NEALY MARTIN MAKES NWSL RACING LOUISVILLE FC PRESEASON ROSTER

Racing Louisville FC will start pre-season training this week with upwards of 30 players — a combination of those under contract and non-roster invitees — while anticipating more arrivals soon ahead of the NWSL expansion club’s launch this spring.

“We are delighted that preseason is finally here,” said Racing Head Coach Christy Holly. “There has been a lot of work accomplished off the field to ensure we have everything ready for players to, as we say around here, run with us on the first day of training.

“These next couple of months give us a tremendous opportunity to build the team chemistry. They’ll allow the players to familiarize themselves with each other and ultimately further align themselves with where want to go as an organization.”

During their first preseason, Racing’s players will train at a variety of locations as the finishing touches are put on a multimillion dollar facility at Champions Park a few miles east of downtown. The grounds already offer turf fields for use, while nearby Lynn Family Stadium and Thurman Hutchins Park have natural grass surfaces available pending weather.

2021 Racing Louisville FC Roster

Goalkeepers (4): Brooke Ballinger (NRI), Michelle Betos, Katie Lund, Shelby Money (NRI)

Defenders (8): Julia Ashley, Molly Dwyer (NRI), Emily Fox (CDP), Brooke Hendrix, Nealy Martin (NRI), Addisyn Merrick, Kaleigh Riehl (NYR), Erin Simon

Midfielders (8): Chinyelu Asher (NRI), Grace Bahr (NRI), Lauren Milliet, Noelle Higginson (NRI), Alex Kimball (NRI), Freja Olofsson (NYR), Taylor Otto (CDP), Savanah Uveges (NRI)

Forwards (10): Jorian Baucom (NRI), Vanessa Kara (NRI), Emina Ekic (CDP), Alex Genas (NRI), Anika Kallash (NRI), Cece Kizer, Cheyna Matthews (NYR), Katie McClure, Savannah McCaskill, Yuki Nagasato

Key:

CDP – 2020 NWSL College Draft Pick

NRI – Non-Roster Invitee

NYR – Not Yet Reported to Camp

Racing Louisville FC also holds the NWSL playing rights to forwards Caitlin Foord, Tobin Heath and Christen Press, as well as midfielder Alanna Kennedy, who were selected in the 2020 NWSL Expansion Draft. Each is under contract with a club in England’s FA Women’s

BERHALTER NAMES TESSMANN IN THE 25-PLAYER ROSTER AHEAD OF USA-TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO ON JAN. 31

USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter has chosen a 25-player roster that includes Tanner Tessman in advance of USA-Trinidad & Tobago on Jan. 31 in Orlando.

The group was selected from an initial list of 12 senior team players and 26 U-23 MNT players that began training on Jan. 9 at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

At the start of a crucial year for the U.S. Men’s National Team that includes the Concacaf Nations League Final Four, the Gold Cup and the start of 2022 World Cup Qualifying, the tilt against the Soca Warriors gives the players an opportunity to stake their claim for spots.

“These last two weeks have been an absolute pleasure. The hard work and determination demonstrated by the entire group confirm that the player pool is headed in the right direction,” Berhalter said. “As we transition to Orlando, we switch gears and focus on competing as we prepare to face Trinidad and Tobago.”

Tessmann, 19, looks to make his senior team debut in the international friendly after earning a spot on the USMNT roster. He is also eligible to compete for a roster spot for the 2021 Concacaf Olympic Qualifying Championship to be played from March 18-30 in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Tanner player for BUSA from U6 until when he left for FC Dallas. His Parents PJ and Kelly are still great supporters of the program and we are all super proud of Tanner.

Inside Nike’s eight-year journey to create the perfect soccer ball

Nike set out on an eight-year mission to create the perfect soccer ball, and players from some of the top leagues in the world will soon play with the latest model of a modern and futuristic ball. It’s no secret that soccer players — and athletes in general — are pretty sensitive to any changes to their equipment, especially the ball. That’s why Nike consulted over 800 professional athletes, including non-Nike sponsored athletes, and spent eight years researching before crafting the Nike Flight ball.

The sleek, innovative ball made its debut in the NWSL – which became the first professional team sports league in the United States to mark its return during the coronavirus pandemic  — along with the Premier League, Serie A, and the Russian Premier League, among others.

The name of the ball hints at what culminated from nearly a decade of research. The engineering team covered 68 different iterations of the ball and spent 1,700 hours in the lab before settling on a ball that, thanks to its new AerowSculpt technology, can hug the air and produce 30 percent truer flight than previous Nike soccer balls. It specifically exceeds the Nike Merlin, which is used in the Premier League and other major leagues these days.

At first glance, the Nike Flight ball nearly looks like a jumbo-size golf ball, especially once you start paying closer attention to details such as the pentagonal-like dimples or ridges from a 3D ink layout. It’s why the sportswear giant opted for a simplistic all-white colorway. Kieran Ronan, who’s the senior director for global equipment at Nike, explained how they managed to take innovative learning from other sports industries, including golf, and applying it to their study to help influence the flight of the ball and prevent wobbling.

“There were so many different permutations, but the one thing that was true to the golf ball back then and still is now is its ability to fly through the air. And in golf, you’re taking into factor how far the ball is going to travel downwind versus into the wind, whether the wind is coming off your left, off your right and so on and so forth — rain, dry, humidity,” Ronan told CBS Sports. “The principles of what that does is, when you think about a smooth surface when it travels through the air, it is gripped by the air. The application of dimples in this case from the golf ball, or in our case with the AerowSculpt technology, is distorting the surface so that the air can grip it, which allows basically, in essence, a truer flight.”

Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham, and the United States women’s national team were among the notable teams to work with Ronan over the years. Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan both provided feedback during the eight-year project. But it wasn’t just star players that helped Ronan and his team design the ball. They took a ton of input from a robotic kicking leg in their lab to help track boot-to-ball tests on the aerodynamics of the ball, which was another tip-of-the-cap to tracking technology used in golf and adopted in baseball.

“The other thing taken from the golf industry is the speed of iterations. When we brought the robot into the lab three or four years ago, that allowed us to up the ante, the amount of testing that we could do,” Ronan said. “The 1,700 hours of testing comes from the players, what they’re saying, bringing that in and mapping it and plotting it against an equation, feeding that information into the system for the robot, and then the robot starts its job.”

But why robots? Consistency.

“If you think about bringing in a player to come in and you were to ask a player to hit a thousand shots, the muscle fatigue, the overall physical fatigue, the information you get from the first kick, or maybe five or six kicks after they’re warmed up, all the way to the thousand kick will give you a very, very different set of parameters,” Ronan said. “Whereas with the robot, you’re working precisely in that range and you can start to work with the depth of the grooves, the shape of the grooves, the overall aesthetic appearance of the design to help get us to the optimal number that we’re looking for in this moment and time.”

Unlike traditional 12-panel soccer balls, the Nike Flight ball only uses four fuse-welded panels to help enable a prominent sweet spot for superior touch and performance. USWNT and OL Reign midfielder Ally Long, who is currently participating in the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup explained the importance of a constant and truer flight to the ball.

“As a central midfielder I want to be on the ball all the time and be the quarterback that can help build the attack by using all different ranges of passes,” Long said. “In order for me to be the best, the ball needs to be consistent and predictable. Not too light, not too hard, made with the perfect material so every touch I take can be perfect to set me up for the next pass. There is nothing better when I hit a ball perfectly and it goes exactly where I want it to go.”

Role Models On and Off the Field

2021 National Letter of Intent Early Signing Day

Alabama FC and Birmingham United are so proud to have 18 players signing their National Letter of Intent on the Early Signing day period.

“On behalf of BUSA and Alabama FC we are thrilled to announce and honor our Student-Athletes, who have signed their  NLI during the NCAA’s Early Signing Period.  Each of these individuals represents excellence both on and off the soccer field and we could not more be proud of their accomplishments.  The list of schools posted below is an exceptional display of athletics and academic achievement and a testament to many long hours of hard work and dedication by our players.  A special thank you to the many coaches, parents, and support staff who have helped these kids accomplish their dreams, as it certainly takes a village to raise a child.

We will celebrate many other 2021 graduates in the February signing period and look forward to honoring those players this winter!” Said our Executive Director of Coaching Andrew Brower

2020 Birmingham BASH presented by Medical Properties Trust

DIGITAL PARKING PASS

Alabama FC Player Joins Columbus Crew

We are excited to announce Lucas Rizzo has Joined Columbus Crew.

Lucas played up on our 03 Alabama FC ECNL team.

This is what Director of Coaching Ben Parks had to say:

“Birmingham United would like to congratulate Lucas Rizzo and his acceptance to play for the Columbus Crew MLS Youth Academy!

Lucas is a fine young man and a superb soccer player. His combination of technique and knowledge of the game will no doubt aid him in his soccer journey. Birmingham United and Alabama FC will always promote and aid players along their soccer pathway, whether that be professionally or through college. This next step for Lucas is an exciting one and we look forward to watching him grow!!!”

Lucas is very excited about his new chapter but here is what he said about his time at Alabama FC.

“Spending 3 years at Alabama FC was definitely beneficial for me becoming a better soccer player and person. I enjoyed the time I spent at AFC very much and made great memories. I would like to thank the coaches and teammates who helped me at the club, specifically Coach Manny and Coach Matt, for all their support and guidance. Go AFC”

The franchise was founded in 1994 as the Columbus Crew. Crew SC has won five major trophies: MLS Cup 2008, the Supporters’ Shield in 2004, 2008, and 2009, and the 2002 U.S. Open Cup. The Crew has qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League (or its predecessor, the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup) three times, reaching the quarter-finals each time.