Think of the U-20s in terms of music. If the 2006 group can be called the “rock stars” that went to Russia, then 2008 was the indie sensation that went to Chile, and 2010 was the pop stars that went to Germany — and ultimately found themselves lip syncing in front of sold-out crowds.

Kids these days, right?

Before we talk about what kind of music 2012 could be making, let’s look back at that incredibly disappointing U-20 cycle of 2010. We could talk their manager’s (Head Coach Jill Ellis’) line-up and subbing decisions to death, but with someone new at the helm in 2012, my focus right now is on the players.

The 2010 journey really starts back in 2008, with the inaugural U-17 Women’s World Cup in New Zealand. This was a very special group, as US Soccer gave them preferential coverage over the U-20 team. In fact, the 2008 U-17s were given nearly the same treatment as the 2006 U-20s. Let’s extrapolate: we know that the 2008 U-20s were neglected by US Soccer in more areas than just media coverage, and we know that the 2006 U-20s were spoiled by US Soccer in more areas than just media coverage — so let’s assume it was much the same for the 2008 U-17s, since we know they were definitely treated better than the 2008 U-20s.

Now, let’s look at that 2008 U-17 Women’s World Cup roster:

GOALKEEPERS (3): Alexa Gaul, Jennifer Pettigrew, Taylor Vancil
DEFENDERS (6): Amber Brooks, Cloee Colohan, Crystal Dunn, Alexis Harris, Rachel Quon, Julia Roberts
MIDFIELDERS (8): Kate Bennett, Morgan Brian, Elizabeth Eddy, Olivia Klei, Mandy Laddish, Kristie Mewis, Samantha Mewis, Erika Tymrak
FORWARDS (4): Tani Costa Hayley Brock, Vicki DiMartino, Samantha Johnson, Courtney Verloo

Flash forward to 2010. The majority of these kids are U-20 eligible. Given that Ellis is back at the helm (after abandoning the 2008 U-20s, who ultimately won their World Cup in spite of US Soccer) and given that US Soccer decided they could invest some energy in covering the U-20s again, let’s look at the 2010 CONCACAF Championship team:

GOALKEEPERS (2): Bianca Henninger, Taylor Vancil
DEFENDERS (6): Amber Brooks, Vicki DiMartino, Crystal Dunn, Kendall Johnson, Toni Pressley, Rachel Quon
MIDFIELDERS (8): Zakiya Bywaters, Elizabeth Eddy, Kristie Mewis, Samantha Mewis, Christine Nairn, Teresa Noyola, Jenna Richmond, Casey Short
FORWARDS (4): Maya Hayes, Sydney Leroux, Morgan Marlborough, Tiffany McCarty

Highlight the eight carryovers from the 2008 U-17s: Amber Brooks, Vicki DiMartino, Crystal Dunn, Elizabeth Eddy, Kristie Mewis, Sam Mewis, Rachel Quon, and Taylor Vancil. But wait! We also have two 2008 U-20s: Christine Nairn and Sydney Leroux.

Now filter out the keepers. Goalkeepers are outliers in these discussions, because by virtue of having only one on the field at a time and at most three on the roster, they become a minority and function differently. (Also because Vancil’s career has been rather unusual and somewhat confusing so far.)

In fact, isolate the forwards. These are strikers, goal scorers. There is a certain mentality to that, and a certain amount of ego. As nice and humble players can be, as good as they are at talking to the media and public, you can see that they have to embody self-confidence and a competitive attacking spirit to succeed on the field.

Some players are able to balance this forward mentality with other responsibilities. Some aren’t. I think we saw this in the conversion of DiMartino to the backline. That was an even worse fit for her than it is for Kelley O’Hara right now.

Some players don’t need to balance. We saw this in Leroux, who stayed at her forward position, was given a leadership role, and retained 2008’s star status under her college and U-20 coach, Ellis.

The 2010 qualifiers were, on paper, successful. The US cruised through to the title. The Americans hoisted the trophy, praises were sung, and everyone went home happy. This is exactly what was expected of any US team.

Watching these games revealed some flaws in the US approach that could stand to be fixed; there was plenty of time before the U-20 World Cup. In camps and games that we were unable to see, the U-20s continued to perform, and even had a helpful stumble or two that they promised to learn from.

So here is the 2010 U-20 Women’s World Cup squad:

GOALKEEPERS (3): Adrianna Franch (Oklahoma State; Salina, Kan.), Bryane Heaberlin (Clearwater Chargers; St. Petersburg, Fla.), Bianca Henninger (Santa Clara; Los Gatos, Calif.)
DEFENDERS (5): Sade Ayinde (Maryland; North Bellmore, N.Y.) Mollie Pathman, Crystal Dunn (North Carolina; Rockville Centre, N.Y.), Kendall Johnson (Portland; Portland, Ore.), Toni Pressley (Florida State; Melbourne, Fla.), Rachel Quon (Stanford; Lake Forrest, Ill.)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Amber Brooks (North Carolina; New Hope, Pa.), Zakiya Bywaters (UCLA; Las Vegas, Nev.), Kristie Mewis (Boston College; Hanson, Mass.), Samantha Mewis (Scorpions SC; Hanson, Mass.), Christine Nairn (Penn State; Bowie, Md.), Teresa Noyola (Stanford; Palo Alto, Calif.), Jenna Richmond (UCLA; Centreville, Va.), Casey Short (Florida State; Naperville, Ill.)
FORWARDS (5): Vicki DiMartino (Boston College; Massapequa, N.Y.), Maya Hayes (Penn State; West Orange, N.J.), Sydney Leroux (UCLA; Phoenix, Ariz.), Tiffany McCarty (Florida State; Laurel, Md.) Meg Morris, Courtney Verloo (Stanford; Tualatin, Ore.)

• UCLA players on the U-20 squad for the UCLA coaches: 4; Bywaters, S. Mewis, Richmond, Leroux. All forwards and midfielders.
• Players retained from qualifiers: 1 goalkeeper, all 6 defenders (with 2 moved to other positions), 7 of 8 midfielders, and essentially all of the forwards, although McCarty would be replaced for medical reasons.
• Late addition from the 2008 U-17s: Courtney Verloo, who admitted to struggling after the 2008 cycle and in her freshman year at Stanford, which would explain her absence from the CONCACAF roster.
• Carryover from the 2010 U-17s: Bryane Heaberlin (the new Ashlyn Harris).
• 2008 U-17s that didn’t miss a beat: (so to speak) 6; Dunn, Brooks, DiMartino, K. Mewis, S. Mewis, and Quon.
• Christine Nairn and Sydney Leroux, two players in senior/leadership positions

So, what did we see from this 2010 team in their World Cup? A great keeper, a decent enough backline, not enough Teresa Noyola, a whole lot of Kristie Mewis’ ability to save the team on the field, and very little adjustment when it was sorely needed. Arguably, a culture of entitlement that bred stubborn complacency and caused the US to struggle despite the talent level and past success.

In my next post, I’ll talk about how 2008 and 2010 (both U-20s and U-17s) could be used in interpreting 2012′s U-20 campaign, which could wind up being much less of a disaster than we foreshadowed for their pop star predecessors.

What?: Screening of ‘Kicking It‘, Susan Koch’s 2008 documentary about the Homeless World Cup. Proceeds go to benefit the Homeless World Cup.

When?: Saturday, February 25. Doors open at 3pm, film starts at 4pm

Where?: Buckley Center Auditorium, University of Portland campus (directions)

How much?: FREE, but a $5 donation at the door would be appreciated.

I’m sold! What else?: There will be a raffle after the screening. Prizes include soccer swag signed by the venerable Portland Timbers and also the U.S. Women’s National Team.

Former University of Portland goalkeeper, current University of Portland coach, former Chicago Red Star and Boston Breaker and friend of the show Kelsey Davis is holding this event. If you are in Portland this weekend, you should go. If you go, send us a pic (crossconference@gmail.com) and you might win a fabulous prize!

If you’re not in Portland, you can also watch the movie on Netflix while drinking a Dale’s Pale Ale.

Well done, girls.

We are back because we have opinions and you need to hear them. Show notes are below!

FIRST THINGS FIRST: Kelsey Davis is holding a benefit documentary screening of “Kicking It,” a film made for the HWC on FEBRUARY 25th in BC Auditorium on campus at the University of Portland. Doors open at 3pm, film is at 4pm. The event is FREE with a suggested $5 donation at the door. A raffle will be held after the documentary screening, raffle tickets will be sold at the door.

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WPS

• This is for a different episode.
• WPSL Elite

USWNT v NZL

• Entire game available for streaming from USSoccer.com
• The NZ players don’t get enough credit.
• Ali Riley
• Jenny Bindon
• Hannah freakin’ Wilkinson
• On the “Herdman got too much credit” topic — Canadian players get TOO much credit and the coaches get too much blame?
• Is this a topic for another episode?
• The passing game was not working for the US at all.
• Missed PK at the beginning
• The end was just the USA running around and attacking
• The “US Mentality” strikes again – they have it, other teams don’t.
• Tragedy. Regardless of whether those goals were in or not.

US U-17s in Florida

• Two wins over Germany (2-0 and 1-0)
• Two yellows (one each game) on Morgan Andrews Andrews Morgan
• All the Morgans

US U-20s in La Manga – The rain in Spain falls mainly on the Swiss.

• 100-0 vs Switzerland (might as well be)
• Goals by Julie Johnston, Kealia Ohai (2), Lindsey Horan (3), Morgan Brian, Sam Mewis (2), Chioma Ubogagu
• 1-0 vs Germany (Horan)
• Very late goal
• German coach concurs with Swiss, that the US team has superior fitness
• This is not news
• 2-0 vs Norway (Ohai, Ubogagu)
• Very early goals
• Interesting note: alternated GKs for Switzerland and Germany
• Another interesting note: Duke’s Mollie Pathman (played in 2010 WC) captained

Upcoming YNT biz

• March 1-11, CONCACAF qualifiers
• Watch the webcasts :D

Call it a comeback! And then tell all your friends. Please?

We return with a fan favorite, Kelsey Davis. Kelsey spent this past fall as an assistant coach for the Portland Pilots.

The Pilots had a rough year. Or, rather, I had a rough year with them. They eventually did me proud though, and my heart was made glad to talk to Kelsey about it.

Links:
-Kelsey’s first appearance on our show
-Kelsey’s coaching profile
-@daviskelsey

-Music: “My Gun” by The Rubens

Find us on Twitter or email us: crossconference@gmail.com

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You’ll notice I don’t have a whole lot of  actual written posts here, as the podcast has been my primary responsibility. Earlier this month, I decided that I couldn’t continue with the Cross-Conference ‘Cast. I’m in the midst of serious family medical issues and combined with a full-time job, this means I don’t have the time to dedicate to the podcast. Rather than doing a distracted, half-assed job, I had to make the hard decision to ‘kill’ my darling.

Ruth has moved to Our Game Magazine, where she is now the College Soccer Editor. This is a really exciting move for her and I’m glad she’s able to do work that she’s passionate about. They’re doing some really impressive work for this college season, and if you care about the sport in the least, you should be paying attention to what they’re doing over there.

I would like to thank our listeners for their support. I’m really proud of some of the things we produced and I’m sorry that it ended so abruptly. I don’t have plans at the moment, but I can’t imagine staying away from the medium forever. I’m not sure what format it will take, but if another show emerges, this will be the first place I will report the news.

(We are still very happy to be contacted about CC or anything else that strikes your fancy. If you’re into the Twitters, Ruth is @Redshirt_RM and Joan is @joanofdark.)

At some point, I’ll write about the shift in the fannish experience between those two games. (Mainly: it’s very different now! Uh oh!) But first, I want to pick up the thread of my tweeting during the game. During the first half and part of the second, I was sitting in front of a rather chatty family that was participating in the jersey auction and sort of watching the game. The mother and daughter weren’t familiar with any of the players except the recent US WWC players (and Natasha Kai, of course). The father might’ve been more familiar with who was on the field, but he also had a “cheat sheet,” aka a roster, in hand.

This isn’t unusual at WPS games. It seems like only the season ticket holders and supporters groups know the names and numbers of non USWNT players. Of course, it’s more prominent while WPS is riding the post-World Cup wave. But it was my chance to lament the fact that so many fans don’t know or learn about the other players on the pitch. Not that I was being a hipster about it, but it’s genuinely saddening that so many WPS players seem to mean nothing now that the USWNT players have returned home.

Note: This is not to say I begrudge the attention WPS is getting from the surrounding soccer community now. Yes, it is wonderful that it’s hard to find parking and the games are nearly sold out. No sarcasm there. If you’re the optimistic sort, better late than never, right? –but this isn’t my talking point in this post.

There are only 20 odd players on that USWNT that went to the World Cup. By no means are these the best women’s soccer players in the US. They are quite good, yes, but in the end, those are the players that the coaching staff thought would work best together as a unit. As we learned in the 2008 U-20 Women’s World Cup, sometimes the best eligible players are not players that best fit the team.

Basically, there is a lot to appreciate about the WPS player pool beyond the USWNT, and I really wish women’s soccer fans cared enough to find out about the players that really carry these club teams. I could go on forever about this in terms of the Independence, which was built to play without those big names rather than just survive the few weeks that they were gone. But what really got to me was watching the post-game interactions.

Even though I don’t tend to collect signatures or talk to players after the game this season, I do stay to watch. There is something reassuring about watching fans interact with the teams, especially when you’ve spent two hours sitting in a packed stadium that is hardly making any more noise than the smaller crowds earlier in the season.

Back in June–a time when even Atlanta had a numerical shot at making the playoffs–hardly anyone chased after the Beat players. I remember waiting to compliment former FC Gold Pride goalkeeper Allison Whitworth in June because she was busy talking to other idle players. On Sunday, there wasn’t much mingling between players, and Whitworth was mobbed by kids wanting autographs every time she turned around. Really pleasantly surprising. When she finally had a breather, I jokingly asked if she was always this busy at away games. (As an aside, she should be, guys! She’s wicked good, and so much fun to watch in goal.)

“I think they just see the bright keeper’s jersey and get distracted,” she said. Sadly, she’s right. And sadly, most people apparently weren’t even paying enough attention during the game to see that her counterparts on the Independence were wearing either pink or white, not fluorescent green.

As I was leaving the stadium, I was walking just ahead of a handful of youth soccer players. Couldn’t help overhearing one relate her experience of just now realizing that she got the opposing keeper’s signature instead of Philly’s. Not that she noticed at the time, and not that she paid any attention to the stops that opposing keeper made compared to what Barnhart did. Hell, it’s not like she even would have recognized Barnhart, if she mistook Whitworth for Philly’s keeper!

It’s great that WPS is seeing a boost in ticket sales post-WWC. But by and large, it’s not about WPS. In fact, even prior to the WWC, a significant portion of the “fans” weren’t WPS fans. That’s a real shame, because WNT players are not the best WPS has to offer. Especially this season, the USWNT players are not the heroes on the teams, even if they do temporarily bring people to the stands. (Despite their best efforts in interviews to avoid talking WPS.)

You know who’s fun to watch? Who really impacts these teams? Those 2008 U-20 Women’s World Cup champions that were largely ignored by Pia this cycle. Those Notre Dame players that have retained their alma mater’s style of play–and hey, won a national championship themselves. Those creative and solid midfielders that USWNT fans claim were missing from the WWC. Those stalwart defenders and crazy good keepers that aren’t just “backups” to the three keepers that went to Germany. Those goalscorers who sit in the shadows of the limited handful that have been representing our country for 8+ years.

I wish that it was possible that the people in the stands at WPS games would take a shot at being fans of Women’s Professional Soccer. Women’s soccer in the US has so much more to offer than just the national team. These players are worth it. These are the players that make watching the USWNT worthwhile.

I would like to highlight the fact that the 2010 National Champions, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, will have webcasts for all home games that are not televised. At the moment, that means that only the Notre Dame-Connecticut game won’t be webcast. And this is great news, because Notre Dame consistently produces some of the best webcasts (and best soccer) in the college game.

We take the final live in Chicago, from Small Bar on Division Street!

Please excuse the brevity and sound quality of this episode. I think it’s taken me this long to process these feelings, and this episode is a small step in the path toward growth and acceptance.

Find us on Twitter or email us: crossconference@gmail.com

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