For an example of this media treatment of female athletes, one must look no further than Mia Hamm of the 2000 US Women’s Soccer team. The article explains,

Hamm was the media darling from the beginning, and not by choice.

“The media wanted Mia, and that’s all they wanted,” said Jaime Pagliarulo, a Hershey native and former U.S. national team goalkeeper, who played for the Trojans in high school, and then played college soccer at George Mason University. She was in the national team player pool in 1996, and made the team again in 2001.

According to Pagliarulo, Hamm tried to share the spotlight with her teammates.

“She would say, ‘I’ll do interviews, but I’m bringing so-and-so with me’,” Pagliarulo said. “She recognized that it would take more than just her to carry the women’s soccer movement across the country.

“You’ve got a team of 24 players than the fans adore and love, but she was forced into the spotlight, and she did her part to try to distribute the press and the spotlight. That went for Julie Foudy and Brandi Chastain too.”

After the Olympics, the team’s stars were separated out to different teams within the fleeting Women’s United Soccer Association, which lasted only three years before folding.

The lack of women’s sports icon does a great injustice to young female athletes. Though many may have their favorites, the media does not present them as ubiquitously as they do male athletes. Sports Force works hard to empower female athletes to take control of their future. We hope to help all of our young female athletes make it to the college level and beyond to help change the face of sports to include a few more females in the spotlight.

–article content courtesy Women Talk Sports and Patriot News

SportsForce filmed some of the top Mens U18 teams including the Del Mar Sharks 92 Premier, Arsenal FC, PQ Premier Red, SE Cosmos (Texas) and the United FC Black. SportsForce also caught the top action out of the Girls Division, where the SoCal Blues Defeated the San Diego United FC 3-0 in the finals of the U16 Gold Division.

Below is a list of the games we filmed and links to purchase professionally shot and edited games for $30 + tax & S / H.

If you are interested in having SportsForce cover your tournament games please contact us directly here.

Girls Games:

8/16/09 Girls U16 Championship: SC Blues vs. San Diego United

Boys Games:

8/16/09 Boys U18 Semifinals: Del Mar Sharks 92 vs. SEFC Cosmos

8/15/09 Boys U18-S: San Diego United vs. Carlsbad Lightning

8/15/09 Boys U18-G: Del Mar Sharks 92 vs. Arsenal FC

8/15/09 Boys U18-S: Del Mar Sharks 92 vs. PQ Premier Red

8/15/09 Boys U18-G: PQ Premier Red vs. Arsenal FC

8/15/09 Boys U18-G: PQ Premier Red vs. SEFC Cosmos

The SportsForce Blog has been a little MIA lately as the team has been putting all of our efforts into getting the main site up and running to increase our reach to athletes everywhere and help drive their sports careers forward.

The SportsForce team has been working around the clock adding athletes to the site. Almost every athlete has a full profile including athletic and academic information, and a video –which is no easy task to add over one hundred athletes in a short period of time, but the team was up for the challenge.

Here’s a recent girls basketball profile we completed for a rising senior that is getting actively recruited a few different colleges on the west coast.

Ariana Elegado – Guard – Class of 2010 – La Jolla Country Day School – San Diego, CA

Here are some more feature athlete profiles per sport to check out:

Boys Basketball- Jvonte Brooks

Baseball – Geoff Rocha

Girls Basketball – Ariana Elegado

Football – John Stephens

Boys Lacrosse – Alex Pardieu

Girls Lacrosse – Tarrah Lynch

Softball – Alex Miller

Girls Volleyball – Laura Plumb

The team has also been working hard making all the pages look the best, be helpful and of course fix some little bugs that may be there. Stay tuned for the site to be fully launched very, very soon!

SportsForce Partners With Premier Classic Soccer Tournament

This past weekend SportsForce partnered with 16^th Annual San Diego Premiere Classic . The tournament was held at several different fields throughout San Diego. Over 200 teams turned out for the tournament which offered play for both Boys and Girls U9-19 in Silver and Gold levels.

SportsForce filmed some of the top Men’s U18 teams including the Del Mar Sharks 92 Premier, Arsenal FC, PQ Premier Red, SE Cosmos (Texas) and the United FC Black. SportsForce also caught the top action out of the Girls Division, where the SoCal Blues Defeated the San Diego United FC 3-0 in the finals of the U16 Gold Division.

For complete results of the tournament, visit https://www.gotsport.com/events/?EventID=5583.

SportsForce Set to Conduct Baseball Combine Workout For Rising Seniors in San Diego

SportsForce will be conducting a baseball combine this coming weekend at East Lake High School in Chula Vista, CA. The combine video workout is ideal for student-athletes that are interested in putting together a skills video to market themselves to colleges around the country.

The SportsForce combine model allows an athlete to be professionally video taped and measure while performing sports specific skills that college coaches require to better evaluate potential prospects .  The SportsForce baseball combine workout includes the 60-yard sprint, pitching, catching, hitting and fielding stations.

Here’s an example of a combine workout video that has been integrated with our new SportsForce athlete profile system.

Geoff Rocha – Catcher – Class of 2009 – Cathedral Catholic

College Coach Communication

It is a standard procedure for athletes who are going to be playing Surf Cup to send an email to their prospective school’s coach ,complete with their Surf Cup schedule, schedule for the remainder of the summer, and a video, if they have one.  The coach is allowed to respond to this initial communication at will, but is banned from talking to the athlete or their parents at the event itself.  If the coach likes what they see, they will follow up with the player.  If the coach views the athlete as a potential recruit, they might ask for transcripts for review, ask for further game video, or ask them to make a visit to the school.  It is important to note that none of the follow up will happen unless the athlete makes the effort to contact those coaches of those schools they are interested in attending.

Coach’s Presence

Everywhere you turned at the 2009 Surf Cup you ran into a different college coach, each one decked out head to toe in their school’s gear.  A stroll in between fields would seem to reveal that there were more coaches than players.  At any one time, there might have been 25 coaches watching one game.  Can you imagine the pressure?  The coach from your dream school sits there scrutinizing your every move.  If you’re not the first one to a loose ball or you miss a pass even by just a couple inches, that coach does not hesitate to furiously write some sort of comment next to your name.

The worst part?  They all sit in a neat little row armed with their easy flip, portable chairs, drawstring backpacks, and yellow notepads.  The Duke coach who is sitting directly adjacent to the Georgia coach is looking very quizzical.   The UCLA coach who sits in between the Michigan and Cal coaches is sneaking a peek of his rival’s notes.  The Syracuse coach is minding her own business but scribing what seems to be a novel on one of her players of interest.  All of this is going on while these 16-18 year old kids are trying to make a play for their team.

While it seems impossible for any one of these players to focus on the field, JP Scatterday of the U19 Mustang Ajax told me that it is easy for him to zone in.  Because the field is so big and the action is so intense, he finds it easy to stay focused and is usually surprised when he finds out the number of coaches that were watching his game.  The amount of composure these teenagers are able to display despite such overwhelming pressure is impressive.

The Action

Accompanying the perennial powerhouse club teams of Southern California (San Diego Surf, So Cal Blues, So Cal Real, West Coast FC, Irvine Strikers, So Cal United, and Slammers FC) were teams from all over the country and all over the world.  Aside from the continued dominance of the Southern California teams across the board, the Northern California teams had the next best showing.  While Southern California teams won 3 of the divisions and had a presence in 8 of the 12 finals, Northern California teams won 4 of the 5 divisions in which they had teams in the finals.  The best international showing goes to the Vancouver Whitecaps of Canada.  Their Girl’s U19 team made it to the finals of the super division while their Men’s U19 team was able to advance to the semifinals.

XKSanDiego.com

For more on this weekend’s Surf Cup including results, pictures, articles and more, visit San Diego’s one stop shop for soccer news at www.xksandiego.com.  Complete coverage of events, tournaments, and teams from around the San Diego area year round can be found at xksandiego.com.

SportsForce was able to capture some awesome footage, get plenty of quality interviews, and increase awareness of our brand throughout the soccer community.  All in all it was a great event and one that SportsForce hopes to do more with in the future.

SportsForce is hosting a launch party August 6^th at The Local, sports bar and eatery – in downtown San Diego. We’ve invited friends, family, coaches and sports enthusiasts that are interested in getting a sneak peek at the new website and some of its key features.

Everyone in the office and some out of office are busy getting the site ready to launch. In order to get the site ready to launch we are busy polishing up and uploading videos, finalizing copy for different sections of the site and implementing HTML designs for different pages. I’m not sure the average person understands how much goes into preparing to launch a sports portal where you are combining professionally produced video, certified profiles, editorial content, events and more.

If you happen to read this before we launch you will be able to see our landing page with our demo video at www.sportsforceonline.com.

San Diego Surf Cup Offers College Soccer Coaches a Recruiting Paradise

The second weekend of the San Diego Surf Cup Soccer Tournament saw some of the top U15 – U19 Boys and Girls teams in the world. SportsForce was in attendance to talk to club team coaches, college coaches, film some of the game action and enjoy world class level soccer. It was Surf Cup’s 29^th year which had 650 teams apply to play with only 350 available slots. The tournament was held at the San Diego Polo Fields which is arguably the best venue in the nation for aspiring soccer players to garner attention from colleges and gain tremendous exposure to hundreds of coaches at one event.

The Surf Cup tournament is split into two levels of skill within each age division. The Super and Gold, with the Super bracket offering a slightly higher caliber of play.

The previous weekend of Surf Cup play was dedicated for U15 and below age groups and was dominated by Southern California teams. This weekend was a different story as many teams from all over the country ended up winning their respective divisions.

Girls Results:

Winning the Girls U16 Super division was the Mustang SC Rampage team out of Danville, CA and Oregon Rush Nike team won the Gold division for the U16 division. In the U17 Girls Super division, the SoCal Blues took top honors. The Neusport FC Green from Las Vegas finished at the top for the U17 Girls Gold division. Southern California team, Real SoCal White won the U19 Super Division. The Sonoma County Alliance took first for the U19 Gold.

Boys Results:

For the Boys, the CDA Academy from Sacramento, CA won the championship for the U16 Super division. Players SC of Las Vegas won the U16 Gold division. Real SoCal White dominated again, this time for the boys U17 Super. The Gilbert Arsenal premier team of Gilbert, AZ took the top honors for the U17 Gold division. Pachuca USA international, from Chevy Chase Maryland, won the championships for the U19 Super division, while the Santa Clara Sporting 91 took the honors for the U19 Gold division.

The Surf Cup showcased an extremely high level of soccer and Congratulations to all the winners and those invited to play!

The Starz Cup Wraps Up A Busy Summer of Lacrosse

SportsForce was at the Starz Cup Lacrosse Finals this weekend in San Diego, CA. We had the opportunity to film parts of both the girls and boys elite championship games. The Laxdawgs Brown won the Boys Elite Cup, while the Quad City Elite took top honors for the Girls Elite division.

The Starz Lacrosse Club is an elite program created to provide additional instruction and competition to select players.  Designed to compliment local middle and high school programs, Starz takes the best players, male and female, and provides the opportunity to compete at the elite level with some of the best coaches in the sport today!  The Starz look for players who have a passion for the game, want to compete at a higher level, and/or have thoughts of continuing their lacrosse careers beyond high school.

The Albion Cup National Soccer Showcase Games extended into Monday, July 20^th and offered the top play of the entire showcase. In the Men’s U19 division, host team Albion narrowly defeated United Futbol Black in an intense meeting on Monday. The story was much of the same for the Women’s U19 as Albion White defeated the San Diego Surf White, 2-1. In the Boys U14 Puma V Elite, San Diego Surf Academy took top honors over Palos Verdes.

Albion Cup – Boys U15 PUMA VElite – Championship Game – 2009 from Sports Force on Vimeo.

Albion SC defeated the Fram CQ Vipers in the U15 Puma V Elite division, though both teams secured a trip to the USA Cup next year. For the girls Puma V Elite finals on Monday, Albion defeated PQ Premiere 1-0 in the U14 division. Close games were omnipresent in the finals and the U15 Girls were no exception as the SoCal Blues Draluck defeated Arsenal FC to take the finals.

For complete results from Monday, visit: http://www.gotsport.com/events/?eventid=4521

Opening Day at the Del Mar Races = ½ Day

With our website launch rapidly approaching, days off for the SportsForce team come few and far between. We took exception this past week for opening day at the horse races in Del Mar. With our office conveniently located very close to the track, we decided to take a half day for this Southern California tradition that has been going on for 70 years.

Testing the Soon to Launch SportsForce Site

The SportsForce team is working hard behind the scenes making sure our site will be the best experience for you when it launches. We are testing everything, making sure everything is in the right place, and most importantly, that it works!

So Cal Cup Features some of Southern CA’s best Baseball Prospects

SportsForce was at the So Cal Cup this past weekend. The event features Southern California’s Top Baseball Prospects. Director, Mike Viera, with San Gabriel Valley Baseball gave SportsForce open access to the event.  SportsForce also had the pleasure of interviewing Mike as part of the event to learn more about some of the top players in the event and what colleges were there.

“The So Cal Cup was created on bringing the best players in Southern California to compete against each other in hopes to see College Coaches and Major League Scouts see the best players we have to offer in all of Southern California. The idea worked, in our first So Cal Cup, rain and more rain, we still had a huge following by Scouts, National Crosscheckers and some staff from the Scouting Bureau. Now we are looking to get the exposure to these players by College Coaches. 2 Days 3 Games, Wood Bat, how will they perform? Are the best players from Orange County, Riverside, Los Angeles or San Diego? Let’s find out in a battle of Southern California’s best talent in the So Cal Cup II. Where the best will play in the best! You will play for the county you live in. We had 11 players get drafted in the 2004 Major League Draft that participated in our inaugural So Cal Cup I.”

Find more info on the So Cal Cup at http://baseballresource.com/socalcup/index.htm

Despite the stiff national and international competition, Southern California teams had quite the impressive showing, winning every single division except one.  The Dallas Texans proved to be too much for the San Diego Surf Blue in the Girls U12 division, taking the final 2-0.  For a complete list of the winners by division, click here.

Complete coverage of the weekend’s event can be found by visiting San Diego’s “go-to” site for local soccer news, XKSanDiego.com.  Complete with pictures of the event, recaps of each division, action shots of most of the players, and more,  XKSanDiego.com is your one stop shop for San Diego soccer news.

With youth division play out of the way, another wave of all-star soccer players are set to come to the valley this weekend.  Starting this Saturday, the U16-U19 divisions will feature top talent from around the world.  The incredible level of competition is guaranteed to draw top coaches from all over the country who will look to both further their relationships with players they’ve already been recruiting and to start relationships with the up and coming prospects.  Be sure to check back next week for a recap of the action.

The winner of the Cup will fly to London in August 2010.  They will train at one of the world’s most elite facilities, play a match against the Tottenham Hotspur Academy Team, and get tickets to a first team match at historic White Hart Lane.

Congratulations to Albion SC and Fram CQ Vipers!

ALBION CUP 2009 – Soccer Highlight Video from Sports Force on Vimeo.

The tournament offers both Showcase and Cup brackets for each age group with Showcase featuring elite teams. Puma also sponsored a special elite bracket, the Puma V Elite, for both Boys and Girls in the U14 and U15 divisions. The Boys in the U15 division were also competing for a chance to play in Tottenham, England at the USA Cup in 2010.

Championship Results

Men’s U19

Showcase Champions: United Futbol Black

Cup Champions: PQ Premiere

Women’s U19

Showcase Champions: Albion SC White

Cup Champions: Laguna Hills Eclipse

Boys U17

Showcase Champions: FC San Diego Gold Quinn

Cup Champions: Legends FC Black

Girls U17

Showcase Champions: SD United Futbol Black

Cup Champions: Laguna Hills Eclipse Blue

Boys U16

Showcase Champions: Central California Aztecs

Cup Champions: Folsom Galaxy

Girls U16

Showcase Champions: Laguna Hills Eclipse

Cup Champions: Fontana United

Boys U15

Puma V Elite Champions: Albion SC

Cup Champions: United Futbol Black

Girls U15

Puma V Elite Champions: SoCal Blues Draluck

Cup Champions: United FC

Boys U14

Puma V Elite Champions: San Diego Surf Academy

Cup Champions: Albion SC

Girls U14

Puma V Elite Champions: Albion White

Cup Champions: El Dorado United Eclipse

Boys U13

Showcase Champions: CV Manchester Red

Cup Champions: Aztecs FC Juarez

Girls U13

Showcase Champions: Oranje Voetball G960

Cup Champions: San Diego United Futbol

Boys U12

Showcase Champions: FC Heat

Girls U12

Showcase Champions: SoCal Infinity 97

Cup Champions: Livermore Soccer

Boys U11

Showcase Champions: FC Barcelona

Cup Champions: Vaqueros Green

Girls U11

Showcase Champions: Corona United Blue

Cup Champions: Albion SC

Boys U10

Showcase Champions: FC Man United

Cup Champions: Encinitas Express White

Girls U10

Showcase Champions: Albion SC White

Cup Champions: Carlsbad Wave FC

Boys U9

Showcase Champions: Chula Vista Rangers

Cup Champions: Chula Vista Pumas

Girls U9

Showcase Champions: El Dorado United

Boys U8

Showcase Champions: Encinitas Express White

In order to get the word out about SportsForce and engage athletes, coaches and sports parents in person, SportsForce has put together a group of talented college students who are former competitive athletes and passionate sports enthusiasts to act as the SportsForce street team. The street team was an integral part in the planning and execution of our partnership with the Albion Cup Soccer Showcase and will be helping with upcoming events and our grassroots awareness campaigns.

Albion Cup National Soccer Showcase

SportsForce spent the last half of the week all over San Diego filming games for the Albion Cup National Soccer Showcase. The Albion Cup National Soccer Showcase was open for teams to play in either the Top Showcase Group or the Cup Group for Boys and Girls U8-U19. The event is an important soccer showcase for athletes looking to showcase their abilities to college coaches in attendance. Here’s a list of some of the college coaches in attendance: http://www.albioncup.org/CC/index_E.html.

Spread out of over several different top quality venues, the SportsForce team spent their days and evening at UCSD, Robb Field, and Hickman Field soccer fields just to name a few. Teams ranged from the U8 – U19 age groups for both girls and boys.

The Showcase was an amazing opportunity for the athletes who attended and there was quality play for the entire three-day event. Puma, the event sponsor, put on a special Puma V Elite Bracket for U14 and U15 teams, and also a chance for the Boys U15 team to advance to play in London. SD United Futbol Black took the top honors for the U17 Girls Showcase, while Laguna Hills Eclipse Blue took the title for the Cup in the same age bracket. For the U19 Women’s group, the host team, Albion SC White won the Showcase title, and the Laguna Hills Eclipse took the Cup in the U19 Women’s as well.

As for the upper age groups for the Boys teams, FC San Diego Gold, coached by top coach and former professional player Brian Quinn won the Showcase for the U17 Boys, while Legends FC Black took top honors for the cup division. The host team once again took Showcase honors for the Men’s U19 with Albion SC winning, while PQ Premier won the U19 Cup division.

Expanding Our Coverage in SoCal

Dennis Wyrick a former Arizona State baseball teammate with Andrew Beinbrink visited the SportsForce office to catch up and talk sports. Dennis was a two-sport star in high school, and went on to play Division I baseball in college and was a 35^th round draft pick in 1999, and a 23^rd round pick by the Orioles in 2003.

Dennis hung around to learn about the benefits that SportsForce is offering athletes, sports parents and coaches. Dennis talked about plans for the Orange County and Los Angeles areas and expanding SportsForce’s presence there. Dennis knows the world of sports as an athlete, and also as a coach as he is currently coaching football for the Orange Country Patriots Junior Midget team in his spare time.