Re: Fan Forum Conference Call Tuesday

by harryb on Wed Apr 15, 2009 3:25 pm

Some of us that were not able to be on the call would love to hear a little bit about what was discussed.

by jc on Wed Apr 15, 2009 3:40 pm

One piece of news from the conference call: Coach Smith said that Kassi McCluskie is progressing well and he expects that she will be able to practice starting in July or August.

by purple haze on Wed Apr 15, 2009 5:36 pm

It would be great if the athletic department could post the call as a podcast.

by PurpleGeezer on Wed Apr 15, 2009 6:22 pm

Anther thing Garrett focused on was that he thought some players coming in would be able to contribute immediately. He mentioned Cloee Colohan specifically as the best known player, but he also thought other freshmen would contribute. That included the local three and mentioned Molly Klier as a player who could help by virtue of her being a natural left side player. At one point he talked about being able to use all the talent UP had in house to our advantage by being able to find places for them all and perhaps using them all in a game.

He addressed the challenges of going to a hostile environment (Texas A&M and SMU) and he and the players all talked about how to deal with those challenges (heat, big crowds, etc.)

He also mentioned the challenges of running the program with Lauren gone and Lisa in California. He actually saw Lisa in the MLS as a positive, in that she was down South in the hotbed of Southern California recruiting while she was playing in the MLS.

by **DaTruRochin** on Wed Apr 15, 2009 7:25 pm

And my MLS you mean WPS.... I'll chalk this one up to potential Pliny depravation

by PurpleGeezer on Wed Apr 15, 2009 8:15 pm

Very charitable that you would consider depravation a cause for anything.....

by Auto Pilot on Thu Apr 16, 2009 11:23 am

Garrett actually said the wealth and depth of talent this year will make his job harder to make sure he uses players wisely.

I think all the talk about going into hostile environments and different climates was pretty much dismissed by Kelsey and Keelin. Keelin actually said she would take it as an insult if anyone blamed a result on the weather. Kelsey has traveled to the four corners of the earth to play so they pretty much know what to do under different conditions.

Garrett's take on the benefit having Lisa in Southern California to scout players was interesting. I wonder if she will have enough time away from the Sol to see many youth games.

I thought I heard him saying something about Kelsey scouting SoCal players too. Maybe it was just a joke maybe not. She knows most of the local top club coaches very well. Perhaps he is envisioning a scenario in the future where she does some recruiting for the University.

His description of the perfect storm that resulted in us getting to play the defending Division I champ in our opening weekend last year was classic. Hopefully we will see some similar luck in the future.

I love to hear Garrett talk because if you listen carefully he reveals a wealth of information.

by **Stonehouse** on Thu Apr 16, 2009 11:46 am

I don't have any specific details, but I heard that well over a hundred people called in.

Think about that for a second... well over 100 people called in to do a Q&A with a women's soccer coach. In April.

If Portland doesn't have the best fans in the country, I don't know who in the heck does.

Kudos to all of you and many thanks for making Pilot soccer so special!

by aleppiek on Thu Apr 16, 2009 12:07 pm

Anyone know if there are plans to podcast that conference call for those of us that couldn't call in?

by **PilotNut** on Thu Apr 16, 2009 1:49 pm

aleppiek wrote:Anyone know if there are plans to podcast that conference call for those of us that couldn't call in?

I asked that very question... and the answer was that they didnt know, but were working on it yesterday. Since this was a "test run" for the process, they didnt know if the company behind the technology was going to release the recording, or how expensive it would be to do so, etc...

I would think the Athletic Department would want to have the podcast out there, so fans realize what they missed out on... it would make a great advertisement for the next one...

by eProf on Fri Apr 17, 2009 1:50 pm

Stonehouse wrote:I don't have any specific details, but I heard that well over a hundred people called in.

I talked with Kelsey Davis earlier today. She said that the count was about 160. Not bad at all.

by onetouchfutbol on Fri Apr 17, 2009 5:23 pm

eProf wrote:
Stonehouse wrote:I don't have any specific details, but I heard that well over a hundred people called in.

I talked with Kelsey Davis earlier today. She said that the count was about 160. Not bad at all.

That's just amazing. The battle for minutes on this team is going to be something else. You have to love the fact that there is no unanymous person who will be the top goal scorer, but, the team is clearly loaded.

Could someone with more spare time than me create some kind of a cool graph or list showing which teams have the most players with national team experience? If you go U-14 to U-23, we are right up there with anybody next year.