ALLIES #99 AND #100

Start the drum roll and get the herald trumpets ready with some fanfare because soccer allies #99 and #100 are coming up right after the jump…

Do the American Outlaws Perpetuate the Gender Divide in US Soccer?

This is something that has been bothering me for a while, and I think so. This is my opinion based on various AO Twitter accounts and their website. This does not mean that all chapters do this, as I do not follow every chapter’s twitter accounts/websites. This is just from what I have seen from the ones I follow, as well as stories I have heard from friends about the experiences with their local chapters and their views towards the women’s game.

Now, I’ve been thinking about this a lot after seeing the first WNT Olympic qualifying match on Friday, January 20, especially in comparison to the MNT friendly match that was played the following day. Dozens of AO members traveled to Phoenix to support the men in red, white, and blue for a Camp Cupcake friendly. The WNT is currently playing in a tournament that determines whether or not they get to play in the 2012 Summer Olympics, and there was no AO section shown on either of the broadcasts I watched.

USA Friendlies Analysis: B-Side All Mixed Up

US Soccer’s January camp is a chance for coach Jurgen Klinsmann to get a look at the second tier US players for an extended period of time and test their implementation of his system in a couple of friendlies against similarly skilled competition.  Without Dempsey, Donovan, Howard, Bocanegra, Bradley, and the other regulars, it’s a time for younger players to show what they can bring and a time for us to hopefully get excited about some young talent stepping up.

The US won both matches, as expected, but not with the panache we would have hoped for.  While there’s no doubt that this was a learning experience for both coach and player alike, the soccer on display was pretty ragged for a team that had plenty of time to gel in training camp.  At home with a decent crowd in Phoenix, a last minute win against Venezuela was justification for a controlling, if not attractive, performance. In Panama, the team was out-muscled, out-hustled, and out-coached against a physical side that deserved better than a 0-1 loss for their efforts.

Match reports are available here, so I’ll focus on my takeaways.

The gay4soccer 2011 Year in Review

2011 was a landmark year for soccer in the US, and for gay landmarks within the sport. Here’s what stood out for us here at gay4soccer: