|
 |
New Britain
Herald
The
official news
outlet of
SoccerPlus CT
Friday, January
26, 2007
Front Page
Sports - Cover
"The Future,
Details emerge
on team, field
preparations for
Farmington's
Newest sports
organization..." |
Wethersfield native
brings soccer back
By: Ken Lipshez, Herald
Staff
01/23/2007
FARMINGTON - Celebrated
USA women's soccer coach
and Wethersfield native
Tony DiCicco will be
bringing a local
franchise to the Women's
Premier Soccer League
for the upcoming 2007
season this summer.
DiCicco will own and
coach SoccerPlus
Connecticut, named after
his soccer school that
is headquartered at the
Farmington Sports Arena.
"I am very excited about
SoccerPlus Connecticut
joining the WPSL," said
DiCicco, who also
announced his first
major signing - former
Penn State star forward
and USA team pool member
Tiffany Weimer of North
Haven.
"The WPSL has been
synonymous with
exceptional amateur
women's soccer and
player development. I
want to add to the
professional atmosphere
in the league by
offering an outstanding
team and club, helping
players continue their
evolution as they
prepare for a
professional league
re-launch, which
hopefully is in our
not-too-distant future."
WPSL commissioner Jerry
Zanelli expressed his
enthusiasm for having
DiCicco and SoccerPlus
Connecticut aboard.
"We are blessed to have
such an outstanding
coach and spokesman for
the sport of women's
soccer joining our
league," said WPSL
commissioner Jerry
Zanelli in a press
release. "The WPSL has
undergone tremendous
growth and strengthening
over the past few years,
and the addition of
SoccerPlus Connecticut
and Tony DiCicco to our
family of teams further
augments that fact. The
East Conference will be
more competitive than
ever. It's a wonderful
first step into 2007 as
we begin to celebrate
our league's 10th
anniversary."
Although DiCicco was
unavailable for comment
Monday night, he
enthusiastically
expressed his dedication
last month to
re-launching a
professional women's
league. The WUSA lasted
from 2001 through the
2003 season when
financial support waned.
"I want (the WUSA)
back," DiCicco said. "A
professional league in
the U.S. is important
for more coverage to
keep the sport growing
and showing people how
great a game it is."
He said he would like to
refurbish Dillon Stadium
in Hartford to
accommodate a team.
"I'd like to make it a
nice little soccer
stadium that would seat
7,000 to 10,000," said
DiCicco, who served as
the WUSA's commissioner.
"You're tied into
Adrien's Landing, you're
walking distance from
the Hartford Civic
Center. We've proved
that 4,000, 5,000 and
7,000 would come to a
game and I think it
would be great for the
City of Hartford to have
a women's professional
team playing here
between April 1 and
Sept. 1."
He pointed to the
success the WUSA had at
Nickerson Field,
formerly the home for
Boston University
football, that was
renovated for soccer.
"It was a huge success
and I think we would
have made money if we
had been in business one
more year," he said.
"Rather than go into the
big stadiums, let's find
the right stadiums in
the right communities
and make it work for
us."
DiCicco served as the
head coach for the USA
National Team from
1994-99, compiling a
103-8-8 record that
gives him the most wins
of any national team
coach. His teams won the
gold medal at the 1996
Olympics and the 1999
Women's World Cup.
He also led his team to
five consecutive U.S.
Cup titles, the 1998 Pan
American Games gold
medal and a third-place
finish at the 1995 World
Cup. He was an assistant
coach for the 1991 U.S.
Women's National Team,
which won the first
women's World Cup, and
spent two years as an
assistant for the U.S.
Men's U-20 National
Team.
Weimer, who was the 2005
Big Ten Conference
Player of the Year as a
senior and three-time
Hermann Trophy
runner-up, ended her
tenure at Penn State as
the Big Ten leader in
career goals (91) and
single-season goals
(32).
Weimer was also a
two-time National Soccer
Coaches Association of
America first-team
All-American and
recently was one of 28
players invited to
participate in a
five-day training camp
preceding the USA team's
trip to China for the
2007 Four Nations
Tournament.
The WPSL presently is
considered the highest
level of women's soccer
in the United States and
one of the top leagues
in the world.
©The Herald 2007
