Good morning! I put too much water in my oatmeal. Let’s talk about soccer.
But first: the District Ultras are raising money for Maryland’s Special Olympics program by participating in the Polar Bear Plunge on January 25. If you can, donate to the cause right here!
D.C. United re-signings and rumors: Filibuster! | Black and Red United
Our latest episode covers D.C. United finalizing Bill Hamid’s transfer back to the club, Frederic Brillant’s new deal, and eating horrible pizza.
“Soccer In The City” aims to tell a new story of the American game | USSoccerPlayers.com
Amazon Prime has a new documentary with a ton of connections to the region (Hamid, Briana Scurry, local coaching legend Lincoln Phillips, DC Scores, and even some support from the District’s government).
USWNT, Mount Notre Dame soccer star Rose Lavelle giving back to Cincinnati, Mason Dec. 21 | Cincinnati Enquirer
Not that too many people reading this are going to be in Cincinnati, but if you are, next week you can go meet Rose Lavelle, who is doing a toy donation drive/meet-and-greet.
Rose Lavelle and Andi Sullivan host soccer clinic at Greater Binghamton Sports Complex | BU Pipe Dream
Lavelle and Washington Spirit captain Andi Sullivan just held a soccer camp in what is apparently the largest “air-supported dome structure” in the country.
Utah Royals re-sign Jonsdottir, Lytle, Barnhart; waive Farquharson | RSL Soapbox
Kind of an odd one here, as Utah Royals FC have both picked up and released former Spirit midfielder Cali Farquharson in the space of about a month.
Restructured competition format for 2020 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup provides opportunity for more “David vs. Goliath” matchups in 107th edition of U.S. Soccer’s National Championship | USSoccer.com
Some major and needed changes to the Open Cup here. Last year, MLS teams all came in at the same time, giving us a ton of MLS vs. MLS pairings that were a lot less fun than having some potential big upsets. This year, some MLS clubs will enter in the 3rd round, and some (including, by virtue of being one of the four best non-CCL-qualifying American teams in the East, United) will be waiting for them in the round of 32.
The Open Cup will also start much, much earlier, with the first round coming in late March. That might raise some real issues for teams in the NPSL and USL League Two, both of which feature many college players:
By NCAA rules, college soccer players cannot be released to other clubs until May 1 (unless it's during a school vacation)
— TheCup.us (@usopencup) December 12, 2019
The first round of #USOC2020 being March 24 puts those players participation in serious jeopardy. We'll have more on this developing story tomorrow.
Speaking of MLS, apparently the new Charlotte team has picked a truly terrible name from the pile of terrible names they restricted themselves to:
As you may have seen, an LLC operated by David Tepper submitted trademarks for eight potential Charlotte MLS club names last week (see attached image). Industry sources have told @frntofficesport that Charlotte Town FC is expected to be the choice for its name. pic.twitter.com/SCdsgJsmms
— Ian Thomas (@byIanThomas) December 13, 2019
Don’t be like Charlotte. Have fun this weekend!