Sports Then and Now

UNC star Tobin Heath: The first pick in the WPS draft

As many had expected but the Atlanta Beat had yet to confirm until Draft Day, North Carolina’s Tobin Heath (Basking Ridge, NJ) was the first player selected in the 2010 WPS Draft on Friday by Atlanta at the Philadelphia Convention Center.

Heath was the first of four North Carolina Tarheels selected during the first round including defender Whitney Engen at No. 4 (Sky Blue FC/Rolling Hills Estates, CA), forward Nikki Washington at No. 5 (Los Angeles Sol/Mesquite, TX), and forward Casey Nogueira at No. 8 (Los Angeles Sol/Raleigh, NC).

The first round included 11 selections for the nine WPS teams with expansion teams Philadelphia Independence and Atlanta Beat both receiving additional picks at the end of the first round, which they traded away prior to the draft.

The first overall four picks went largely how the experts had predicted with Heath going first, the Boston Breakers then selecting attacking forward and 2008 Olympics gold medalist Lauren Cheney (UCLA/Indianapolis, IN), and 2009 MAC Hermann Trophy winner Kelley O’Hara (Fayetteville, GA) of Stanford going to FC Gold Pride with the third pick. Read the rest of this entry →

Sky Blue FC hopes to improve their attendance after winnng the WPS crown last season.

Sky Blue FC, the reigning champions of Women’s Professional Soccer, has announced a press conference for Monday afternoon at 1:30 PM to announce the signing of a major player.

Sky Blue FC Director of Communications, John Archibald, announced in an email to media representatives today, “This one came as a bit of a surprise to me, and everyone is going pretty crazy that we are able to sign another great player and big name to our roster.” Read the rest of this entry →