Eastside FC News

EFC Has Three Teams in the State Championship Games!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Racine) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 15:10:00 +0000

Today at Starfire Sports Complex, Eastside will have 3 teams playing for the top title in Washington State. Unfortunately, all thee games are at 1:00, but pick one game or watch part of all three. The important thing is to get out and show these teams our incredible EFC support!

EFC BU17 Red vs. Westsound, Field #2, Championship Cup
EFC BU17 White vs. Seattle United, Field #4, Challenge Cup
EFC BU18 White vs. Seattle United, Field #3, Challenge Cup

Best of Luck!

Audrey Thomas Named to NSCAA High School All American Team!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Racine) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 04:28:00 +0000

Congratulations to EFC's U18 Red Team player Audrey Thomas! Audrey is a junior at Issaquah School and was honored by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, for the following awards:

NSCAA Washington State HS Player of the Year
NSCAA High School All Far West Region Team
NSCAA High School All-American

Audrey was also named Kingo Co 4A MVP, KingCo Conference 1st team and the Seattle Times "Star Times" All-Area Team. This is fantastic news for Audrey, Issaquah High School and EFC!

Her High School Coach, Tom Bunnell said, "In my years of coaching I have rarely encountered the complete package like Audrey. From her skill to her leadership, she makes coaching fun for me and playing fun for her teammates. She is very deserving of any and all awards that come her way. I am very proud of Audrey!"

Audrey has played with Eastside FC since U11 and is thankful for the great coaches that have helped her grow and develop as a player. When asked about these honors, Audrey replied, "It's a really cool thing, and I am incredibly honored to be included. There are so many deserving players. I am surprised but happy they chose me."

Congratulations Audrey on this amazing accomplishment! Way to go!

Three EFC Players Named HS League MVP

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Racine) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 13:16:00 +0000

Congratulations to three of the Girls 93 Red Players who received their High School Soccer League Most Valuable Player Award:

Coryn Bajema - Senior at Lynden Christian HS, Northwest Conference League MVP
Delanee Nilles - Senior at North Kitsap HS, Olympic League Co-MVP (second year in a row)
Audrey Thomas - Junior at Issaquah HS, KingCo 4A League MVP

Coryn (upper left photo) will be attending the University of South Carolina and Delanee (upper right) has plans to attend Western Washington University, and both will be playing soccer! Audrey's college plans are not determined at this time. Congratulations Girls!

50 EFC Players Recognized with HS All League Honors!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Racine) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 01:16:00 +0000

Congratulations to the EFC players who earned All League Honors in their High School Soccer Programs. There were approximately 27 girls represented on the First Team, 13 players on the Second Teams and 10 received an Honorable Mention. The girls play on EFC teams from the 96 age group to the 93's and both Red and White Teams were represented. Congratulations Girls! For a a detailed list, see the EFC Website.

We should also recognize those EFC players who won their HS State Championship or were a State Finalist! It's not an easy task to win the state title, let alone be a repeat winner!

Champion 4A Skyline: Tina Vargas, Jackie Wilson, Nicole Candioglos, Alexa Strom, Maddie Christ, Anna Deweirdt, Brooke Bofto, Abbey Porter, Abbie Litka

Champion 3A - Seattle Prep: Emma Healy, Olivia Ovenell

Champion 2A - Interlake: Sarah Williams

3A State Finalist - Liberty: Cassidy Nangle, Kimi Fry

3A Semi Finalist Eastside Catholic: Kelly Crowe, Kirstin Standish, Quinn Phillips, Lauren Thomas, Maddie Racine and Morgan Mackenzie

4A Semi Finalist Tahoma: MacKenzie Henke

Four EFC U18 Red Players Honored on Seattle Times All Area Team!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Racine) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 19:40:00 +0000

The Eastside FC Girls U18 Team had four players selected to the Seattle Times All Area Team High School Girls Soccer Team. There are only eleven players honored on the All Area Team which makes it even more of an accomplishment for team to secure four of the eleven positions.

Three of these players grew up through the Issaquah Youth Recreational Soccer Program and moved to Eastside FC (EFC) their U11 year seeking a more competitive soccer experience and professional coaching. They have had the opportunity to train under terrific coaches at EFC, including Nancy Turner, Dan Strom, Tom Bunnell, Michelle French and Frank Gallo.

The four girls have played together in the club season and/or on the Olympic Development Team for several years. Vargas, Nangle and Thomas have played on the same team since they were nine years old!

Tina Vargas – Goalkeeper at Skyline HS, graduating in 2012 - attending the University of Denver

Sara Bindl – Defender at Kentwood HS, graduating in 2012 - attending the University of Portland

Cassidy Nangle – Forward at Liberty HS, graduating Dec 2011- attending the University of Oklahoma

Audrey Thomas – Midfielder at Issaquah HS, graduating 2013 with college plans undecided

Congratulations to these players and to Eastside FC!

EFC Has Great Showing at Pacific Coast Challenge Tournament!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Racine) — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 22:56:00 +0000

EFC had three teams win the Premier Bracket of the Pacific Coast Challenge. Congratulations to those winners:
EFC Boys U11 Red - Coached by Stuart Lee
EFC Boys U16 Red - Coached by Stuart Lee
EFC Boys U18 Red - Coached by Mark Kovats

Congratulations! Photo below of the U18 Boys:

In addition to our three champions, we had 4 other teams end the tournament as a Finalist:
Boys U17 White
Boys U15 Red
Boys U14 White
Boys U13 Blue

For more information and photos of these teams, see the EFC website www.eastsidefc.org

EFC Girls '01 Blue Win the Island Cup!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Racine) — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 21:55:00 +0000

EFC G'01 Blue won the inaugural Island Cup tournament the weekend of August 27th and 28th for the Girls U10 Gold Division. They started strong, winning their first game 5-1 against FC Crush White despite catching a 6:10am ferry to get to the Island. The second game proved much more challenging but they managed a 2-1 win against the ISC Gunners G'01 B team. In their third and final bracket match they fought hard but came away with a 0-0 tie against Harbor Premier G'01 Green.

Coming out of their bracket undefeated, they faced the ISC Gunners G'O1 B team for the Final in a rematch of the battle from the day before. They went under 0-2 in the first 17 minutes. But the girls kept fighting and got a goal back, coming off the field 1-2 at halftime. Midway through the second half they equalized and finished the game tied 2-2. After two scoreless 5 minute overtimes, the girls participated in their first shootout.

EFC shot first and scored. The EFC goalkeeper, Lillian Johnson, saved all 4 PK's from the Gunner's. The fifth shooter (Avery Keeler) drilled a shot into the side netting, clinching the 2-0 shootout victory. A dramatic first tournament win for EFC G'01 Blue!

EFC Alum, Kate Deines, Continues to Earn National Recognition!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Racine) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Soccer standout Kate Deines is in line for national award

[Note: Kate Deines played for Eastside FC Girls 88 Red from U11 through U18]

August 23, 2011

By Issaquah Press Staff

University of Washington senior Kate Deines, a former Issaquah High School soccer standout, has been named a candidate for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS national award. Kate Deines, a 2008 graduate of Issaquah High , controls the ball during a University of Washington soccer match against Gonzaga. University of Washington.

The award is given out each year to an outstanding senior student and one NCAA Division I senior is given the award in 10 different sports. The acronym CLASS stands for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School. The award honors those seniors that excel in four different aspects: community, classroom, character and competition. Deines, who earned state player of the year honors as a senior at Issaquah High, has produced on the field from the start of her career at Washington. As a freshman, she finished second on the team with seven goals, and was named to the Pac-10 All-Freshman First-Team. In her last two seasons, she played and started in every game the Huskies played.

As a sophomore, Deines was named to the Second-Team All-Pacific Region and Second-Team All-Pac-10. Last year, Deines had her best season yet as one of the Husky team captains, leading the Huskies to the NCAA Elite 8. She earned both First-Team All-Pacific Region and First-Team All-Pac-10 honors while leading the Huskies in goals (nine) and points (19). She scored three game-winning goals and recorded her first career hat trick against Syracuse on Sept. 3. Deines finished the season seventh in the Huskies’ record books for game-winning goals (seven), eighth in goals (19) and 10th in points (42).

Her achievements allowed her to play for the U-23 National Team this summer.

Additionally, she was acknowledged with the Provost Academic Excellence Award at the WESPYs (Washington’s version of the ESPY awards). Her studying was also awarded with her making the Second-Team Pac-10 All-Academic and NSCAA Scholar All-West Region. She was also recently named to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch list for top player of the year.

EFC Hosts Far West Regional League GU14 Games at Preston

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Racine) — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 20:00:00 +0000

Four of the top GU14 teams on the West Coast converged on Eastside’s Preston fields for Far West Regional League pool play this week-end. Kelli Smith’s Eastside FC G97 Red team hosted teams from California and Utah (Legends FC from Los Angeles, LA Premier FC from Pasadena, and Sparta United Soccer Club from Salt Lake City). Legends FC accumulated the best record over the week-end with 2 wins and 1 tie. Eastside FC finished the week-end with 1 win, 1 tie, and 1 loss (including a friendly). The next round of pool play for Eastside FC GU14R’s is in Utah at the end of October.

Coach Michelle French to Coach at US U15 Girls' National Team Training Camp

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Racine) — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 14:35:00 +0000

Michelle French to coach at U.S. Soccer Under-15 Girls’ National Team training camp in Carson, California.

"It is always an incredible honor to work with the Girls' National Team program. Having the opportunity to coach such talented players from across the country, coupled with working with various U.S. Soccer National Team Staff coaches, helps me to continuously grow and gain more knowledge as a coach." -Michelle French

The U.S. Under-15 Girls’ National Team will hold a training camp at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. from Aug. 21-29 that will run concurrently with the U.S. U-17 WNT event. Damon Nahas will oversee the camp as head coach along with U.S. Soccer Development Director Jill Ellis. They have called up 22 players, all born in 1996, and will name two more before the start of camp. All of these players are age-eligible for the 2012 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, which has an age cut-off of players born on or after Jan. 1, 1995.

Interview with Katherine Reynolds, Former EFC Player and WPS Atlanta Beat Player

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Racine) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 20:00:00 +0000

Reynolds among small group of WPS iron women

By Jeff Kassouf, on August 12th, 2011

With one game remaining for each team in the 2011 WPS Regular Season, six players have played every minute this season thus far. Two of them are goalkeepers – Ashlyn Harris (Western New York Flash) and Alyssa Naeher (Boston Breakers) – while Sky Blue FC defender Brittany Taylor, Philadelphia’s Nikki Krzysik and Jen Buczkowksi along with Atlanta Beat defender Katherine Reynolds round out the group.

For Reynolds, the situation is a complete turnaround from 2010.

She played just 35 minutes over the span of three matches in 2010 under Philadelphia Independence Head Coach Paul Riley. That team made it to the WPS Championship, falling 4-0 to FC Gold Pride in the final. But under Atlanta Beat Head Coach James Galanis, Reynolds has played all 1530 minutes of Atlanta’s 17 games this season.

She has been a fixture at outside back for Atlanta, which has struggled to obtain results in 2011. Atlanta is 1-12-4 heading into Sunday’s match against the first-place Western New York Flash, but Reynolds said she has learned a lot this year.

Check out what she had to say on this season, playing alongside Cat Whitehill and her streak of consecutive minutes played: Follow Link to Interview

Boys 97 White Win Federal Way Blast Off!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Racine) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 16:00:00 +0000

Michael Smith's 97 Boys White team won the top bracket of the Federal Way Blast-Off tournament with a 1-0 win over a strong North Kitsap Comets team. The boys won each of their three bracket games and the final, outscoring their opponents 7-1. Great job EFC 97 White!

Two EFC Players Named Top 11 at Nationals!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Racine) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 12:46:00 +0000

Eastside FC has something new to celebrate this week as two players on EFC 94 Red have been named to the “Best 11″ in the nation for Under 16 boys.

James Molyneux-Elliot and Jordan Morris were named to the US Youth Soccer Best 11 in their age group. Earlier James’ and Jordan’s team had finished first in the Far West Regionals. In the Championships Eastside 94 Red won two and lost one in the preliminary round, but finished third because of goal differential.

Jordan Morris

James Molyneux-Elliot.

3 Things to Know About The New Swedish Hospital in Issaquah

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Racine) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 19:17:00 +0000

Eastside FC is proud to wear the Swedish logo on our jerseys. We feel there is a great fit between the mission and community values of both organizations. Last month, the new Swedish Hospital in the Issaquah Highlands opened. Here are a few facts to note about the new Swedish/Issaquah campus.

FIRST - THE AWARD-WINNING SWEDISH EMERGENCY ROOM IS NOW IN THE ISSAQUAH HIGHLANDS LOCATION. FOR PLAYERS NEEDING EMERGENCY ROOM CARE, MAKE SURE YOU TAKE THEM TO THE NEW LOCATION.
Click here for directions.

1. The medical center opens in two phases.Phase 1 opened in mid-July. This phase includes the opening of the medical office building and outpatient services, including: primary care, emergency room, imaging center, breast-care center, outpatient surgery, cancer center, physical therapy, outpatient lab, testing and treatment center, and specialty-care such as:

•Obstetrics and Gynecology
•Colon and Rectal
•Urology
•Allergy
•Pediatric Specialty Care
•Gastroenterology
•Neurology and Neurosurgery
•Audiology
•General Surgery
•Pulmonology
•Pain Management
•Plastic Surgery
•Cardiology
•Orthopedics
•Otolaryngology (ENT)
•Spine Care
•Vascular Surgery
•Ophthalmology
•Weight-Loss Services
•Vasectomy
•Physical and Occupational Therapy
•Diabetes Education

Phase 2 opens Nov. 1, 2011. The following services will be available:

•Inpatient Surgery
•Labor & Delivery and Postpartum Units
•Pediatric Inpatient Unit
•Medical/Surgical Inpatient Unit
•Intensive Care Unit

2. A unique, customer-friendly patient experience.Come and visit the new campus. It's a fantastic community asset. The folks at Swedish welcome you to visit and have a look around. In addition to providing an array of medical services, the patient experience is enhanced by incorporating new retail shops into the facility. Located in the heart of the new Swedish/Issaquah campus, the Shops at Swedish brings together health and wellness products, unique gifts and personalized services. Here’s a look at the shops:

•Be Well. A wellness boutique designed to support healthy lifestyles.

•Perfect Fit. A fine lingerie boutique offering luxurious sleepwear, fashion-forward intimate apparel and comfortable basics. We also offer a large selection of post-operative breast surgery garments, as well as swimwear, hats, scarves and other accessories for cancer survivors.

•Comfort & Joy. A warm and welcoming boutique focused on the needs of pregnant women, new moms and babies.

•Lily and Pearl. A distinctly elegant departure from the traditional hospital gift shop.

•Flex Space. A multi-use space to gather, learn and stay strong in both mind and body.

•Café 1910. Named for the year that Swedish Hospital was founded, Café 1910 features a diverse menu with healthy eating the priority — there are no fryers or soda machines.

•Adventure Kids Playcare. A unique drop-in childcare and entertainment center for kids ages 6 weeks to 12 years old.

•Starbucks: A full-service Starbucks coffee shop.

3. Swedish/Issaquah will be one of the most energy efficient facilities of its kind.
Patients and employees of Swedish/Issaquah enjoy the benefits of a vibrant medical campus grounded in sustainable, environmentally friendly values and practices. Swedish/Issaquah is the most energy-efficient medical complex in the region.

The planning team used computer simulation models to assist, among other things, in creating an efficient building envelope, setting insulation requirements for walls and ceilings, and selecting high-efficient heating/cooling equipment and lighting systems to maximize energy performance.

From the outset, Swedish also worked closely with regional electricity and gas utility Puget Sound Energy. The key goals are to integrate advanced technologies and processes that significantly reduce energy consumption, cut the facility's carbon footprint, and lower overall operating costs so Swedish can provide the most cost-effective care.

Girls 98 Red Team Wins Mustang Stampede

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Racine) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 00:53:00 +0000

2011 MUSTANG STAMPEDE GU13 PREMIER CHAMPIONS!!!!!

Back: Michelle French, Catie Buck, Katie Foster, Alexa Kirton, Natalie Weidenbach, Kaylene Pang, Molly Monroe.

Front: Cameron Tingey, Sophie Butterfield, Emma Martz, Joanna Harber, Zoe Milburn, Ellie Bryant, Isabella Lundberg.

Not pictured: Makaylie Moore, Maud van der Kooi

The Eastside Girls 98 Red team, coached by Michelle French, won the Mustang Stampede this past weekend Danville California at the U13 Premier division. The field included 11 of the top 25 teams in the nation including the current #1 and #3 teams. The tournament was very physical, with two members of the Eastside team suffering injuries that did not allow them to finish the tournament (one player with a concussion and one with a broken femur). The semi and final were played with one sub on the bench. This team showed incredible determination throughout the tournament!

Boys 94 Red Wins First Game in National Championship Play

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Racine) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:55:00 +0000

Coach Dan Strom's Boys 94 Red team won their first game of the US Youth Soccer 2011 National Championship this morning in Phoenix. The match finished with EFC up 1 - 0 against the USYS Region 1 champs, a strong Beadling SC team from Pennsylvania. It's HOT down there - in the 90's. Stay hydrated, guys!

The preliminaries continue with a game scheduled for tomorrow morning at 8:00AM PST against Thunder Academy, the Region II champions from Minnesota.

They conclude with a game Friday against long term rivals Albion White from Cal South who were the top finishers in the National League. Should be a great game.

Finals are scheduled for Sunday morning at 7:30AM.

You can follow the matches live on the EFC94Red Twitter feed.

You can see all the results for the Boys U16 division here.

Good luck men!

Sounders Women in Final Four Championship This Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Racine) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:48:00 +0000

The W-League Championships Are Coming To Town

This Weekend!

The first and longest-standing women's league in North America, the W-League is USL's highest level of women's soccer in the United States and Canada. The 2011 USL W-League campaign featured 27 teams in three regional conferences playing 14 regular season matches. In addition to featuring international and professional stars, elite amateur players have the opportunity to compete on amateur teams in the league while maintaining their collegiate eligibility. The league is recognized throughout the world for providing superior competition for female players, while offering affordable family entertainment for fans across North America.

This weekend at Starfire, the W-League Championships will bring the best women's soccer from the Eastern Conference, Central Conference, and Western Conference, along with the host, Seattle Sounders Women, to compete for the National Championship.

Get Tickets Here

KIDS UNDER 10 YEARS OLD ARE FREE!!!

Where

Starfire Sports Stadium in Tukwila, WA

Schedule

July 29

Semifinal #1 (Atlanta Silverbacks vs Vancouver Whitecaps) - 4pm kickoff

Semifinal #2 (Sounders vs Ottawa Fury) - 7pm kickoff

July 31

3rd Place match - 12:30pm kickoff

Championship - 4pm kickoff

Other Information
Kid Friendly: Yes!

Dog Friendly: No

Non-Smoking: Yes!

Wheelchair Accessible: Yes!

B11 Red Win Gold at Lake Oswego Nike Cup!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Racine) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:37:00 +0000

Congratulations to Coach Stuart Lee's U11 Red team in winning the Boys U11 Gold Division at the 2011 Lake Oswego Nike Cup this past weekend. The boys scored 32 goals while yielding only 3 for the entire tournament. They won the finals with a hard earned win over a tough VUSA Timbers squad 2-1 in overtime. Great job, boys!

Eastside 94 Boys at National Championships!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Racine) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 01:08:00 +0000

By the Numbers....

10,000+ Teams compete at the State Level

926 Teams earn their way to compete at the Regional Level

60 Teams advance to the National Tournament

Where 12 are crowned!

Eastside FC 94 Boys, Coached by Dan Strom, are among the 1,800 players, coaches, referees and officials gathered at a player luncheon in Phoenix, AZ to kick off the National Tournament. Sixty teams from across the country are looking for a National Championship Title. The EFC Boys will play one game a day for the next three days in hopes for a spot in the final playoff game this weekend.

Good luck EFC! Our entire soccer community is proud to have you represent the State of Washington and Region IV! The game schedule:

8:00 am Wednesday - Beadling SC (PA-W)

8:00 am Thursday - MN Thunder Academy (MN)

8:00 am Friday - Albion White (CA-S)

To follow the action or watch a game: http://championships.usyouthsoccer.org/

Eastside FC U14 Girls Win Dana Cup Soccer Tournament in Denmark

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Racine) — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 13:30:00 +0000

Four Eastside FC U14 girls are participating on a team (Benson Soccer) that won the Dana Cup soccer tournament in Denmark last week. The Dana Cup is an international soccer tournament that included hundreds of teams from 25 countries. The Eastside FC girls playing in the tournament are all from Kelli Smith’s U14 Red team: Katie Bernardez, Piper Casey. Andie Corno, and Nicole Anderson. En route to the title, they beat teams from Sweden, Norway, Denmark and US. Throughout the tournament, they conceded no goals and won the final 1-0 over FC Marin from California. The team is made up from girls throughout the state of Washington. This week, the team is playing in the Gothia Cup in Sweden which is the world’s largest youth soccer tournament with 35,000 participants from over 70 countries participating. Let's go girls!

Tournament Win for BU12 VanGaver Team!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Racine) — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 03:30:00 +0000

Coach Kevin Van Gaver and his BU12 Team won the Kick in the Grass Tournament in Olympia held July 15-17. The boys won four consecutive games over the weekend by an aggregate score of 19-4, including a convincing win of 7-1 in the finals. Way to go EFC!

Coach Stuart Lee wins Nike Crossfire Challenge!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Racine) — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 02:03:00 +0000

Congratulations to Coach Stuart Lee's U11 Red team in winning the Boys U11 Gold Division at the 2011 Nike Crossfire Challenge this past weekend. Once again, the boys proved to be a strong offensive team scoring 31 goals and allowing only 2 goals throughout the tournament. Great job, boys!

Eastside FC Boys 94 Red—Strom Headline ESPN Rise

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Racine) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 14:28:00 +0000

After winning the Eastside’s first Region IV title, Dan Strom’s B94 Red team breakthrough season was honored by headlining the ESPN RISE Soccer Website. ESPN recognized the team as a contender for the US Youth Soccer national title at the US Youth Soccer National Championships July 26–31 at The Reach 11 Sports Complex in Phoenix. EFC News will be sure to follow their progress at Nationals! Good luck EFC!

To read the full article on the ESPN RISE Website please click here.

Three EFC Champions Crowned at Crossfire Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Racine) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 14:15:00 +0000

Congratulations to the Girls 93 White, Boys 94 Red and Girls 96 Red teams for taking home the championship title at the 2011 Crossfire Challenge. Each team showed their dominance in WA State, collectively playing 14 games and scoring 49 goals in 14 games. They allowed only 4 goals in the tournament, and the Boys 94 Red team played each game to a shut out. Great work EFC!

Photo of the Girls 93 White Team, coached by Porter Lombard:

Women's World Cup - Our Trip to Germany!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Racine) — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 13:25:00 +0000

Written by: Kourtney and Alexa Kirton

The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011 has been an exhilarating time for all teams participating and fans who are watching. We were lucky enough to experience one of those games in Germany, USA vs. Columbia.

In early February, my dad put our names into the FIFA lottery ticket system to hopefully win tickets to the USA vs Columbia game in Sinsheim. We figured this would be an appropriate time to go back and visit friends, because we, Kourtney and Alexa, haven’t been back there since 2000, when we were little and our dad was finishing up his professional hockey career and playing in the DEL in Frankfurt. Then, a few months later, we got an email that said we had won the 4 tickets! We were thrilled! We get to see a Women’s World Cup game! Also, we get to go back the country, Germany, where we both spent the first years of lives (Alexa was even born there) and we get to stay with friends in the city, Straubing, where our dad started and played the first 6 years of his 10-year German professional hockey career, where they even retired his jersey and named him “Player of the Century”.

The FIFA Women’s World Cup game we were going to was to take place on Saturday, July 2^nd, at 7 pm in Sinsheim. We had to drive about 3 hours to get there, in our little bright blue, 4-person rental car. We made our 2 posters for the USA on our car ride there, not knowing if we’d be lucky enough to get on TV with them or not. We had to come up with good words that started with the letters E S P N, in hopes of ESPN showing it, so we did. Then, as we were driving down the autobahn, all of a sudden, there it was...the biggest stadium we’ve ever seen, sitting right there on the side of the highway. The Rhein-Neckar-Arena. When we first saw the stadium we both were speechless. It was so beautiful!

Gates opened 2 hours before the game started, so we had time to walk around and buy some souvenirs. Then we went and visited with Lesle Gallimore and Amy Griffin, the UW women’s soccer coaches who were at the game too and were sitting in the USA team family section. All the families had white USA soccer t-shirts on with their players’ last names and numbers on the back, it was so cool to see the families of the players and we could sense the excitement and anticipation. When we got back to our seats the game started. We were 9 rows up on the side of the stadium right by the goal. For the first half we got to see Hope Solo up close when she made big saves and we were behind #9 Heather O’Reilly, as she nailed her shot past the Columbian goalie for the first goal of the match. At the end of the first half the score was 1-0, in favor of the USA. During the second half we got to see, up close, the goals by #15, Megan Rapinoe and #10, Carli Lloyd. Then the final whistle blew and all the USA fans celebrated! After the game, we went over to the corner where the players walked into their locker rooms. The coach and a few players were being interviewed by ESPN. So as the rest of the USA team was walking by to go into the locker room, we asked them for their autographs. We were able to get almost the whole team to sign our posters. Hope Solo was the last one to come off the field and come over. While she was signing our posters, she said she noticed Alexa’s Sounder’s jersey and said it was nice to see some “home-town fans all the way out here”. She then asked Kourtney where we were from and she told her Issaquah. Then when we asked if she knew Frenchie, Hope said “Of course I do”. So Alexa said she plays for Frenchie and Hope gave Alexa a big grin and asked Alexa to say “Hi” to Frenchie for her. That was definitely the highlight of the game for both of us!

Since that soccer game, whenever someone asks us about what our favorite part of the trip was, we always say watching the USA vs. Colombia Women’s World Cup soccer game. We will never forget that game and our wonderful experience in Germany.

For links to great photos:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2043773611673.2111151.1164333757&l=ea24cd2dc3