A couple of quick notes before I head off to the U.S. Women’s National Team camp at Home Depot Center:
ESPN has belatedly realised what’s missing from its schedule. No mention of the U.S. broadcast rights, but can it be far behind?
The Cerritos College women also won a championship Sunday.
The U.S. Under-17 92 Mens National Team fell 2-0 to Turkey Sunday in its third and final international match of the Development Academy Nike Friendlies in Bradenton, Fla.
From the (edited) U.S. Soccer press release –
The U.S. finished the weekend with two wins and a loss, taking 2-0 wins over Russia on Thursday and Brazil on Saturday. Carlos Martinez and Stefan Jerome each scored two goals on the weekend, while Earl Edwards added two shutouts in Wilmer Cabreras international coaching debut.
It’s getting to be that time of year when everyone makes a list. There’s two soccer names on this one.
Finally, the Santa Monica Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Group will be inaugurated today as the first-ever accredited FIFA Medical Center of Excellence in the U.S.
From the (edited) U.S. Soccer press release:
The vision behind creating a community of medical centers across the world is to ensure that players on all continents know where to go for expert care in football medical care, such as the prevention of injuries, early detection of risk factors for sudden cardiac death, as well as state-of-the-art diagnosis and therapy services.
FIFA is committed to protecting and improving the health of football players worldwide, said FIFA Sports Medical Committee chair Michel DHooghe. We consider effective prevention and accurate diagnosis as top priorities and make a strong commitment by offering the football community Centers of Excellence. What is more, these centers will also be generally open to every player looking for therapy or a second opinion on a specific illness or injury.
Building on the success of the first FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence opened at the Schulthess Clinic in Zurich in May 2005, the Santa Monica Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Group will be the first of five medical centers to receive accreditation as an official medical center in the coming months. The St Marianna University School of Medicine in Kawasaki, Japan, will be inaugurated next on Dec. 14, followed by three more in New Zealand, South Africa and Germany in early 2008.
“This is an incredible honor for our multidisciplinary center to be recognized as a FIFA Medical Center of Excellence, said Dr. Bert Mandelbaum. Having the opportunity to be a part of the FIFAs focus on research and education for prevention, injury care and rehabilitation, and performance optimization in soccer players here in the U.S. is a mission we are excited to be involved in.
Mandelbaum has been a part of U.S. Soccer’s Sports Medicine initiatives since 1990, working with thousands of athletes and virtually every U.S. National Team in that time. He has worked four World Cups for the men’s and two for the women in that time.
