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USA Message Board Forums - Fans invited to Washington Freedom press conference
Sign up here to meet the Freedom's allocated players from the national team, see the new logo, learn about season ticket plans, and more.
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Quote: Originally posted by: Berly16
Some of us are working at 10am on Tuesdays...ugh
That's my problem too...and on top of that, according to the link, all 25 spots are now subscribed, although they're still taking applications in case a spot falls open.
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Quote: Originally posted by: CFCTheSequel
Quote: Originally posted by: Berly16
Some of us are working at 10am on Tuesdays...ugh
That's my problem too...and on top of that, according to the link, all 25 spots are now subscribed, although they're still taking applications in case a spot falls open.
That didn't take long!
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Hemmm, Sept 23 is a working day.
Let me see, what can I, come up with.
Well, I'll, talk to my Boss next week, so that she can give me a day off from work.
I'll do anything for Le Blue Ladies.
See ya, on the 23rd Sept @ RFK Home of Le Blue Ladies Washington Freedom.
Have a nice weekend!!.
Washington Freedom (Le Blue Ladies)
2003 Founder Cup III Champion
2007 W-League Champion.
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Quote: Originally posted by: supermokh
Hemmm, Sept 23 is a working day.
Let me see, what can I, come up with.
Well, I'll, talk to my Boss next week, so that she can give me a day off from work.
I'll do anything for Le Blue Ladies.
See ya, on the 23rd Sept @ RFK Home of Le Blue Ladies Washington Freedom.
Have a nice weekend!!.
Washington Freedom (Le Blue Ladies)
2003 Founder Cup III Champion
2007 W-League Champion.
Make sure you've signed up and been confirmed first - they're only letting in the first 25.
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I'll meet them at the meet and greet and when they come back and do the no name cup trophy presentation
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Woo .... hooo, YES!!!!
I just got, an invitation from the Washington Freedom, for the Washington Freedom Press Conference on Tuesday 23rd Sep 2008 at RFK @ 10.00am.
Washington Freedom (Le Blue Ladies)
2003 WUSA Founder Cup III champion
2007 W-League Champion
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I'm going to try to live-blog the press conference tomorrow over at BigSoccer.com.
Go to this thread if you want to see what's up.
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Quote: Originally posted by: StarCityFan
I'm going to try to live-blog the press conference tomorrow over at BigSoccer.com.
Go to this thread if you want to see what's up.
Never mind - the Freedom communications director informs me that there's no way of getting an Internet connection from the room at RFK where the press conference is being held.
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RECAP:
Lots of milling about beforehand.
I said hi to a lot of the Freedom staffers, whom I know either in person or via email, including Illini star defender and Freedom W-Leaguer Christen Karniski, who's working for the Freedom while hoping to be picked up by them or another team.
Also got to chat briefly with Cat Whitehill, who has a lovely smile and about the most gorgeous eyes I've ever seen.
Ahem.
We were called to order by a woman from Comcast SportsNet whose name I didn't catch.
She proceeded to introduce Maureen Hendricks, who with her husband John owns the Freedom.
Maureen noted the club's continued existence, the fans who have stayed loyal, and the great players picked up in the initial acquisition, before handing over to
Joseph Quinn, team president and CEO, who noted the continuity in coach, ownership, and Abby Wambach, while also mentioning the new home stadium for the team at the Germantown Soccerplex that will be reconfigured for the Freedom.
He then introduced
Kevin Payne, CEO of DC United, who said that, in part because of his daughters, he was glad to have a professional women's team back in the area.
He noted that DC United was working very closely with the Freedom to keep down overhead and startup costs.
(I just bought season tickets and was told that the charge would come from DC United since they're sharing accounting systems.
The Freedom ticket reps also work out of a corner of the DCU office.)
Jim Gabarra, head coach, was next.
He noted that the Freedom had been working for years to put together an all-inclusive club system and that it had been a long wait - longer than he thought it would be - but that there was finally a pro team as "the icing on top of the cake."
He said "we couldn't be happier with our allocation." Abby Wambach is a player all of the teams would have at the top of their list.
Ali Krieger trained with the WUSA team for a couple of years and played with the W-League team for two.
They're still negotiating her availability in 2009 but are hoping she can be loaned from her German team.
Regardless, he wants to take the long view, looking at players who'll be part of the mix for years to come, and Ali is just the sort of local player he wants to see come out of the Freedom system.
He said he'd been a Cat Whitehill fan for many years, had to face her in the W-League when she played for the New Jersey Wildcats, and that she was "the best distributor of the ball in the world."
He went over the upcoming schedule of when and how the team would acquire players.
The international draft is tomorrow, four rounds, though that only gives you the right to negotiate with that player - no guarantees.
Four round general draft in October, combines December, big draft in January, tryouts February, training camp March, season starts April.
Cat Whitehill said she was "so unbelievably happy" to be here.
She noted when entering her preferences the team's continuity and that Washington was a beautiful city.
She was a college senior in 2003 and was so looking forward to being drafted to play in the WUSA, then was "devastated" when the league folded.
She looked forward to playing alongside the "very fast" Ali Krieger and sending long services to the head of Abby Wambach.
She assured us that her "knee's gonna to be just fine" and that she's "gonna bring back the trophy for the WPS."
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Q&A:
How is this league different from the old one (which failed)?
Joe: Single-entity model versus franchise model.
WUSA had little incentive for teams to watch budget.
Also, lots of start-up experts on teams, lots of concern about sustainability, not blowing the second year budget in the first year.
How does the DCU-Freedom partnership compare with before?
Kevin: Previous partnership was probably closest in WUSA, definitely want to work together.
Avoid costly overhead, let Freedom gradually grow staffing instead of hiring 30-40 people early on.
What about call-ups to the national team?
Cat: WNT training camps before season, just one major tournament (Algarve),and that's in February.
WWC, Olympics over, nothing coming down pike for several years, national team definitely focused on supporting the new league and making it a success.
Concerns about players coming off of injuries?
Jim: Abby's the last one you'd worry about with regard to doing whatever it takes to get back into shape, Cat similar.
Both are ahead of schedule on rehab.
Looking at long-term picture, not just 2009 season - ditto for Ali, reiterated bit about getting her on loan.
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