Players’ Corner
SWOL Exclusive: Ellie Jean Discusses Life with United States Under 17 National Team
Over recent years, the United Men’s National Team has increasingly captivated the American audience with World Cup runs, coaching changes, and heart-felt victories as Landon Donovan lifted the squad into the next stages in South Africa in 2010. Numerous young male talents are examined as a number of journalists try an predict their college and professional [...]
Yael Like a Girl: As the NWSL Launches, Some Americans Remain Abroad
In the absence of a women’s professional league in the U.S. in 2012, a good number of American women took their trade overseas. Now, with the announcement of the new, eight-team National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), some have decided to return home, while others will continue playing elsewhere. Here I examine the dispersal of [...]
Zachary Herold: My Untold Story
Growing up, many of us dream to be the next famous athlete. However, the odds of that actually happening in today’s world are slim to none. For me, the odds were in my favor. The dream of being a professional soccer player was mine to be had. Day in and day out all I did [...]
A Yank Down Under: Holiday Round-Up
Hello again and Happy New Year to everyone. It has been a mile a minute here in the A-League since my last column. My club, Wellington Pheonix, have played five games in the last two-and-a-bit weeks. We started with a loss against Sydney FC in a game for which we never really showed up. A [...]
A Yank Down Under: The Wild Ride to A-League Professionalism
My footballing story begins on July 16th, 1985 in a hospital in Windsor, England. From the day I was born, I had football in my blood. I would later find out the many ways in which this fact was both good and bad. My parents are English, support Manchester United, and have played and coached for [...]
Yael Like a Girl EXCLUSIVE: USWNT Legend Brandi Chastain talks Capital One Cup, Title 9 and Social Media
A women’s soccer legend, whose iconic photo in her sports bra celebrating her famous penalty kick transcended the world of women’s sports and entered the realm of pop culture, Brandi Chastain is still heavily involved in the game. Although most widely known for this renowned kick that resulted in the U.S. Women’s National team victory [...]
The Lowry Lowdown: My 2012 MLS Best XI and Why
Goalkeeper: Jimmy Nielsen (Sporting Kansas City) the obvious choice. Nielsen and Sporting Kansas City had an incredible 0.79 goals against average and 15 shutouts this season. I remember playing in KC’s old crappy baseball stadium that was so narrow it was more like playing pinball than soccer. But with their new impressive stadium and stingy [...]
The Lowry Lowdown: An inside look at player trades and transfers in football
Let me start off by saying I’ve never been traded. I was expansion-drafted by Portland, which is an entirely different story, but I’ve been almost traded a half dozen times that I know about. Many of my teammates, however, have fallen victim to trades over the years. As a player your primary thoughts and objectives [...]
The Lowry Lowdown: The Truth About Injuries
The question is not if you will get an injury as a professional athlete but rather when and just how severe will it be? The average professional soccer player puts in tens of thousands of hours playing soccer in the streets and parks, on youth teams and as a professional. It takes years of time [...]
The Lowry Lowdown: On Referees, Bad Calls and Mistakes
It’s happened before and it will happen again. Bad calls, missed calls and mistakes on the part of referees are as much a part of the game of soccer as is the ball being round. The officiating of a game can substantially affect outcomes, seasons and jobs of players and coaches alike. I wouldn’t dare [...]
10 Ways to Follow Women’s Soccer
As the SWOL writer responsible for covering the women’s game, I’m constantly searching for things to write about. I’d love to analyze players and games I’ve seen, but to be honest, most times I feel that I don’t have enough information to do so. The only times I get to watch games from around the [...]
The Lowry Lowdown: The Best MLS Food Cities
One of the benefits to playing a sport competitively is the seemingly endless hunt for proper nourishment. Over the years my passion became the search and consumption of local cuisine as I traveled around the world playing soccer. I use to tell people eating was my hobby and there were certain MLS cities I looked [...]
The Lowry Lowdown: Best XI Soccer Players on Twitter
Everyone loves Twitter and their social media links to the world, but there are times when people need new people to follow. With that in mind here is a list of my favorites for all of you to additionally enjoy. [slideshow auto="undefined" thumbs="on"] Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano): As one of the most followed celebrities on Twitter, [...]
Yael Like A Girl: A women’s allstar starting XI based on hair
There are many different ways to categorize and rank an all-star lineup. Most would do so based on who they believed were the best in the game based on their position. However, I felt that a different off the wall approach would be much more interesting and a lot more fun. Check out this lineup [...]
The Gringo in Bahia: Rio de Janiero, Botafogo and Clarence Seedorf
It’s been another busy and successful week here in Bahia, with a 2-0 win against Botafogo that helped us climb to a tie for 10th place on points in the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A. Thursday night we traveled to Rio de Janeiro to face Flamengo, who have won five domestic titles, and managed a scoreless [...]
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