUP. They’re sounding pretty good to me.

Last year’s team was solid, according to Gary White, technical director for the club. “Snohomish United fielded over 35 select level teams this past season with over 3,000 players registered  in the club and competing at all levels  and leagues in the Washington Youth Soccer, SYSA & the PDL leagues,” he said in an e-mail.

It helps that they practice on a great field. Stocker Fields is their privately owned 50-plus acre grass soccer complex. There, they work on their own style of game. “We play an attractive passing/penetrating style, with solid defensive principles applied when necessary,” White said. “Our players are encouraged to express their creativity and flair on both sides of the ball, whilst working within a defined team structure.”

The team starts training late due to the players’ spring high school schedule, but they catch up fast. “Over the past recent seasons we have won 14 State Championships,” White said. And they don’t stop there. “Our goals for the season include beginning to look past youth soccer for careers and opportunities,” White said.

It might interest you to know that the only current homegrown MLS Seattle Sounders FC player played his youth career with Snohomish United. That would be goalkeeper Ben Dragavon. Catch the action at the Weekend vElite tournament of SCHWAN’S USA CUP.

At the NSC the grass is greener!

By Barclay Kruse, NSC Chief Communications Officer

Scott Seroka, a reporter with KARE-11 News, the Twin Cities' NBC affiliate, was here at the NSC yesterday doing a story on how the NSC's turf-maintenance department is dealing with this year's draught in Central Minnesota. If you don't live in the Twin Cities, you'll need to know that we are nearly six inches below normal for rainfall this year. Last year at this time, we were about ten inches above normal, so that's a big swing.

Neil Ladd, the NSC's Director of Turf, and Curt Conkright, our Turf Superintendent, appear in the story.

The segment ran during the evening news on June 24, but you can watch the segment online by clicking here. Below: the sprinklers on the Victory Links 18th fairway show their stuff on the KARE-11 report.

When Scott originally called me to say they wanted to do that story, I initially thought, boring story! But the finished piece came out pretty good, and when Neil got on camera, he came up with some pretty interesting facts about the NSC's irrigation system. Here's just a sampling:

The NSC has over 75 miles of irrigation pipe underground.

There are about 2,000 sprinkler heads on the campus, split about 50/50 between Victory Links golf course and our athletic fields.

At peak flow, we can put 750,000 gallons of water onto our golf course in a single night. (We always water at night to reduce evaporation.)

Our irrigation system is computer controlled, and we only water when we need to. If there's sufficient rainfall on a given day, the system won't waste water.

Our irrigation system is self-contained. We draw all the water we need from three retention ponds on the campus, that are all linked by ditches and channels. The ponds are filled by rainwater, water run-off from neighboring areas and run-off from the water we use for irrigation. No city water is used for irrigation. As Neil says, "We're off the grid."

The NSC takes a lot of pride in running an environmentally friendly turf-maintanance department. Whether it's water conservation or the responsible application of chemicals, it's a mission we take really seriously.

And in case you're worried, we expect all of our soccer fields will be nice and green for the opening day of Schwan's USA CUP on July 17.

These Teams are so 80s

By Marie DeMars, NSC Media Intern

 

Finally, I finished rifling through the pages of 25 Schwan's USA CUP programs! I was looking for clubs who have been with us for our entire history. I typed them all in Excel, clicked "sort" and here they are:

Anoka Tornadoes               Blackhawks SC

Blaine SC                           Bloomington Youth    

Burnsville Fire SC             Coon Rapids Soccer Assn.    

Eagan Traveling Soccer     North Suburban Soccer Assn.

St. Croix SC                       Valley United SC                    

White Bear SC                   

A congratulatory "horray" for them! They've been coming back since 1985, when there were 68 teams. They went to opening ceremonies at the dome in '88, played at the brand new National Sports Center in '90, waded through soggy fields the year of the "flood," cheered for Pele (both times), and bought Umbro, adidas and PUMA gear. They've helped make each year great.

Here's to another 25 years of new friends, cool gear and great soccer.

Video Intern Makes History

By Marie DeMars, NSC Media Intern

Media is a team effort at the NSC, but as the designated blogger, I’m kind of the only one you see. Against human nature, I’m going to share the spotlight and introduce you to Eric, the video intern.

Eric Swanson comes to us from the University of North Dakota, where he will be a senior in the fall. He is majoring in broadcast communication and worked on his university’s TV show, Studio One, for a year. He was a sports reporter, technical director and audio operator for the weekly cable news show, and I have to say it’s pretty classy. Trust me; I watched his episode covering RC Car Races.

Eric editing video at the MAC.

In addition to “lots of sports reporting,” Eric has done smaller, documentary-type projects under his own initiative. That will come in handy because Eric is the lead producer on a fun project we came up with to celebrate the SCHWAN’S USA CUP 25th Anniversary: a video history series! It will have several short segments covering themes such as the original idea behind the tournament, memorable moments and technology at the tournament.

Eric wants to use the project to capture personal stories from many integral volunteers and staffers, and he hopes it will show “interesting little things that people don’t realize when they come here.” The videos will be comprised mainly of interviews, or as Eric said, “I get to talk to all the head honchos.”

There is no release date for the videos yet, but watch for more details in July. In the meantime, view back episodes of Studio One, and catch up on NSCtv, which Eric currently helps produce. His summary of the work: “I get paid to sit and edit video. I love that stuff.”

A New Gold Standard

By Marie DeMars, NSC Media Intern

This blog is the third installment of a series introducing the teams of the PUMA vElite tournament. The vElite group aims to increase the caliber of competition at the USA Cup, and the teams are hand-picked and then invited to play during the USA Cup Weekend tournament.

Charlotte United 92 Gold has been playing in North Carolina since 1995 and is now the largest classic soccer club in that state. What sets them apart is their work on the finer points of soccer: Team leader Rob Dalton notes United has a history of producing “technically good college players.”

The team may be on sound footing technically, but Dalton knows that the style of play depends on what the players bring to the field each game. When I asked him in an e-mail to give a short description of his team’s style, he joked: “That depends upon which 92 Gold team decides to turn up that day!” Overall, he wrote, the players have developed a great ability to play on the counter attack, and they try to play the ball on the ground.

Even a non-soccer girl like me can see the United will be tough to beat. Check out their wins this season: undefeated at Disney, Jefferson, Mathews Invitational and Julian Brown. But that’s not the only reason to head out to their games. Dalton said in his e-mail this will be a brand new 92 Gold team, as several of the season’s starters moved on to play at the USSF Development Academy.

The team will also include four U15 players competing in U16 for the first time at the tournament. “This will be the very first time these guys have played together … keep your fingers crossed,” Dalton said.

Will the younger guys find their groove? Will the new starters start it out right? Come to their games and find out!

Just Shoot Me

By Marie DeMars, NSC Media Intern

No. The internship is not going so poorly that I need someone to put me out of my misery. (My boss reads these, blogs, you know.) The title is referring to shooting with a video camera, which is what we were up to today.

 

Eric Setting up our outside shooting location.

There will be more details to follow on the footage we’re gathering, but I wanted to share with you a specific story from today. Tom Spindler, first class volunteer in charge of gift packing, came out talk with the media team about the Schwan’s USA CUP’s 25-year run. His job is to organize the tons of gifts we get for the teams, which can amount to two semis full of goods. He forms the volunteers into a big assembly line, and they go down the row collecting water bottles, T-shirts, Breathe-Right strips and whatever else someone wanted to sponsor. (One year, everyone got Slim-Jims.)

Tom (left) talking with Eric at the interview.

Tom’s been doing this for 10 or 12 years now, but this is his last one. He’s decided to retire and enjoy the tournament in a different capacity next year. When we asked him what he’ll miss the most, he stopped. With effort, he spoke. He said sometime during the cup, take a minute. Walk up to the deck of the Schwan’s Center or the top of the stadium and look out over the tournament. Everything you can see and hear and feel, that’s what he’ll miss.

We are lucky to have people like Tom, who volunteer so kids can get this incredible experience. And this Schwan’s USA CUP, I'm going to walk to the top of those stadium stairs and look out at what he’s worked so hard for. Maybe I’ll see you up there.

No Sleep for Brooklyn

By Marie DeMars, NSC Media Intern

 

 

This blog is the second installment of a series introducing the teams of the PUMA vElite tournament. The vElite group aims to increase the caliber of competition at the USA Cup, and the teams are hand-picked and then invited to play during the USA Cup Weekend tournament. Today we’re off to New York to meet the Brooklyn Italians.

 

Founded in 1949 by Italian-American immigrants, the Brooklyn Italians is the oldest Italian-American soccer club in the United States. I'm excited to see its U16 team compete in the PUMA vElite tournament and find out if the players’ “forza” (strength) can bring them out on top.

 

In addition to cultural history, the club has a winning past. It won the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup twice, in 1979 and 1991, and has produced many MLS players, most notably Shalrie Joseph; Juan Carlos Osorio, current New York Red Bulls coach; and Carlos Llamosa, Chivas USA assistant coach.

 

The Brooklyn Italians will have a chance to make their mark at SCHWAN’S USA CUP, and coaching director Maciej Sliwinski said the team is getting geared up. “Our goal is to have a strong showing at the SCHWAN’S USA CUP,” he wrote in an e-mail. “We had a pretty successful season so far: first place in CJSL (league) and finished with two ties and one loss at Dallas Cup.

 

Even with a great record, the Italians can’t rest now, with the tournament just over a month away. That shouldn’t be a problem, since Sliwinski said the team’s always on the offense. “We are a possession type team that always tries to attack, with emphasis on wing play,” he wrote.

 

All Brooklyn Italian teams play in the Cosmopolitan Junior Soccer League of Eastern New York. In addition, they enjoy some great travel benefits: Brooklyn Italians regularly competes in Italy, in the “Memorial Claudio Sassi,” and international travel is encouraged. Some teams have even trained with elite teams from Italy. Take it from a traveling girl, this deal is “molto bello.”

25 Years of Soccer Dreams Come True

 

 

 

By Marie DeMars, NSC Media Intern

 

When I started this job, I had heard of the Schwan’s USA CUP, and I even know a couple kids who play in it. But I’ve never been to it, I didn’t know where they held it and I certainly had no idea how many teams come to play from all corners of the world. Staffers love to share stories and fun facts, and now my brain is swimming with information. Seriously? We have 978 teams, 16 countries and 28 states worth of players, families, refs, coaches and fans come to Blaine, Minn., to play soccer? That’s pretty sweet.

Since we’re celebrating our 25th anniversary this year, I’ve been looking back through the old programs and trying to wrap my mind around what the week will look like and how it will feel. Skimming through the $2.00 souvenir program from 1988, I found myself inspired. Here’s what it had to say:

Young athletes learn that the world is much larger than their hometowns and what happens in other countries affects the rest of us. “Essentially, I think the tournament opens young people’s minds to the possibilities life has to offer and allows them to dream," said Kris Bjerkness (director of USA CUP at the time).

I’ve traveled abroad, and the best thing that I could wish for you is that moment when you realize how big your world could be if you let it. When you meet kids who came from Mexico and England and Japan to play soccer, I hope you see how far your own dreams can take you. So come to the cup, make some new friends, and expand your world a little … or a lot.

Schwan’s USA CUP, presented by PUMA: Bringing soccer players together since 1985.

A Sweet Invitation

 

 

By Marie DeMars, NSC Media Intern

You’re invited to watch the PUMA vElite tournament, returning this year and attracting some hot competition. “The feature team in the group is Tottenham,” said Teri Vogt, SCHWAN’S USA CUP tournament director. She’s referring to the Tottenham Hotspurs U16 team from England, of course.

The vElite group aims to increase the caliber of competition at the USA Cup, and the teams are hand-picked and then invited to play during the USA Cup Weekend tournament. For Tottenham to take us up on the offer is a big deal. “I view it as a huge compliment that they accepted,” Teri said.

The U16 team that will be playing is essentially a feeder team for the pros of the same name that you see on TV. They go to Academy, which is a year-round, full-time program designed to shape them into players who can compete with the Tottenham Hotspurs.

Abby Maxson, who plays soccer for MSU-Mankato, tried to explain Tottenham’s system to me. Since they don’t have high school sports, kids in England join clubs. If they’re really good, they can get into one of the youth programs that feed into a pro team. “All of the European teams have a youth system, at least most of the premiership,” she said. (My new favorite word: premiership. It makes so much sense!)

The professional Tottenham Spurs belong to Barclays Premier League, which Abby assured me is “THE prestigious league. A lot of big teams are in there.” She’s psyched to have the U16 team here. “I would actually really like to see the team play. It’s probably a little bit quicker than American (soccer).”

I’m so excited to watch a smashing team from England and then explain to all my friends how cool that is – we’re more of a running, snowboarding, kickball crowd, so they’re going to need some help understanding the level of cool on this one.

Look for more information about vElite teams coming soon to the blog! I’ll be profiling more teams as I get information.

The player's love it!

  by Teri Vogt, Schwan's USA CUP Tournament Director

I recently was at the NSCAA - National Soccer Coaches Convention - and ran across the daughter of a coach who has been bringing teams to USA CUP for many many years - Florin Marton.  Originally from Romania, he moved to Minnesota and now coaches college and club teams in West Virginia.  He has been responsible for bringing teams from Romania, Minnesota and now his own daughter's team from West Virginia. What a history many like him have with this event. He and I were all about memory lane but our nostalgia was even surpassed by his daughter's love of the event. We both walked away feeling proud and happy to be a part of USA CUP.  I asked Nicole to write down her thoughts on the tournament, which she so kindly did.  Thanks Nicole.  Your dad and I promise to work hard to make it a great experience again this summer!

  Teri Vogt and Nicole Marton talking at the NSCAA convention in St. Louis

Nicole Marton - a player's view of USA CUP

I've attended the Schwan’s USA CUP for the past three summers, and so far the feeling is unmatchable. In my mind, it's almost like everything I do within the months before the tournament is all in preparation for the time of my life that one week. Honestly, that's what the USA Cup is to me--a heaven on earth. I tell any player who has never been there or who is interested in possibly going that they will love it, because I know that's how I feel. The atmosphere is literally out of this world. There's soccer all around, fields tended to the highest of standards, stores, and teams from all over the world. I've met players from Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and teams from every corner of the country. It's almost impossible not to walk around the complex in awe.

For my team, it's not only a time to have amazing fun playing the sport we love; it is a great way to bond. We get one solid week of constant competition in which we have to pull together and give everything we've got in the pursuit of that ultimate glory, the ultimate goal—to be able to hold the game ball or the championship trophy up in the air and scream "We Are the Champions" (usually way off tone) at the top of our lungs.

I've been there to experience that thrill. It was my first USA Cup ever. I was 12 years old playing on a team of 16 year olds, so I had an even bigger challenge as a player. Our goal set by our coach was not to win, since obviously it was out first time and we didn’t know what to expect, but that made us want it even more. We won every single game before we had to play a team from Mexico. I felt like I was in my own personal World Cup competition. We went into the game thinking “Oh my God, an international team!” Honestly, this was the turning point in our mindset. We ended up winning, and I even scored! We started thinking that maybe, just maybe, we could win this whole thing. So, we continued, spirits high, until we faced Brazil in the championship game. We were all a bundle of nerves. Wasn’t Brazil the capitol of skill in the women’s soccer world? We knew it was, but we left it all on the field that game. I don’t think I’ve ever seen teams bond the way they do at the USA Cup, and bond we did! We came out of the game, sweating our hearts out and screaming our lungs out! We were the champions! 3-1 in a game we were never 100% sure was ours to win, but we did it. We came through, and it was that unmistakable feeling of triumph and glory that sets the USA Cup apart from all the rest.

I would encourage any serious,competitive team to attend the USA Cup because it is an experience like no other. Every year, it is the highlight of my year and the memory that sticks with me for the next 365 days before I get to experience it again. The feeling never gets old as many times as you go, and it is essentially a week in the long year you have to see to believe. The USA Cup is my favorite place in the world, and the place teams can come together and shine.

Nicole Marton
Captain of the U15 Lady Stingers