Chad Barrett alongside Nate Jaqua of Eugene are currently Oregon's most prominent professional soccer players. Chad Barrett was standout player at Southridge High School and for the Westside Metros. After completing his freshman year at UCLA he was selected third overall by the Chicago Fire in the 2005 MLS SuperDraft.
Barrett has represented the United States at the World Youth Championship and Olympic Qualifying matches. In 2008, Chad Barrett earned his first cap for the U.S. Men's National Team in a World Cup qualifier against Barbados. Toronto FC of the MLS acquired Barrett from the Chicago Fire in a deal for Brian McBride. He currently plays with the likes of Dwayne De Rosario and Marvell Wynne in Toronto.
Jared Montz who runs one of my favorite soccer sites at Jared Montz Soccer recently interviewed Chad Barrett by phone. The podcast is available as an audio stream at "JMS Podcast Interview w/ Toronto FC’s Chad Barrett" and for download as an MP3 file.
Who played against Chad while he was in Oregon? Lets hear some stories.
I initially discovered the news about Dan Finnen's passing via Twitter on Friday.
@mattgeniza: RIP Dan Finnen. soccer and golf are much better in heaven man.
I thought it was a joke of some kind. He was roughly my age and very physically fit by appearances. Two Gazette Times headlines, "Finnen left legacy of success" by Kevin Hampton and "Death leaves 'gaping hole' in Corvallis soccer circles" by Steve Gress, quickly confirmed the shocking news for me. (photo by Casey Cambell)
Hampton and Gress have done a great job of informing us. I want to share my own memories and insights of Dan Finnen here.
My first exposure to Dan Finnen was not as a coach, but as a soccer player. More specifically an opponent. Dan was fiercely competitive. He was never the most talented soccer player but I never saw him relent or give up. He was a prideful man.
That hard nose attitude matched his east coast accent and bald head. He looked like a state trooper out of a B movie. Some of his players found that harsh demeanor challenging. If you consider his many years of service to the Corvallis soccer community it would be easy to call it "tough love".
Casey Fries pointed out, “The fact that he was in that program so long says a lot about his character and what he did for the girls. You don’t stay somewhere 14 years unless you are doing something right. He had an awfully big heart and cared a lot about kids.”
Dan and I would never have called each other friend. But as a supporter of Corvallis soccer it is very easy for me to honor his life. We will miss his commitment and service to our soccer community.
What memories do you have of Dan Finnen? Please share them with us.
Corvallis based soccer standouts Drew Chrostek (Corvallis High School), Tracy Hasson (OSU) and Daniel Leach (OSU) will join other local soccer all-stars as the Eugene Metro Select to face Club América and Bayern Munich on June 2nd and June 29th in Eugene.
vs Club América
June 2nd, 7:30 PM, Willamette High School
vs Bayern Munich
June 29th, 7:30 PM, Willamette High School
Tickets: Adults $10, Youth (18-under) $7,
Tickets available at the gate and Corvallis Sports Park
Special: Purchase 1 adult ticket and get 1 youth ticket free
http://www.eugenemetrofc.org/events/friendly.php
For more information, email info@emfc.org or phone 343-5100
Proceeds from the matches will go towards the Eugene Metro Fútbol Club, a youth soccer program.
Club América or C.F. América is the richest club in Mexico and have won ten Mexican Primera League championships. Bayern Munich or Fußball-Club Bayern München are the most successful team in Germany and are four-time club champions of Europe.
Both visiting teams will field reserve and youth players, but these are professional soccer players on contract with two of the biggest soccer clubs on the planet. To put things in perspective, Landon Donovan was a reserve player with Bayer Leverkusen in Germany for four seasons. These guys will be good and are representing a lot of club pride and history.
I plan on attending both matches (in support of the home team of course) and I expect an awesome international soccer atmosphere for both matches. Particularly for the Club América match which I have no doubt will be well supported by Hispanic fans in Oregon. So don't miss these matches or no falte el juego de fútbol!
Are you going to either match? What do you expect? Care to make a score prediction?
Teachers, staff and families of Lincoln School in Corvallis aren't sitting on their hands in the face of a a nearly two-million dollar budget reduction for all Corvallis public schools. Lincoln School hosted its second annual Kermés which is Spanish for charity fair or carnival to raise funds.
The Lincoln School Kermés held on May 16 was organized by the school's Parent Teacher Organization and included food, stage performances, a dunk tank (of course with teachers being dunked), bounce castles, auctions, informational booths, and miniature golf.
Check out the Kermés video.
But the biggest and brightest part of the Kermés was the adult soccer tournament hosted right at Lincoln school. Twelve local area teams donated a total of $1800 to the school as part of the event.
Congratulations to this years champions Santa Teresa. A special thanks to Deportivo Barcelona (Eugene), Buena Vista (Eugene) and Woodburn who braved the I-5 to support us here in Corvallis.
My favorite team of all were the Wild Lions who were made up of Lincoln School teachers their families and principle Oscar Moreno-Gilson. Most of the Wild Lions were clearly out-of-place on the soccer field but really stepped up to support their school. I really enjoyed watching them play and creating this video showcasing the Wild Lions of Lincoln School. Can you spot your teacher playing?
I think local community driven efforts like these are key in turning things around. This is all about passionate individuals leading people that care to do something special together. What do you think?
It is time for the 2009 All-World-Old-Folks-Soccer-Team selections. All of these world class players will be at least 35 within the year. To keep things fresh no players from last year's selection were named to this team. Here we go.
Brad Friedel (goalkeeper, 38 in May)
Friedel is the first choice goalkeeper with his club Aston Villa, which poised to earn a spot in the Champions League competition.
Sami Hyypia (defender, 36 in October)
The 6'4" Finnish defender has made 15 appearances for Liverpool. Hypia's value to Liverpool was clear when a 3.6 million dollar offer to purchase him was rejected.
Hermann Hreidarsson (defender, 35 in July)
Hreidarsson won the FA Cup with Portsmouth in 2008 and has 17 appearances. As a right back he is expected to defend the quickest players in open space.
Sol Campbell (defender, 35 in September)
Cambell is an experienced center defender with 73 caps for England. He is an integral part of the Portmouth defense and has 26 appearances this season.
Frankie Hejduk (defender, 35 in August)
Hejduk rescued Team US from an embarrassing loss to El Salvador with goal and an assist. At 35 he plans to represent the U.S. in the 2010 World Cup.
Paul Scholes (midfielder, 35 in November)
Athsma, knee injuries and vision problems have not prevented Scholes from competing in the world's toughest competitions with Manchester United.
Robert Pires (midfielder, 36 in October)
As a winger Pires is often challenged by players 10 years younger. He has enjoyed a healthy season this year and has 25 appearances for Villareal.
Guillermo Barros Schelotto (midfielder, 36 in May)
Schelotto lead the Columbus Crew to the 2008 MLS Cup and was named the Cup MVP. He has already netted 3 goals in just 5 games this season.
Juninho (midfielder, 35 next January)
The Lyon midfielder is still one of the most feared strikers of a dead ball in any league. He has 5 goals in 25 appearances this season.
Tiffeny Milbrett (forward, 37 in October)
Milbrett receives bonus points for her Oregon roots. In her first appearance for the FC Gold Pride of the new Women's Professional League Milbrett scored a dramatic game winning goal in the 90th minute.
Alessandro Del Piero (forward, 35 in November)
Del Piero continues to assist his teammates, score goals and is a dangerous set piece taker. Craft and skill enable allow him to continue to be an dangerous attacker evidenced by 10 goals and 8 assists in 25 league appearances with Juventus this year.
These guys make me feel guilty for making excuses like "I'm getting to old" or "I'm not that young anymore." Of course our physical tools will diminish. But soccer is a complex sport which allows us to compensate with cleverness, composure and craft. These are tools that should be improving as we get older.
Who do you think deserves to be listed here? Do these older soccer players motivate you to continue to challenge yourself as you get older?
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