2009 Salute to Women in Sports

Other WomenTalkSports posts of “Best of ‘09″:

• From Because I Played Sports, Best of ‘09: Forming a community, WomenTalkSports.com

• From One Sport Voice, The “Best” of 2009 and the State of Girls & Women in Sports

• From WakeGirls.com, Best of ‘09 – A Year for Women in Wake

Marta named World Player of Year

Brazil’s Marta captured soccer’s World Player of the Year award for the fourth year in a row. The 23-year-old playmaker beat teammate Cristiane, Kelly Smith of England, and Germans Birgit Prinz and Inka Grings.

“I’m really surprised,” Marta said of winning the award again. Tearful but happy she described the accolade as “a landmark in my career and in my life”.

She was honored at the FIFA World Player Gala, during which former and current soccer stars and celebrities made appearances and Italian pop star Laura Pausini performed.

When asked how it felt to hear her name called once again, the 23-year-old replied, “It’s incredible. You can never prepare what you’re going to say and I just came out with the first words that came into my head.”

The prestigious FIFA award is voted for by the coaches and captains of each national side. With this year’s win, Marta becomes the record winner of the honor awarded by football’s world ruling body.

The dynamic striker, widely regarded as the best female to play the game, was a favorite last season in the revamped U.S Women’s Professional Soccer League, where she won the Golden Boot and was elected league MVP with the Los Angeles Sol.

American Mia Hamm won the inaugural women’s award in 2001, winning again in 2002.

Germany’s Birgit Prinz then picked up the award three years in a row from 2003-2005.

The men’s award when to Lionel Messi who added FIFA’s World Player of the Year award to his growing list of accolades, completing a nearly perfect campaign in which his club won an unprecedented trio of Spanish and European titles.

Vote for U.S. Soccer Awards

U.S. Soccer has announced the finalists for the 2009 Best of U.S. Soccer awards and there’s only one week left to vote for the 12 categories  on USSoccer.com.

The eighth annual series gives fans the opportunity to make their selections for the best in soccer in the United States. The 12 categories recap a busy 2009 crammed full of action, which included FIFA World Cup qualifying, the FIFA Confederations Cup, Abby Wambach’s 100th goal, another Development Academy Season and the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Female Athlete of the Year nominees include national team players Shannon Boxx (Sol), Heather O’Reilly, Christine Rampone (Sky Blue), Hope Solo (Athletica) and Abby Wambach (Freedom).

The Young Female Athletes of the Year are nominees Tobin Heath (UNC), Sydney Leroux (UCLA), Christine Nairn, Kelly O’Hara (Stanford) and Katie Schoepfer.

Fans can vote once a day from now until Sunday, Dec. 13, in the Community section of ussoccer.com. For certain categories, voters will be able to watch videos and view photos as they relive some of the best moments of 2009.

Go make your vote count.

Aussie Gilmore claims 3rd World Surf Title

Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 21, claimed her third consecutive ASP Women’s World Title last week at the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing presented by Rockstar Energy Drink in Hawaii.

Gilmore makes history as the only surfer – man or woman – ever to win the prestigious crown each year they competed at the elite ASP World Tour level. In addition to winning her third world crown, Gilmore reached the final of the Gidget Pro Sunset Beach, the second leg of the Vans Triple Crown, and placed third overall in the event. Waves were in the 12 – to 20-foot wave face height range making for an exciting contest.

Hawaii’s Carissa Moore,  17, claimed the Gidget Pro event title with a dynamic and powerful surfing display that was beyond her years and Sunset Beach surfing experience.  Second place went to Sally Fitzgibbons (Australia), and Kauai’s Alana Blanchard placed fourth. Blanchard now leads the Vans Triple Crown Series ratings ahead of Gilmore. The Vans Triple Crown champion will receive a $25,000 bonus purse.

When the final day of surfing at the Gidget Pro began, six surfers remained in contention for the 2009 ASP Women’s World Title. Gilmore never faulted and had out-pointed all her challengers by the time she qualified for the final.

Gilmore, who was focused on preparing for the Final at the Gidget Pro Sunset Beach, had remained intentionally aloof to the ASP Women’s World Title possibilities on the final day of competition, and was surprised when informed she had clinched the historic crown.

“I didn’t even know it was happening,” Gilmore said. “I was preparing for the Final and gearing up and then to know I had won, my head was a bit light. To go to Honolua and not have to worry about the title going into the event is just so relaxing.

“I’m starting to feel more comfortable on the Women’s World Tour and go into events differently,” Gilmore said. “You get to know the breaks and it’s still my third year and I love traveling and competing and it’s such a special thing to get paid to do. I’m looking forward to next year and seeing different conditions and different waves on tour, I think there might be a couple of new stops, so yeah, I’m looking forward to having good heats and good waves.”

Gilmore’s 2009 ASP Women’s World Tour Results:

· Win at the Roxy Pro Gold Coast
· Runner-Up at the Rip Curl Women’s Pro Bells Beach
· Runner-Up at the Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic
· Equal 5th Place Finish at the Rip Curl Pro Search
· Runner-Up at the Movistar Peru Classic
· 3rd at the Gidget Pro Sunset Beach
· TBD at the upcoming Billabong Pro Maui

Visit the Press Room on www.aspworldtour.com for more info.

WNBA playoffs begin tonight

Detroit opens it’s title defense vs. the Dream tonight. The WNBA Eastern Conference Semifinal series pits the second-seeded Atlanta team against the third-seeded Shock.

The Dream, in just their second year of existence, are making their first-ever appearance in the playoffs after posting an 18-16 record in the regular season, something that was thought to be impossible after they posted just four wins in their entire inaugural campaign.

The 1-2 opening round format, in which the lower seed plays at home first, could be a huge factor here. If veteran-laden Detroit is able to capture the opener at home, where it has won six straight, it could give them the mental edge over an Atlanta team getting a taste of the playoffs for the first time ever as a group.

Some fast facts about the first-round Shock-Dream matchup:

• Detroit snapped a three-game skid to Atlanta in their last meeting on August 27.
• The Shock lead the all-time series, 4-3.
• Atlanta is making its first trip to the playoffs, while Detroit is making its seventh straight and eighth overall.
• Erika de Souza posted three double-doubles vs. Detroit this season.
• Shavonte Zellous averaged 16.8 PPG vs. Atlanta this season.
• Detroit has won three straight opening-round series.

The second match up of the night features Los Angeles vs. Seattle in the Western Conference semifinal. The Sparks have been a thorn in Seattle’s side for years now. L.A. eliminated Seattle in a series that went the distance last season as well as in 2006. And with Tina Thompson now added to the mix, Candace Parker at full strength, Lisa Leslie motivated to win a title in her final season, the Sparks should present problems for the Storm once again in 2009.

Some fast facts about the first-round Storm-Sparks matchup:

• The Storm (74.82) and Sparks (74.50) are 11th and 12th in the league in points per game.
• Leslie has played in just one of the four games against the Storm this season. Parker has played in only two.
• Seattle was the two seed in 2004 when they won their only trophy.
• Lennox was part of that Storm championship team. Only Jackson and Bird remain off that roster.
• Leslie has spent her entire 13-year career with the Sparks. During that time, she’s made seven All-Star appearances and has won two titles.
• Milton-Jones and Leslie are the only two current Sparks from their 2002 championship team. Leslie has remained with the club over the years, while Milton-Jones left three seasons (2005-07) to play in Washington.

Be sure to catch both games tonight on ESPN2!

Kara Goucher post-Boston: “I wanted to be the one that won for everybody”

Kara Goucher was in tears. As soon as she hit the finish line. She had given it everything she had on that day and on the hundreds of days leading up to it: the tough training, the sacrifices, the tweaks in nutrition, the meticulous planning of each and every workout and race, the mental preparation.

She had laid herself on the line, put all of her eggs in one basket. She asked for the pressure to be put on her shoulders, announcing to the public that she wanted to be the first American woman since 1985 to win the Boston Marathon. She put a big target on her own back.

And we all love her for it. We love the guts, we love the passion. If you already were a fan of Kara Goucher, you have seen this insatiable desire to excel and be not one of the best but THE best in the world. If you are a new fan, here is proof: after the 10,000m in Beijing at last August’s Olympic Games, where Kara finished 10th, she was not content, to say the least, and repeated several times “I want to be an Olympic Champion” and reiterated that she needed to move up to the marathon to reach her full potential.

So move up to the marathon she did. She debuted in November, just three short months after her Olympic performance, at the New York Marathon in the fastest debut time ever by an American woman, 2:25:53, which got her a 3rd-place finish in one of the most competitive marathons in the world.

The talk about the Boston Marathon began almost immediately and Goucher was not shy about the fact that she was training for the win. She is not arrogant, mind you, she just wants to win so bad. She wants to be the best so bad.

She ran like the best on Monday morning in Boston. The initial pace was excruciatingly slow for runners at her level, with the first mile split being 6:25. As the race went on, Goucher realized that no one wanted to push the pace, which left way too many women vying for a top spot. That is a dangerous situation–to have a marathon turn into a jog and final sprint. It leaves too much up to chance.

Goucher decided to be the one to make it an honest race. In hindsight, she sacrificed herself in order for the race to be one to find the best marathoner on that day, not the runner with the best kick. After pushing the pace around mile 20, the lead pack had dwindled to 3 women by the 25 mile mark: Goucher, 2008 Boston Champ Tire Dune of Ethiopia and Kenya’s Selina Kosgei.

But Dune and Kosgei had more left in the tank: maybe because they had been towed by Goucher for 4 miles or so and thus had expended less physical and less mental energy, maybe because they simply were better on that day. They pulled away from Goucher in the final mile and finished within a second of each other, with Kosgei taking the victory in 2:32:16 and Dune collapsing (and later being taken to the hospital as a precaution) from the effort. Goucher was 3rd in 2:32:25.

And she was devastated. Her husband Adam met her at the finish with a big towel to wrap her in and she cried into his shoulder. You could see on her face an expression of sheer disappointment in herself, as if she had failed so miserably she couldn’t look anyone in the face.

True champions are not satisfied with 3rd place. They are inconsolable. It doesn’t matter to her that she made the podium, that she pushed the pace and was gutsy enough to make it a real race, that she finished higher than any American in a long time and this was only her second marathon. You might as well save your breath.

The video from the press conference after the race shows you just how disappointed she was. She patiently took question after agonizing question even though she was choking back tears the entire time. She wanted to win “for everyone that supported me and for my coach, my husband, my family and for Nike…I just wanted to be the one that won for everybody.”

If you’re not a Kara Goucher fan after watching her go after her goal in that race and after watching this video, I don’t know what to tell you. And my question would be, do you realize how pure her ambition and drive is? And how hard that is to find these days among the best athletes in the world? And yes, Kara, you are one of the best athletes in the world.

2009 NPF Senior Draft to be Broadcast Live Tomorrow

The 2009 National Pro Fastpitch Senior Draft will be broadcast live on the Internet for the first time in league history.

The draft which is being hosted by the Akron Racers, will take place February 17th beginning at 7 p.m. EST (6 p.m. CST) with the first selection being made by the Washington Glory. Fans will be able to access the draft broadcast at TheSoftballChannel.com, a sponsor of this year’s draft.

The 2009 version of the draft features five rounds and a total of 25 selections, with Akron , Rockford , Philadelphia and Chicago rounding out the first round.

Earlier this month, the league announced that the New England Riptide—one of the NPF’s six founding franchises—has withdrawn from the league and will not compete in the 2009 season, due to economic difficulties. Hate to hear about yet another casuality of the recession.

First round draft picks from last year’s draft included Katie Burkhart, pitcher from Arizona State and Megan Gibson, pitcher from Texas A&M, both of whom were signed by the Philadelphia Force and helped the team earn a Championship Series berth.

Angela Tincher, pitcher from Virginia Tech was drafted by the Akron Racers and was a crucial part of its team arsenal in 2008. Anjelica Selden, pitcher from UCLA was drafted by the New England Riptide, Savannah Brown, catcher from Georgia Tech was drafted by the Rockford Thunder and Taryne Mowatt, pitcher from Arizona was drafted by the Washington Glory.

The Chicago Bandits selected catcher and NPF Rookie of the year Rachel Folden with the first pick of the 2008 draft. Folden proved to be a solid foundation behind the plate as the catcher for the Bandits, but also produced at the plate. Folden finished the ‘08 season with 32 RBIs, 11 homeruns, a .311 batting average and a .631 slugging percentage.

While everyone can speculate on which seniors will be drafted in this years draft, it is likely that several players will be chosen from the recently announced USA Softball Player of the Year Watch List.

Due to NCAA regulations, an active college senior-athlete is not eligible to sign with her respective franchise until her 2009 season is completed.

The order of picks for each round follows, but this information is subject to change pending any last-minute trades.

ROUND 1

1  Washington
2  Akron
3 Rockford
4  Philadelphia
5  Chicago