MagicJack gears up for the WPS season.

Very little is known about the new WPS team based out of Boca Raton. MagicJack, as the team is reported to be called, was once the Washington Freedom and has moved to Boca Raton where they will play at the new Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Stadium.

The only information we have been able to gather is what we get off of the WPS site.
Following is some intresting information about the team:

One notable is magicJack's inclusion of two goalkeepers after mutually terminating rights with Canadian goalkeeper Erin McLeod. Jillian Loyden, formerly of the Chicago Red Stars, and Brett Maron, formerly of the Atlanta Beat, have joined the Florida-based team. Both have backed up magicJack's Hope Solo in goal—Loyden in St. Louis Athletica and the U.S. WNT, and Maron in Atlanta.

The pre-season Roster of MagicJack looks as follows:

Shannon Boxx
Diane Caldwell
Amanda DaCosta
Marian Dalmy
Omolyn Davis
Lisa DeVanna
Tina Ellertson
Ashlee Elliott
Katie Fraine
Sarah Huffman
Meghan Klingenberg
Jillian Loyden
Brett Maron
Nikki Marshall
Ella Masar
Rebecca Moros
Shannon Myers
Christen Press
Christie Rampone
Johanna Rasmussen
Becky Sauerbrunn
Sophie Schmidt
Meghan Schnur
Hope Solo
Lindsay Tarpley
Abby Wambach
Kacey White

From the looks of it MagicJack has a formidable line up with many Womens World Cup stars.
We hope to have ticket information soon.

Soccer Movie of the Month--- Goal 2 "Living the Dream"

This months movie is Goal 2 "Living the Dream". The Second of a Trilogy.
The first episode we showed on this blog back in April of 2010. You can  go HERE to see it.
This second part continues to follow Santiago Muniz (Kuno Becker) in his dream of being a professional footballer. Living in East L.A., he makes his dream come true when one day he is given the chance to try out for Premiership club Newcastle United. This time he has his big chance with Real Madrid. You see him try to deal with his new found fame and finally meeting his mother and little brother.

You get to see glimpses of Real Madrid stars Iker Casillas, Iván Helguera, Sergio Ramos, Roberto Carlos, David Beckham, Raúl González, José María Gutiérrez (Guti), Zinédine Zidane, Ronaldo, Robinho and many more
See IMBD for more info. Following is the full movie: 

Fort Lauderdale Strikers at the Saint Patricks Day parade.

Regrettably, I was not able to attend the Fort Lauderdale St. Patricks Day Parade. The Strikers had a float (Truck) at the parade and Miami Ultras members Mitchell Rivera and Pabony Rivera were kind enough to send us the pictures you will see below. The video was provided by Flight 19 member Derek Reese and features drum maestro Cesar Sfreddo.

More pictures of the event can be seen at Miami Soccer Fan.

Tickets for the Strikers 2011 are on Sale Now! Call today for pricing and availability. Founding Season Ticket Holder Specials Available! Call 954.606.0400 or e-mail info@strikers.com or go to www.strikers.com

Tim Robbie, Fort Lauderdale Strikers President

Tim Robbie came out of the starting blocks like a sprinter.
Already, he has hit the radio stations and papers across town in his quest to get the word out that South Florida's most successful soccer team, the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, is back! This afternoon he started off with an appearance at 640 AM Sports radio. He spoke to the Big "O" Orlando Alzugaray about his commitment and mission to make the new Strikers a success. You can listen to the full interview HERE
Following is a video from the Sun Sentinel:



Here are a few more links from Blogs and news sources covering the naming of Tim Robbie as the new Fort Lauderdale Strikers President.

Sun Sentinel
El Nuevo Herald (Spanish)
http://www.fllstrikers.net/
Inside Minnesota Soccer
Strikers.com
FutMob
Miami Soccer Fan
South Florida "Football Fanaticos"
FC Tampa Bay
FC Edmonton
South Florida Soccer

SF Soccer News: Robbie takes over Strikers. Ray Hudson 4 Life campaign and Gold Cup

Here is a recap of South Florida Soccer news for today.

Fort Lauderdale Strikers
The Sun Sentinel announced yesterday that the Strikers will have a press conference today to announce that Tim Robbie will take over as the Strikers President, replacing Aaron Davidson who will now concentrate on his role as NASL CEO.
The press conference was scheduled for today at noon at Fort Lauderdale Stadium. Reports tell us Robbie has been on the job since Monday. Here are a few quotes from today's event.

"I am convinced that soccer in South Florida is here to stay"
"We are starting a venture that has the foundation for tremendous success"
"We intend to put a team on the field that will...compete for a championship in a reasonable amount of time."
Tim Robbie

The Robbie family has been involved with the South Florida sports community since 1966 when they brought in the Dolphins and the old Fort Lauderdale Strikers to our area in 1977. By bringing Tim Robbie into the mix Traffic Sports, owners of The Strikers (And most of the NASL) have brought immediate credibility to the Strikers name as well as someone that is very much respected in our community for his contribution to soccer and sports in general.

For more information please visit www.strikers.com
UPDATE: Full audio at NASL.com http://nasl.com/media/audioPlayer/id/10336

Ray Hudson 4 Life

South Florida soccer fans and supporters group the Miami Ultras have started a campaign to retire the number 4 jersey belonging to former Strikers player Ray Hudson.

While there have been many great players for the Strikers, there has been only one that truly left his mark on South Florida soccer. When you think of the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers one name comes to mind above all others and that name is Ray Hudson. Ray has left his mark on South Florida soccer like no other. He wore the hoops longer than any other Striker, commentated and coached for the Miami Fusion, still lives in Fort Lauderdale and can be heard on Gol TV.

If you want to read more about this and contribute to this noble cause visit www.miamiultras.com
You can also join the Strikers 4 Life facebook page

Gold Cup
The Gold Cup is coming to Miami and matches are set to play at FIU Stadium on June 10. The games will be :

Jamaica vs Guatemala at 7:00 PM

Granada vs Honduras at 9:00 PM

Major League Soccer players that may be involved are:

Jamaican National team
Dane Richards New York Red Bulls
Omar Cummings Colorado Rapids
Ryan Johnson San Jose Earthquakes
Shavar Thomas Sporting Kansas City
Shaun Francis Columbus Crew
Lovel Palmer Houston Dynamo

Guatemala National team
Carlos Ruiz Philadelphia Union

Honduran National team
Marvin Chávez FC Dallas
Roger Espinoza Sporting Kansas City
Mauricio Castro New England Revolution

For ticket information visit Gold Cup.
You can also join the page on  facebook

Hope Solo... Welcome to South Florida. Burrito loves you!

Hola muchachitas y muchachitos! Burrito want to tell you about his new love. Her name is Hope Solo and she gonna play in South Florida! Well, at least that's what SI.com say and Burrito believe anything they say cause they always have the swimsuit issue an if that no give you credibilitys then nothing will!
Si señoras y señores, Burrito's new chew toy is muy bonita and is maybe the best goalkeeper in the WPS. She will play with the MagicJack's Washington Freedom or a name something like that and will play at FAU stadium in Boca Raton.
But before Burrito continue he have to put up picture of Hope in Bikini!
Ay Chihuahua! Bueno, someone say it not Hope in Bikini pero sure do look like her... si? To continue, Hope is coming off of an injury so we "Hope" she is recovering well and will start for the home opener versus the Boston Breakers Saturday April 23, 2011.

Other than Burrito's girlfriend Hope Solo, the MagicJack's Washington Freedom (or whatever their name will be) will have some of the best womens players in the world like U.S. internationals Christie Rampone, Shannon Boxx, Lindsay Tarpley, Abby Wambach and Australian Lisa DeVanna only to name a few.

Here is video of Hope Solo:


For more information on the team follow them at http://www.womensprosoccer.com/dc

Southern Derby

Morning South Florida Soccer fans. Yesterday Kevin Stephens from Atlanta, GA  sent a email about creating a Southern Derby and here is the email:

Hi,

My name is Kevin Stephens and I am one of the leaders of the Atlanta Silverbacks supporters club “Westside 109”. I am writing your group to see if you would be interested in starting up a fan derby cup competition? We have done this in the past with Charleston and Carolina in the old USL. Unfortunately from my understanding, the original Cup is being used by the USL2 clubs(Charleston,Wilmington,Charlotte). I propose our four supporters groups(ATL, Carolina, Tampa, Ft Lauderdale) buy a new Cup and claim it as the “Real Southern Derby” Cup. I am checking on pricing right now and it seems like if each supporters group chipped in around $50 we can get a really nice Cup. Thoughts????
I’ve emailed you each separately or had a contact email you but once I get a response back from each of you we can all start talking to each other and figure out the details

Here are the Rules of the Cup(from the past):

The Southern Derby is a fan-based cup competition between teams based in the South-Atlantic region of the United States (North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, and Alabama.).
The system of play shall be the league system, with each team playing two matches (home/away) against each of the teams.
The Matches composing the Southern Derby will be the last home and away matches of each team during the regular season unless otherwise negotiated by the members of the respsective supporters club prior to the start of the season.
Points will be awarded on the 3-1-0 systems. 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, and 0 points for a loss. Overtime wins are treated like regulation wins an awarded 3 points.
The winner of the Southern Derby shall be the team having the greater number of points obtained in all the designated Derby matches.

If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above criteria, the tie-breaker shall be determined as follows:
Goal difference in all the Derby matches.
Greater number of goals scored in all Derby matches.
Greater number of points obtained in all Derby matches between the teams concerned.
Goal difference resulting from all Derby matches between the teams concerned.
Greater number of goals scored in all the Derby matches between the teams concerned.
It is up to the team that is in possession of the Cup to pay for shipping and handling to get the Cup to the new winners at the end of the current competition.

Thanks,
Kevinstephenskevin@bellsouth.net

This is something all of south florida fans should think about and consider joining in. 

Mitchell Rivera