January, 2008

Good morning. Yes, it's 1:30 in the morning as I sit here at write to you.  Last night, I went until 2:30 or 3:00. Ah, the life of a college student.

Speaking of, I know you all know how this feels: taking a full course load, having a part-time job so you can get a car (or food or rent money, or whatever), being involved in multiple extra-cirricular activities, doing volunteer work, trying to have a social life, and attempting to not neglect your family in the midst of all this. Do you wake up some mornings and just think, "I can't do it anymore"? I know after a good, "productive" all-nighter I want nothing more than to be able to just go home for a week or so (without penalty) and catch up on my sleep.

Oh! How about those lonely nights? Those are killer. It's 2 or 3 in the morning. Everyone's in bed, like normal people. And you're stuck in your room, staring at your computer screen. Those are the worst. It just makes you want to cry or go find a friend who gives really good hugs. The problem is that your roommate is asleep along with all of your good-hugging friends.

The colleges and universities are beginning to put dates to their Girl's Soccer Camp offerings. So, in addition to our previous post of camps, we've started to compile a collegiate-sponsored girl's soccer camp list.

You can find the link on the tab at the top of the page.

We'll be adding to this list over the next month or so, so check back frequently. If you know of any collegiate soccer camps, for girls 10-18, let us know by posting a comment to this entry and we'll consider adding it to our list.

We've just started a Link Directory for Collegiate Women's Soccer Program. Check out the tab at the top of the page. We've listed the colleges by part of the country, and state.  We don't have them all listed yet, but hope to complete the list of the next few months. 

If you find one you think we should add, add it to the comments of this entry and we'll research it.

We've just started a Link Director for Collegiate Women's Soccer Program. Check out the link at the left under the "Menu" header. We've listed the colleges by part of the country, and state. We don't have them all listed yet, but hope to complete the list of the next few months. If you find one you think we should add, add it to the comments of this entry and we'll research it.

The much anticipated women's professional soccer league now has a name, logo and website. "Women's Professional Soccer" or "WPS" debuted today, and with it came new logo featuring a silhouette of Mia Hamm about to strike a ball. Hamm herself if quite proud of the honor.

“I am extremely honored and humbled to personify the WPS brand, knowing full well that this league will be revered by generations of soccer fans around the world,” said Hamm.  “Above all else, this league represents opportunity – not just for female soccer players, but for women everywhere.”

The league also launched its official website at www.womensprosoccer.com. The website is a source for all information related to the league, WPS teams, prospective players and women’s soccer in general.

Hey, ladies!

If you're looking for the perfect camp to improve your skills, check out this site! They have general camps, striker camps, and keeper camps. There are camps for all ages, too. There's even have a camp in Alaska!!! Check it out!

Take a look: Soccer Camps

Also, there's a link for you to add other camps. If you know of a camp that isn't in the database, let your camp couselors know about the website.

As a little reminder that there's more to life after soccer, I looked at this article. I suggest you do the same. Sometimes, we forget that soccer truly is just a game. We can't play forever, so we have to spend today preparing for the tomorrow that may come when we can't play anymore.

Read it: From Soccer to Life

After reading this, you may really take that last article more seriously. It's so important to keep your knees in good condition. Weak knees can come back and haunt you later in life!

Check out this article at Newsweek: Weak at the knees.

An orthopedic surgeon has some advice for how to keep you on the field with you knees intact. This year alone, my team suffered two torn ACLs. This is a great article for any female athlete!

Avoid Knee Injuries

Most of us have a dream school: the college we'd attend if we had all the money in the world, straight A's, and perfect SAT scores. Mine was Duke. Since 7th grade, I wanted nothing more out of life than to go to Duke. Now, I'm not sitting in a dorm room at Duke, but it gave me something to shoot for. Different things determine which is our dream school. It could be anything from size or location to activities or academics. For some, it's all about the athletics. If your looking for the perfect college and soccer is one of the important factors on the list, here's the top 10 colleges for women's division 1 soccer from SoccerTimes.com. (The site gives the top 25 for men's and women's.)

1. Southern California
2. Florida State
3. UCLA
4. Notre Dame
5. Portland
6. North Carolina
7. West Virginia
8. Stanford
9. Texas
10. Connecticut

I'll have you know that Duke was 17 on that list. (Hey, a girl can dream, right?)