San Francisco Business Times: Bay Area Could Score Women’s Pro Soccer
By Amanda | July 21, 2008
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Story by Eric Young of the San Francisco Business Times. http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2008/07/21/story11.html
Kucirek, co-founder of online real estate brokerage ZipRealty Inc., hopes to operate a Bay Area franchise of the Women’s Professional Soccer league scheduled to begin play in spring 2009.
Kucirek has lined up about one-third of the $3 million he needs to buy a franchise and cover other startup costs. He’s in discussions with two universities — California State University, East Bay and Santa Clara University — to try to secure a deal for a home field. The Piedmont resident has been working full-time since March to line up additional investors, anxious to take part in a venture that is picking up where a previous women’s pro league failed.
Go here for the full story.
Topics: Women's Soccer | No Comments »
My First Two Weeks At The Chicago Red Stars, Women’s Professional Soccer Team
By Amanda | July 16, 2008
The Chicago Red Stars front office is located at Toyota Park. Our paint-job is currently in progress, but you can see that we’re going BOLD. Shortly, we’ll add big red stars on the outside, and our web address across the top of the building.
The last two weeks have been super-busy here at Chicago Red Stars. Here’s a look at what’s been going on since I started on July 1st.
We put the pedal to the medal right away - Jeff Roth, our AWESOME Marketing Director who started on the same day as me, and I started drafting the team’s marketing plan. It’s been exciting to write a plan that combines social media marketing and online technology with traditional marketing and grassroots efforts. Every person within this organization has so many innovative ideas, such an incredibly strong background, and so much quality experience it’s extremely inspiring. I’m excited to see this team develop. We’re just as energized as our fans and supporters about getting players!
Carrie Sear, Alyse LaHue and Kait Sawyer greet visitors when they walk in the front door at the Chicago Red Stars office.
Last weekend, our interns and marketing executives played in a Saturday/Sunday Chicago Street Soccer tournament. I went on Sunday to cheer our team on… they were in a solid position to win. There were some really great teams in the women’s division so the Red Stars Front Office team didn’t go through based on point differential. However, it was an awesome opportunity for us to spread the message about WPS and the team. There were probably about 500 soccer-enthusiasts there, all extremely receptive to WPS, men and women alike. We bulked up the email list too which was great. If you’d like to receive the Chicago Red Stars Email Insider, click here and sign up in the third box down on the right (we don’t spam nor will we sell your email address to anybody, ever).
I’ve been to two Chicago Fire home games since I moved here. The Red Stars have a Suite at Toyota Park and we invite people to join us all the time. The last match against Toronto was great and we scored in the final minute - Go Fire!!!
Everybody on staff wears their Chicago Red Stars t-shirts to events. When we went to the Section 8 part of the parking lot we felt like mini-celebrities (Just wait until the players arrive!!!). Everybody wanted to know about the team, when we’re starting, who our players are… and of course where they could get a t-shirt. It was great to feel so much support from the Fire’s die-hard fans.
On Sunday, July 14th, Emma Hayes was virtually Skyped into the Gameworks viewing party from Dicks Sporting Goods Park in Denver.
This past weekend we had a couple of events. We sent a team to the Windy City Rollers match on Saturday where they smashed the Tucson (my home town) Saddletramps. We also hosted a viewing party at Gameworks out in the suburbs. There were about 120+ people there - mostly families - to watch the USA take on Brazil at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Denver. Before the game, Peter “I Sell Tickets” Wilt introduced the team and the staff with the flash video and a brief hello. Marcia talked about the team and the current status of allocations, drafts, and tryouts. At halftime, we Skype’d Emma in over a huge screen. (Emma was at the game in Denver watching the game.) People in the audience drafted questions and Marcia led the discussion via microphone. It was awesome! Of course, the big question on everybody’s mind was, “Which player do you want the most in Chicago?”
Ops and Community Relations Director Amber Simons and Chris Buczkowski are hard at work planning the Beach Soccer Event with Leslie Osborne next weekend.
We’ve also been selling tickets, selling tickets, selling tickets! It’s been going really great so far and our numbers are growing every day. Our Director of Ticket sales, Greg, was born for this job - he’s INCREDIBLE. We have an internal campaign right now to sell seats for charity (we’ll be going public with this very soon, but you’re getting the inside scoop right here at Soccer Science) to help send a child (who may not be able to attend a professional sporting event otherwise due to financial concerns or otherwise) to every game next season - quick math… one ticket to every game + 12 games = 12 kids! If you’re interested, just send me an email at avandervort@chicagoredstars.com and be one of the first to donate.
Tomorrow, our staff and street team will be at the Chicago Bandits game vs. the Philadelphia Force. Chicago Bandits are the women’s professional softball team here - you might know their infamous Olympic pitcher, Jenny Finch.
Next weekend Chicago Red Stars Front Office Team will participate in Chicago Beach Soccer at Montrose Beach. Leslie Osborne will be joining us at 10am on Saturday, July 26th, so if you’re in Chicagoland reading this post be sure to stop by. And if you have a second, check out Leslie’s website, it’s really cool.
I caught Emma and Marcia a little off-guard in the conference room planning their trip to the Olympics in China. We’re currently working on building their China-blog.
Between writing the Chicago Red Stars Facebook page and the MySpace page (c’mon, friend us!!!), we’ve been working with the League on our website and social media platform… more to follow on all of this.
Chicago Red Stars is truly positioned to be a successful franchise and a leader in the League - I’m so excited to be here! Today we have another USA vs. Brazil viewing party at a restaurant downtown called Fodo Irish Pub. It’ll be a different crowd than Gameworks, with more 21+ people out for a fun social night out and some great soccer. We’re all excited to hang out with the Red Stars supporters and we’re expecting a pretty big crowd. Go USA!
Wow! All of this in just two weeks… I’ll be sure to keep you posted on the work we’re doing here at the Chicago Red Stars. You can also check out Peter’s blog at http://chicagoprowomenssoccer.blogspot.com as he updates frequently. More than anything, these first two weeks are have been a whirlwind indication that we all share a unique dedication, commitment, energy and enthusiasm for Women’s Professional Soccer. Bring on the allocation, we can’t wait to meet our team!
Topics: Emma Hayes, Women's Soccer | 3 Comments »
Hot Off The Press at Chicago Red Stars: The WPS Timeline
By Amanda | July 9, 2008
WOMEN’S PROFESSIONAL SOCCER (WPS) ANNOUNCES POST-OLYMPICS TIMELINE FOR CHICAGO RED STARS AND OTHER TEAMS FILLING OUT THEIR ROSTERS
U.S. Women’s National Team allocation week of September 15,followed by International Player Draft and WPS General Draft
Combines, Post-Combine Draft and Red Stars tryouts conclude player selection process
CHICAGO (July 8, 2008) –Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) announced today the details of its player selection process leading into the kickoff of its inaugural season in April 2009. The Chicago Red Stars and all other WPS teams will build their rosters through an allocation of U.S. Women’s National Team stars, a draft of international players, combines, additional League drafts and local team tryouts.
WPS will begin securing domestic talent with the post-Olympics allocation of the U.S. Women’s National Team (WNT) and U.S. WNT Player Pool in mid-September, to be followed with a draft of the top international players. In October, WPS will conduct a general draft for both domestic and international players, followed by east and west coast combines in December and a post-combine draft in January. WPS Teams for the inaugural 2009 season – Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New Jersey/New York, St. Louis, and Washington D.C. – will then complete their rosters via local tryouts. WPS tryouts in Team’s local market may begin any time after January 31. Exact dates of all local tryouts will be posted to both league and team websites.
“The player allocation and draft process has been the top priority for the League office and Team owners since first announcing the League’s formation last September,” said Tonya Antonucci, WPS Commissioner. “WPS will be the ultimate showcase for the world’s best female soccer talent and, for those athletes competing in the Beijing Olympics, the next stage in their careers. As a North American league, our first priority is the U.S. Women’s National Team players, whose skills will be complemented by the world’s top players, as well as the domestic players who have the talent and dedication required of professional athletes.”
“This is an exciting time for the National Team players as the Olympics are right around the corner and then a few weeks after we come home from Beijing we’ll be allocated to WPS teams,” said U.S. National Team star Abby Wambach. “I’m eager to learn which team I’ll be playing for and to connect with the fans in that market.”
“The announcement of the timeline is great news for the team and WPS,” Red Stars General Manager Marcia McDermott said. “As I talk to fans throughout the area, they always ask when we will have players. We have been busy scouting, researching and planning. We are excited to get the process started,” McDermott said.
On a local level, teams are already rallying community support around their soon-to-be players, thanks to a Marketing Services Agreement (MSA) with the U.S. Women’s National Team Players Association (USWNTPA). The MSA allows members of the U.S. WNT / U.S. WNT Player Pool to appear at community events and media functions, as well as participate in photo and video shoots on behalf of the League and teams now through next February. The power of this agreement was on display last month in Portland, Maine, when U.S. WNT forward Abby Wambach was the guest of WPS at the U.S. Youth Soccer Region I Championships Opening Ceremony. There she reminded the tournament’s more than 5,000 participants that anything – including playing professional soccer – is possible with determination and hard work. Multiple WPS-related appearances – including charity/community events, media functions, and promotional clinics – by members of the U.S. WNT are slated for later this year and early next and will be announced by the League and individual teams as details are confirmed.
Red Stars Head Coach Emma Hayes spoke of the importance of today’s announcement. “It’s an exciting time for everyone. The announced timeline demonstrates to the entire soccer community that the league is happening and that it’s going to feature the best players in the world,” Hayes said.
For more, please go to www.chicagoredstars.com.
TIMELINE
July 8 – Week of Sept. 15 Advancement of player contract discussions between WPS and U.S. WNT / U.S. WNT Player Pool; contracts to be finalized prior to post-Olympics allocation. Note: U.S. WNT Players / U.S. WNT Pool Players have already submitted their WPS market preferences.
July 8 Aug. 5– WPS teams may enter discussions with international players, in advance of International Players’ post-Olympics draft
August 5 – 23 Beijing Olympics quiet period; no WPS communication with any Players competing in the Olympics
September 2 - WPS Teams submit U.S. WNT Player preferences to the League
Week of September 15 - U.S. WNT / U.S. WNT Player Pool domestic allocation
Week of September 22 - Draft of top International players (2 per WPS team)
October 6 - WPS General Draft of Domestic and International players
December 10 – 13 - WPS West Coast Combine
December 17 – 20 - WPS East Coast Combine
Week of January 14 - WPS Post-Combine Draft
Beginning February 1 - WPS Tryouts in Teams’ Local Markets
March 1 - WPS Pre-Season begins
April 4/5 - (TBD) WPS Regular Season begins
Topics: Emma Hayes, Women's Soccer | No Comments »
Building the Bay Area Women’s Professional Soccer Team
By Amanda | July 3, 2008
Scott Kucirek is a driving force in bringing a Women’s Pro Soccer team to the Bay Area. His blog can be found at http://norcalwomensoccer.wordpress.com/.
This morning, Scott’s pingback made me a bit homesick so I wanted to share the paragraph he wrote about our friendship - I echo his sentiments. In the short time I’ve known Scott, his ambitions in business, organization (you should see his excel spreadsheets!), openness to new ideas, friendliness, honesty, transparency and drive to succeed have sincerely inspired me in so many ways.
“On a sad note, I said goodbye to a new friend, Amanda Vandervort. Amanda was hired by the Chicago Red Stars to head their online marketing. She started her job on July 1st and we weren’t able to connect for one last lunch before her departure. I met Amanda early in my project by e-mailing her after reading her blog. We had a couple lunches and e-mailed each other constantly about the league. She even agreed to be a guest coach for our Thunder girls and did a great job. I am happy for her, because Peter Wilt and his group in Chicago are doing things right. From hiring great people to using new media (see Peter’s blog), I feel this team will be the leader in the league.”
Here’s some info from the NorCal Women’s Soccer Blog.
Hello NorCal soccer community. My name is Scott Kucirek and I and a few friends are on a mission to bring a Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) team to Northern California for the 2009 season. Our journey started March 1, 2009, when after nearly a year of talking about how Northern California would be the ideal location for a professional women’s soccer team, I decided to dedicate my full time attention (i.e. not work at a paying job) to make this dream become a reality. It had been almost a decade since I started a company (ZipRealty) , so I knew what needed to be done. However, before I start any adventure, I check to make sure it passes the Edwin Land test:
“Don’t undertake a project unless it is manifestly important and nearly impossible.”
Well, with 7 teams already signed on for the 2009 season and just one year to kick-off, this project met the nearly impossible criterion. As for manifestly important, it goes without saying that establishing a team that will unite the entire female soccer community and provide positive role models for girls of all ages seemed extremely socially responsible. With the Land test passed and support from friends and family, the journey began.
Topics: Women's Soccer | 1 Comment »