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Partnering with ECNL, US Club Soccer, and US Soccer, Nike will be inviting the top 100 female soccer players around the country to attend a 3-day National Final Camp at Nike's World Headquarters Campus in Beaverton, Oregon at the end of July.



From that Camp, Nike will select the final team of girls that will receive an international soccer experience of a lifetime.



To make it this year, it's all about teamwork. Create a Team page using The Chance Facebook app, recruit your teammates and make enough noise to let us know you've arrived.

Think you've got the talent and hunger to train like an elite athlete? Prove your skills and get people talking about your game. Getting noticed starts here. Make it count.



Fredericksburg, Virginia - The Fredericksburg Hotspur have announced the signing of former Trinidad and Tobago international star Evans Wise to their 2012 Premier Development League (PDL) roster.  Wise played in the 2006 World Cup, appearing in games against England and Paraguay.  Wise is also a veteran of Major League Soccer (MLS), where he played for the Tampa Bay Mutiny and New England Revolution.  His most recent club was for Waldohf Mannheim in Germany.


Evans Wise, new Fredericksburg Hotspur player

If you are a fan of D.C. United then the way the 2012 MLS season opener ended could not have felt any worse.

After playing 90 minutes of uninspired play, that was lacking both excitement for the home crowd fans as well as any noticeable chemistry between the much hyped United roster all throughout this pre-season, United had their heart broken by none other than local Manassas, Virginia product and former D.C. United Youth Academy member C.J. Sapong. Sapong was part of the Super-20 Nationals with D.C. United Youth Academy. After the match speaking about what if felt like to score the game winning goal here in D.C., Sapong told Virginia Online Soccer News:

"It felt amazing, a dream come true. To see all my family and friends in the stands cheering for me, to see people that are cheering for D.C. cheering for me thats definetely a fulfilling, amazing feeling."

• Rookie Nick DeLeon was on the reserve list for game one, look for Olsen to add DeLeon as on of his subs against L.A.
• United got off to a slow start most likely due to the lack of time the players have had together. They won't have much more time to figure each other out but Olsen will surely be looking for major improvement in this area.
• Returning MVP Dwayne De Rosario's timing seemed to be off all night as he was not much of a factor in the game against KC. Olsen needs to find a way to get Dero more touches and opportunities to create. A possible move to the midfield may help Dero become more involved.
• The few free kick opportunities United did have were wasted at best. Olsen may want to have Najar take the set pieces in the next game in hopes of better results.
• Though the defense clearly looked stronger and improved over last season, Goalkeeper Bill Hamid still had his hands full and single-handily kept D.C. in the match with his reflex save off a Kai Kamara header just before the end of the first half. With Hamid set to feature for the U-23's United can not count on that type of play from the keeper position and will need to limit opposing offenses to fewer uncontested shots on goal.
• DP Hamdi Salihi will need to make better decisions with the ball, especially when he is inside the box and in clear scoring range. It was very disappointing to see him lose possession late in the match when United needed him most. 
• Last but not least, with all the improvements with this years roster and the improved play by the back line United can ill afford to allow teams to steal points with late goals if they truely hope to return to the MLS playoffs for the first time since 2007.

The Fredericksburg Hotspur of the USL's PDL have announced that head coach Carl Gray will be returning to lead the Hotspur for another season.

In the inaugural season for the Hotspur the club finished in last place of the South Atlantic Division with only 9 points a result of their 2-11-3 record. The club also conceded the most goals in the division, allowing 23 goals against.

Official United Press Release:

Conor Shanosky is one of only four D.C. United Academy players that have gone on to sign a homegrown player contract with United. With a crowded roster at midfield for the Black and Red, United announced today that Shanosky has been loaned to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers of the NASL for the upcoming 2012 season. See: Conor Shanosky loaned to Fort Lauderdale Strikers

The twenty-year-old Potomac Falls High School product signed with United back in 2010 but has yet to see time with the first team in an official MLS match. Shanosky told VASoccerNews:

"I'm anxious to play and really want to prove myself."

This article is re-posted with the express permission of TopDrawerSoccer.com 
(Click here for original article)

Carolina clubs ready to hunt Virginia sides

"We've had gradual improvement overall, certainly by the results they've had a lot more success on the field and the main reason for that is we played so much better over the last three months," assistant coach Leigh Cowlishaw told TopDrawerSoccer.com. "I think it has a lot to do with improved confidence from the team, understanding the style of play we've committed to, and players who've stepped up and played better soccer."

Last week we launched a new video series called, A Minute With, that featured D.C. United midfielder Danny Cruz (click to see episode 1). The series focuses on players who are from Virginia and have gone on to succeed at the next level be it college, professional, or international. In our latest segment we feature recently signed D.C. United goalkeeper and VCU alum Andrew Dykstra.

Dykstra is a Virginia soccer native and the newest United roster member. In this segment he chats about his roots playing youth and college soccer in Virginia and his new role as goalie with the Black and Red.

We hope you enjoy the segments and if you have any players you would like to see featured on up comming segmants of A Minute With just tell us below in the comments section.