What a whirlwind of a day.  I cannot imagine the help we've received without the help of social media AND the tremendous soccer network in the United States.  I hate it when I hear no-one cares about soccer in the United States because TODAY is a day that has proven all of the nay sayers wrong!  Our country DOES care and we give a huge thank you from the bottom of our hearts to those that donated to our program today.

We hope to continue this momentum in the days leading into our travel to Turkey!  Spread the word!

http://kansascityshock.jimdo.com/2012/07/03/hearing-the-unheard/

My hope and plan is to continue to nurture the awareness of US Deaf Soccer. When we are in Ankara this July it is my goal to keep everyone up to date with our progress in our pursuit for our Deaf World Championship.

What is important for our team(s) is to keep the soccer community and country aware of US Deaf Soccer after the World Deaf Football Championships this summer.  Upon our return from Turkey we immediately prepare to train for and raise $200,000 to participate as an organization (men and women) for the Deaflympics in Sofia, Bulgaria July/August 2013.  http://www.deaflympics.com/

The amount above is only a piece of the financial burden for our teams because as noted in my first blog, each athlete must pay their own way to attend training sessions at locations throughout the country.  We have been lucky to have hosts in our training sites to help alleviate some of the financial burden.

In July of 2011, Carnegie Mellon University hosted my first training camp and tryout as the head coach for the women.
In February, the women had a training camp in Atlanta, GA.  Thanks to Tophat Soccer Club, we had fields and host families from Tophat take our players in for the weekend so they could train and tryout with minimal costs inferred.
In April, at our final tryout and selection for Ankara, we were graciously housed and fed by the Ohio School for the Deaf.  Capital University in Ohio allowed us to use their fields free of charge and Wendy's provided meals for the teams. That same weekend Columbus Crew provided the opportunity for the men and women to play friendly games in their incredible stadium.

We have been fortunate to have such supportive hosts this past year and my hope, as a result of the incredible support we've received in the past 24 hours, we will find more hosts and help with transportation for our teams to help prepare for the 2013 Deaflympics.

Please help us keep the chatter going so our tremendous athletes that represent the U.S. can do so with pride and honor with the support of our incredible soccer community and country.

I will check back with updates on our progress tomorrow.

Thank you ALL and have a Happy 4th of July!!