On April 9th, 2011, the WPS team The Atlanta Beat will be having their home opener at the KSU Stadium, Kennesaw, Georgia. They will be playing Boston Breakers, who last year were 3rd for both offensive and defensive stats. I will be attending this game, making it the first ever Professional Soccer game that I have gone to. I am very excited and cannot wait to bring my readers the statistics of the games and my opinions as how they did.
This years team are as follows, organized by name, position, and hometown.
Katie Bethke, F/M, Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Kerri Butler, GK, Fredericksburg, Virginia
Lori Chalupny, M, St. Louis, Missouri
Keeley Dowling, D, Carmel, Indiana
Colleen Flanagan, M/D, Downington, Pennsylvania
Megan Jesolva, D/M, La Mirada, California
Kristina Larsen, M/F, Mission Viejo, California
Meghan Lenczyk, F, McLean, Virginia
Allison Lipsher, GK, Honolulu, Hawaii
Carli Lloyd, M, Delran, New Jersey
Heather Mitts, D, Cincinnati, Ohio
Katherine Reynolds, D, Medina, Washington
Angela Salem, M, Copley, Ohio
Lauren Sesselmann, F, Green Bay, Wisconsin
Vendula Strnadova, M, Las Cruces, New Mexico
India Trotter, F/M, Plantation, Florida
Cat Whitehill, D, Birmingham, Alabama
Allison Whitworth, GK, Birmingham, Alabama
Kylie Wright, M, Rancho Santa Margarita, California
Personally I cannot wait to see Lori Chalupny and Heather Mitts on the pitch. Lori being from St. Louis, my home state, and Heather for her possibility of being on the US Woman's National Team.
St. Louis has had a lot of growth with it's soccer programs from what i can tell since I lived up there. It makes me excited to see that a professional came form my hometown and plays for my current city, and I can only hope her performance helps with an Atlanta victory.
Heather Mitts was interviewed by Jared Montz, founder of OnlineSoccerAcademy.com and CollegeRecruitingWebsite.com and as well a former pro. Here is a link of the interview.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1Lqy1JmhwQ&feature=player_embedded#at=25
You can also see it on the ISN website, Internationalsoccernetwork.com
Heather states in the interview how lucky the team is to have the brand new soccer devoted stadium they have the opportunity to play on this year. She as well noted that she aims to yet again be part of the USA Woman's National Team.
All eyes will be on the Atlanta Beat this coming Saturday, which I sure hope to be an exciting game. The team is also holding a Career Fair before the game, giving local businesses and sports clubs the chance to network, depending if the turn out is good. I can say for myself that I look forward to my first professional game, and to see my local team win would be fantastic! Good luck girls! I'll be watching from the box!
