February, 2008

We are somewhat disappointed to see this morning that we were not the the winner of Soccerlens.com's Best Women's Football Blog of 2007.

Nonetheless, we are pleased that we achieved runner-up status both from the Readers Choice and Editor's Choice. Kickster, which is run by a group of professional soccer journalists. Not bad for a new blog, run by a college student and and a part-time admin.

Thanks for all who voted for us.

The New York Times wrote an article earlier this week on Shamila Kohestani, the captain of Afghanistan’s national women’s soccer team. She's currently studying in the US at the Blair Academy in NJ.

She had little formal education under Taliban rule in Afghanistan and strives to make a better life for herself and serve as a role model for other young women in her country. It continues to amaze me at how much of a role soccer plays in helping women express themselves and their limited freedoms in the many countries where women don't have the rights we in the US take for granted.

How cool!

We just found out that soccerlens.com has selected us as one of five Best Women's Football Blogs in 2007. Wow! We're just getting started, too. We think it's cool to be nominated, but it would REALLY BE COOL to win.

Won't you cast your vote for soccerchica.com?

Go here to: VOTE NOW! But hurry. Voting ends February 17, 2008.

Director Ayat Najafi's movie, "Foootball Under Cover, " premiered at the 2008 Berlinale on Feb 10, 2008. The Hollywood Reporter reviewed it in today's online edition (Football Under Cover- Bottom Line: Girls' soccer team enjoys a level playing field in Iran).

Georgetown University announced today that seven players have signed Letters of Intent for the 2008 season.

Those new players are:

Samantha Baker, (Long Beach, Calif./Wilson)

Kelly D'Ambrisi, (Trumbull, Conn./Our Lady of Mercy)

Elizabeth Hanna, (Waxhaw, N.C./Weddington)

Gabrielle Miller, (Wayne, Pa./Radnor)

Larkin Nixon, (Woodbine, Md./Glenelg)

Camille Trujillo, (Albuquerque, N.M./St. Pius X)

Marissa Wing, (East Greenbush, N.Y./Columbia)

Greta Mjoll Samuelsdottir (Reykjavik, Iceland)

I put this in the "Funny Stuff" category, because I have a dark sense of humor. Read at your own risk.

German researchers recently conducted a study that concluded watching a big soccer match can strain a fan's heart.

After studying the effects of matches during the 2006 World Cup, they concluded that, for German men, the risk of having a heart attack or some other serious heart problem was more than three times higher on days when their team played. It was 82 percent higher for German women. "Six of the seven games in which the German team participated were associated with an increase in the number of cardiac emergencies over the number during the control period," they wrote. The largest number occurred during a June 30 quarterfinal in which Germany defeated Argentina in a dramatic penalty shoot-out. The next game, Germany's semi-final loss to Italy, produced almost as many heart attacks. In contrast, Germany's match against Portugal for third place, produced no spike in heart-related problems. Germany defeated Portugal 3-1.