D.C. United Open Practice and Coaches Clinic gets big Turnout

On Tuesday at RFK Stadium D.C. United hosted local coaches for an Open Practice and Coaches Clinic. Hundreds of coaches enjoyed a day that included observing an actual United practice session, free lunch provided by Ledo Pizza, raffle prizes, and a 45 minute training session ran by Ben Olsen, Pat Onstad, and Chad Ashton.


Coaches arrive for Open Practice event at RFK.

 The opportunity for local coaches to be able to see first hand how an MLS coaching staff runs their sessions and works with both professional and academy level players is a valuable one for coaches at any level.




The United staff expressed the importance of their in house academy program and the hopes of expanding the age levels covered by the academy. D.C. United lead the way within MLS with regards to moving players through their academy system and onto the first team as evidenced by the 4 players that have seen significant time on the field with United. One day D.C. hopes to surpass the IMG Academy and have its very own housing/school facility run by the franchise.

For those coaches that did get the opportunity to attend they surely enjoyed the experience and will have plenty of material to take back to their teams as well as being part of a great community building day with other coaches from the area. If you did not make it out to the Open Practice and Coaches Clinic you still have one more chance to learn from the D.C. United staff at the next Chalk Talk activity in September: Register Here.

Grand Prize Raffle Winner!

Special thanks to all of the D.C. United coaches and staff for putting on a well attended and quality experience for the coaches. Check out more photos from the event on the VASoccerNews Facebook Page.

VYSA ODP District Tryouts

Mark your calendars! The Olympic Development Program (ODP) District tryouts are just around the corner. Tryouts for the upcoming season are for players (male and female) born in the years of 1995, ‘96, ‘97, ‘98 & ‘99.

Tryouts will be held in four different locations on August 6th and 7th. North District Tryouts will be held at Lake Fairfax Park in Reston, Va.; Central District Tryouts will take place at Sports Quest in Midlothian, Va.; West District Tryouts will be held at Vineyard II Soccer Fields in Roanoke, Va.; and West Central District Tryouts will take place at South Fork Soccer Complex in Charlottesville, Va. Tryouts have already been held for the South-East District. Please visit the VYSA website for tryout times at specific locations and to register.

It should be noted that tryouts will take place regardless of the weather and participants should plan to attend all sessions
US Youth Soccer ODP was formed in 1977 to identify players in each age group from which a National Team will be selected. Its purpose is to provide high-level training to benefit and enhance the development of players at all levels. The US Youth Soccer ODP is divided into four regions with Virginia being in Region I. The Virginia ODP is also divided into five districts – Central, Northern, Southeastern, West-Central and Western. Last year, 75 players (boys and girls) were named to Region I ODP squads.

For more information please visit http://www.vysa.com/ or call 540-693-1430

De Rosario red hot with two goals agianst former team

When the New York Red Bulls sent striker Dwayne De Rosario packing to Eastern Conference rivals D.C. United the early season United caption, Dax McCarty, had this to say:

“They made the move; they felt they had to make a change. Obviously you never want to be traded, but maybe it was a blessing in disguise. I get to come to a team where I know my role, I’m very comfortable and this team’s challenging for MLS Cup. It’s definitely a little bit of a point to prove. I want to prove to the fans in New York and the staff and the players that they got the better end of the trade.’’

Well with the way De Rosario has been playing such quality soccer, and scoring goals for the Red and Black (3 goals/5 games) the statement from McCarthy seems pretty empty.

Not many (if any) United fans would undo the trade so far and De Rosario has quickly become the centerpiece of the attack for D.C.

Against one of his former teams (San Jose 2001-2005) the Canadian National Team player helped his current team gain the much needed 3 points. Currently United are in 6th place in the Eastern Conference 8 points behind first place Columbus and hoping to make the playoffs this season.


D.C. UNITED FORWARD DWAYNE DE ROSARIO:


On playing in San Jose again:

“Those memories can never be erased. I have some great memories and good friends and it’s nice to see the Bay Area get a team back here. Hopefully in the near future they’ll have their own stadium. It’s always nice to come here and play. I’m just happy first and foremost that we came out here and played the way we did and were able to come out with a positive result.”

VASoccerNews teams up with FRE3KICK Gear

Virginia Online Soccer News and Indoor Soccer News are excited to announce that we are teaming up with FRE3KICK Gear. We will be helping promote this great new soccer lifestyle brand so be sure to stay tuned to our Facebook and Twitter pages for info on an upcoming giveaway where you can WIN your very own FRE3KICK t-shirt!

FRE3KICK Gear is more than just a clothing brand, it has become a lifestyle by taking it from your basic and traditional "I love soccer" T-shirt or "Soccer mom" T-shirt and completely revolutionizing soccer urban wear by adding a cool, edgy and trendy twist to soccer fashion.
Our humble beginnings of FRE3KICK got started by 1 person with a dream to create something that has never been seen before in soccer apparel and now it has rapidly become the official soccer urban wear brand with thousands of followers.

When we started FRE3KICK our vision was to create a brand that would capture the true essence and lifestyle of all Soccer fans. FRE3KICK gives the loyal soccer fan an opportunity to represent their love for the sport with fashion. The FRE3KICK brand is admired by Soccer fans and is the most recognizable urban wear brand due to our continued contribution to the growth of soccer in the USA. FRE3KICK has distribution in California, Arizona, Texas, Nevada, New York, Miami and also in the countries of Brazil, Mexico and Europe. FRE3KICK also has partnerships with professional soccer teams and is currently sponsoring professional athletes.

The FRE3KICK family would like to thank you for your continued support and also invite new fans to join us on our vision and also join our FRE3KICK family......

FRE3KICK brand provides a unique style of men's clothing ranging from; Hoodies, T-shirts, Hats, Shorts, accessories and soon bringing youth and women's apparel.

Email: info@freekickgear.com

FRE3KICK Gear on Facebook

Mia Hamm Celebrity Challenge in D.C. a Huge Success

The 4th Annual Mia Hamm Celebrity Soccer Challenge made it's first ever appearance in Washington, D.C. on Sunday at Kastles Stadium at the Wharf and it was a huge success.

Despite the brutal heat on a classic D.C. summer day the fans came out in force to come see Mia Hamm, Nomar Garciaparra, Kobe Bryant, and multiple members of the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team. The event benefits the Mia Hamm Foundation & Children's National Medical Center as well as to raise awareness of the Be a Match program which educates and encourages people to take the first step to become a bone marrow donor.

    Fans where treated to an amazing event with opportunities to meet and get autographs from some of their favorite USWNT players including Alex Morgan, Heather O'Reilly, Tobin Heath, and Virginia native Ali Krieger. There where NBA stars, current and retired NFL Players, former USMNT players, actors, and even local media members taking part in the action on the court which pitted the previously undefeated team lead by Nomar Garciaparra (3-0) against the team led by his wife and the most popular soccer player in U.S. soccer history, Mia Hamm.




The action was fast-paced often leaving little time for accurate updates via Twitter as @VASoccerNews attempted to provide live updates often witnessing multiple goals in less than one minute of each other. In the end Mia's team battled back for an exciting golden goal win in extra time provided by John Harkes (90 USMNT caps).

By far the biggest celebrity draw was NBA 5-time NBA Champion Kobe Bryant who is a big fan of the beautiful game and a well know F.C. Barcelona supporter. Kobe held his own and putt on a great show along with the rest of the celebrity participants. To be certain the most positive thing to happen on this day was the fact that Be a Match actually ran out of test kits due to the overwhelming support and participation of the fans in attendance who where all clearly moved by the half-time stories of families and their donors. If you did not attend but would like to join the bone marrow registry you can easily do so Click HERE.

Always an amazing ambassador for the game of soccer, Mia Hamm will hopefully be encouraged to host the Celebrity Soccer Challenge every year here in D.C. Let them know you appreciate them coming to the capital city and want them to return by connecting with them on Facebook and/or Twitter: @MiaHammFdn.