SportsForce Set to Host Website Launch Party

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.

Albion Cup Championship Games – Monday

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

This past weekend, top soccer players from around the world from ages 8 to 14 met at the San Diego Polo Fields in Del Mar to compete in the 2009 Surf Cup. As one of the top tournaments in the country, this year’s Surf Cup selected teams from all over the country to come play. These teams included the Concord Fire of Georgia, Eastside FC out of Washington, and the Texas Fire traveling in from Texas. Not only did the Surf Cup attract top teams from all of the US, but it also hosted teams from around the world including the Universidad Pumas of Mexico and the Calgary Blizzards from Canada.

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.

This year’s Albion Cup National Soccer Showcase had a special incentive for U15 Boys competing in the Puma V Elite Division: a chance to go to the USA Cup. The two finalists at the Albion Cup Showcase will travel to the 2010 USA Cup® in July to compete in the U16 Boys V-Elite bracket in Minneapolis. The top two teams from this year’s showcase were Albion SC and Fram CQ Vipers.

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!

The Albion Cup National Soccer Showcase is an annual three-day event held throughout San Diego. The event is for club teams in divisions U8-U19 for both boys and girls. The Showcase offers a chance to face top competition, gain visibility from college coaches and compete in a quality tournament sponsored by Puma. This year’s tournament offered an amazing depth of talent from California as well as many teams from around the country. Many games were fought hard under the sun in an exceptionally hot weekend. There were several stellar performances on different levels, but Albion, the namesake team took top honors in several different levels and established their dominance in the final day of the tournament. Laguna Hills Eclipse also came out on top in multiple divisions.

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

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SportsForce Street Team Starts Up

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.

I believe “the dream” for any athlete, started the minute he or she watched a game on tv, or was at a venue, seeing pro athletes for the first time, aware of what was happening. For me, I can point to three incidents.

1982, I was only in 2^nd grade, but I remember watching Paolo Rossi lead Italy to the World Cup title in Spain. I remember the crowd chanting and the Televisa announcer’s high octane call of the action. The majesty of the Copa Mundial got me so hooked on soccer, I got the rest of the kids in my section of the Imperial Manor apartments in south San Diego (right between Sidro and IB) into soccer. We played “metegol” (shootouts) everyday, wearing the low budget goalie gloves (they were gold to me) that my pops bought me at La Popular sports shop in TJ.

1983, Russ Hall (Dude was awesome, he went out of his way to make a bunch of us little Mexican kids love sports) our coach from the South Bay Rec Center league, took our flag football team to watch the Chargers and Rams scrimmage in Training Camp. The moment I saw Dan Fouts thread one into Kellen Winslow’s hands across the middle, I knew I wanted to be a QB (that thought was cemented after watching a young buck named John Elway with a rifle that left crosses on receiver’s chests).

Of course 1984, the Padres went to their first World Series, and I remember eating a Padres Pack from McDonalds, watching the man who would become my hero, Tony Gwynn, use that sweet cut as he went “oppo”. Padres became Cub-busters and everyone wanted that t-shirt. By the way, former Dodger Steve Garvey may have been getting more attention, but TG19 was the one batting .350.

From those key moments, the little “guzanito” in me was born. The “guzanito,” is the little fire in the pit of the stomach that motivates you to do whatever it is you were born to do. It’s the feeling of “I can’t wait to pick up a bat, or a football, shoot a 3, or shoot on goal.”

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From 6am practices to weeklong road trips, life as a college soccer player demands passion and commitment. My name is Alex Fuller and I am currently a junior at Point Loma Nazarene University where I play on the Women’s Soccer Team.

Soccer has always been a huge part of my life. I grew up in a family centered around soccer. My dad played at the collegiate level for Notre Dame and my 5 younger siblings have all either played or currently play club soccer. Club soccer definitely requires major dedication. Similarly, college soccer calls for tremendous perseverance and determination. Being a member of the PLNU Women’s Soccer Team has been both challenging and rewarding. It has been a difficult road but at the same time, the most fun and fulfilling part of my life.

Life as a college soccer player is like being on a rollercoaster; with its ups and downs. There is nothing like being introduced to the crowd before a game or driving up to a hotel that reads “Welcome PLNU Women’s Soccer Team!”. I cannot begin to explain the satisfying feeling I get from representing my university through soccer and playing in front of screaming fans. At the same time, when I have to wake up before the sun rises for practice, I am not as giddy about my commitment.

A college soccer player’s daily routine consists of 4 things: class, food, practice, and sleep. Personally, I have to have all of my classes scheduled before practice at 3pm. Night class is almost impossible during season. If I am able to find 5 minutes to run into the cafeteria for a sandwich before practice, it’s a good day. In total, the amount of time I spend down at the field each day is around 4 hours. This includes time to get taped before practice, practice time, and time for icing and treatment after practice. By the time I leave the field for the day, the only thing I can think about is sleep, after I watch my daily episode of Seinfeld, of course.

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