Three Oregon based soccer tryouts for men and women with ambitions of playing soccer beyond high school and college are available in March. The Portland Rain will host an open tryout for female players sixteen and older. The Cascade Surge and the Portland Timbers brand new U-23 team are offering trials to young male players.

I would expect the competition to be tough at all of these tryouts. If you are going to do this you should already know you are a pretty good player. With that said I can think of more than a few young men and women from the Mid-Valley that are qualified to give this a try. To be successful your ambition and passion will have to overcome your fears.

Do not expect these positions to pay. You may have some playing expenses compensated but do not expect to make any money at this level. You would do best to have a paying job in addition to playing. That can make this a good opportunity for young players who are not attending college. This is a window for players without college playing experience.

You will train, travel a lot, play and not make any money. This is what you do if you are committed to giving yourself a shot.

Portland Rain

The Rain will play their inaugural season in the Women's Premier Soccer League. The WPL is an independent national league of 54 teams focused on development.

Date: March 21st and March 28th

Information: http://www.portlandrainfc.com/tryouts.htm

Contact:

Gerardo Mosquera, fitness coach, GMosquera@PortlandRainFC.com

Stacy Troiano, team general manager, Stacy@PortlandRainFC.com

Cascade Surge

The Surge franchise was founded in 1995. The Surge will play in the Premier Development League of the USL.

Dates: March 13-14

Registration Information: http://www.cascadesurge.com/frameset.php

Contact:

Coach Alfers, 503.548.3762, malfers1713@gmail.com

Portland Timbers U23

This is the Timber's inaugural season in the Premier Development League of the USL.

Dates: March 28-29

Registration Information: http://www.portlandtimbers.com/team/tryout/

Contact:

Nick Mansueto, (503) 553-5428, nmansueto@pgepark.com

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When OSU announced the new recruiting classes for our men's and women's soccer programs the first thing I looked for was a strong Oregon presence. About this time last year I made a pleading case for making OSU soccer for Oregon. That post received a few comments supportive of that concept. Both teams reported two Oregon recruits apiece.

The women signed Amanda Griffin (Lake Oswego, Lakeridge High School) and Lindsay Meiggs (Happy Valley, Clackamas High School) while the men signed Alex Penny (Hillsboro, Glencoe High School) and Jake Parker (Milwaukie, Milwaukie High School) from the Beaver State.

2009 OSU Men's Soccer Recruiting Class
2009 OSU Women's Soccer Recruiting Class

I wasn't sure if I should be happy or not. Two is more than zero, but it feels like a small number. I thought a comparison of some of the other sports and their number of Oregon based players would be interesting to look at.

Men's Basketball (57% Oregonian)
Softball (47% Oregonian) Men's Soccer (41% Oregonian) Gymnastics (36% Oregonian) Baseball (31% Oregonian) Women's Soccer (27% Oregonian) By comparison, the men's soccer team has a pretty good Oregon presence. But what is going on with the women who have only seven players total from Oregon. Is it that hard to get local recruits to stay in Oregon and play for the Beavers? Am I expecting too much? I don't think so.

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Next week ESPN2 is offering us two live UEFA Champions League matches. The February 24 fixture is a particularly tasty meeting between Inter Milan and Manchester United (I'm drooling just thinking about it). University Hero has welcomed us to watch the match live on their flat screen television and grab a sandwich for lunch. And they have generously offered us a special coupon and prizes for each match.
Just print this coupon and grab a tasty sandwich. My favorite sandwiches are the Rueben and the Hot Pastrami.

The contest! All you have to do is have the best prediction for either the halftime score or the final score and be at University Hero at halftime or the end of the match. Go to the Corvallis Soccer Community Network to learn how to enter and win the prizes provided by University Hero.

Teams, Dates and Times:
Tuesday, February 24, 11:45 AM (ESPN2)
FC Internazionale Milano vs. Manchester United
FCStadio Giuseppe Meazza Milan, Italy

Wednesday, February 25, 11:45 AM (ESPN2)
Chelsea FC vs. Juventus FC

Stamford Bridge London, England

Sure I could go home for lunch and watch the match. But that's not as much fun. I enjoy watching matches with people that are passionate about soccer. That even includes you Manchester United supporters (barf). So I hope I'll see you there. You can expect a steady stream of pro-Jose Mourinho comments during the Inter-United game.

C'mon how can you not like the Special One?

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There are plenty of recaps of the USA v. Mexico World Cup Qualifying game today (see worldcupblog.com for a good one). So I won't bore you with more of that. Here are my personal comments regarding each USMNT player today.

Goalkeeper
Tim Howard: For a goalkeeper with Tourrette Syndrome he doesn't cuss out his defenders as much as I would expect.

Defenders
Frankie Hedjuk: I can't believe that we haven't produced a better right back in the last decade. Marvell Wynne where are you?
Carlos Bocanegra: The only US player with Spanish good enough to understand what Marquez was telling Landon to do with himself and where he should be doing it.
Oguchi Onyewu: Why am I not more excited about the "Gooch"? Basically earned our first goal so I should be happy.
Heath Pearce: Go Oregon! Heath played at University of Portland from 2003-2005.

Midfield
DaMarcus Beasley: Was so exciting at nineteen. I don't recall seeing him sprint the entire game.
Sacha Kljestan: Beat his charging defender with a first touch chip in the second half that was awesome.
Clint Dempsey: A nice shot on goal or two. Otherwise not as flashy as he can be.
Ricardo Clark (entered 86' for Dempsey): Hedjuk is limping around wondering why the hell Dempsey is getting a break.
Michael Bradley: Coaches son. Two goals. Good work rate. Man of the Match.

Forwards
Landon Donovan: The voodoo dolls didn't work. Nothing brilliant but he did do well to win a header leading to the first goal.
Brian Ching: He was on the field?
Jose Altidore (entered 83′ for Ching): Forget Adu. Altidore is our future. Wish he played more.

Tell us what you thought of the game? How did the players do? Who had the best performance?

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Who says you can't use your hands in soccer? Of course you can. I'm not talking about Maradona's "Hand of God" (if you are English take a deep breath) or Beckham's newest Italian hand moisturizer. I'm talking about the creative ways we manipulate all ten of our digits to express the joyous rapture of scoring a goal.

The Soccer Quiz is this: Name the owners of each of the eight goal celebrating hands pictured below. Share your answers with us in the comments.

Celebration #1:Celebration #2:Celebration #3:
Celebration #4:
Celebration #5:
Celebration #6:
Celebration #7: Celebration #8:

Want the answers? I'll post them at http://corvallissoccer.ning.com/forum/topics/great-goal-celebrations next week so you can see how you did.

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What: Community Fundraiser for Julia de la Cruz
When: Tuesday, February 3rd, All day.
Where: Papa's Pizza on SW 3rd in Corvallis
How: Print the required flyer and eat at Papa's Pizza. 50% of your meal cost will contribute directly to Julia de la Cruz's medical expenses. You must have the flyer beforehand. Flyers will not be available at Papa's Pizza.

Download the Julia de la Cruz Fundraiser flyer here. (Papas_Fundraiser.pdf).

Last November Julia De la Cruz, a favorite employee of El Sol de Mexico and Elmer’s Restaurant in Corvallis was struck by a car while walking to work. Her injuries were very severe and although her condition is improving, she is in need of a great deal of care and rehabilitation. Currently she is being cared for at the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland.

El Sol de Mexico is the family business of Julia de la Cruz and is one of the most generous supporters of the Corvallis community. Some of the many local programs they have contributed to over the years include the Boys and Girls Club, Corvallis Montessori, Crescent Valley Football, Philomath Frolic & Rodeo, Court Appointed Special Advocates Voices for Children, numerous soccer, city league and youth teams in Corvallis.

For all of us that have benefited from that generosity, this is our time to pay that generosity back. Even if you don't know who Julia is, please consider having a meal at Papa's Pizza this Tuesday to help out your neighbor.

You can learn more about Julia's condition and progress at http://patty-julia.blogspot.com/.

An account at Wells Fargo has been set up for anyone who would like to make direct contributions toward Julia's de la Cruz’s medical expenses.

Please spread the word and invite your friends. Take your whole family out for dinner. I'll be there for lunch with the rest of my office. Let's pack that place!

Remember that you need to bring the flyer with you. I don't think they will hand them out at Papa's. If you see me there, I'll have some extras with me.

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