USPSA E-newsletter for July 2010

President's Letter

Dear Members and friends of the USPSA,

The season came to an incredible finish with a shoot-out in the Division I game with Circle City Rollers repeating their win for a second straight year and a third time in four. It was an incredible finish with both teams fighting hard for that top spot.

Division II finish was a confirmation of the Minnesota Thunder as the top team. The Thunder had two players score 10 goals each throughout the tournament. RHI Indy Cruisers played a good game but the Thunder ultimately prevailed. Congratulations to all teams who competed in this great event.

The annual meeting and elections were also held during the tournament. At the annual meeting there was much discussion about the reorganization of competition and in the end the membership approved to move forward with the plan presented.

Congratulations to Jenny Mitchell our newest member of the Executive Board. Jenny will serve as the new Secretary of the USPSA. I look forward to Jenny's contributions in the upcoming two years. I'd like to thank Ericka Sutton for her dedication and contributions to the organization over the past 3 1/2; years.

Karen Russo and myself were elected again to continue to do the work of the USPSA. On behalf of the both of us, we would like to thank all of you for your continued support to lead this great organization.

One note I must add, we only had 10 absentee ballots cast leaving approximately 25 teams unaccounted for and without a voice. Voting is your one big opportunity to play a part in the future direction of the USPSA. I hope each of you will consider this duty and opportunity and take advantage of this right in the future.

Committee Chairs for the 2010-2011 season have been appointed. Please see below for your volunteer chairpersons for the upcoming year. Thank you for your contributions to your organization.

I would also like to encourage those who ran for an Executive Board position to bring your ideas and energy to one of the committees and help us make a better organization and sport.

There is much work to put the reorganization pieces into practice. Work has already started and the Conferences are being built based on your teams results from this past year. Final placement will be determined once the fall registration has been completed. There will also be some changes to the website to reflect this new change and organization.

I look forward to another great season and the further expansion of the sport into areas where we yet to have a presence.

Enjoy your summer.

All the best,
Dominic Russo
President
USPSA

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CIRCLE CITY ROLLERS AND COURAGE THUNDER FINISH TOP PLACE AT NATIONAL TOURNAMENT!

It was another nail biting tournament as top teams from across the country competed for top placement at this years event held in Fishers, Indiana. The three-day tournament was filled with a total of 66 games, 158 athletes, 48 staff members, 8 head referees and countless spectators! For stories written by athletes, visit our website, powersoccerusa.net.

Congratulations go to:

Division I

Circle City Rollers - Indiana
Atlanta Synergy - Georgia
San Jose Steamrollers - California

Division II

Courage Thunder - Minnesota
RHI Indy Cruisers - Indiana
Ball State Cardinal Fury - Indiana

MVP Division I
Katie Dickey

MVP Division II
Lexi Heer

Golden Guard Division I
Michael Archer

Golden Guard Division II
Pete Winslow
Riley Johnson

The USPSA National Tournament regrets an error made in counting goals for the Division ll games. Due to penalty kicks also being recorded into game scores, the count was incorrect. Therefore the outcome of the goals was recounted and Pete Winslow and Riley Johnson were tied with 8 goals each.

Kudos to Nathan Mayer of the Minnesota Courage Team, who was originally named Golden Guard awardee, for honorably passing his award to Riley Johnson at a team pizza party. Our deepest apologies for this error.

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COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSONS FOR THE 2010- 2011 SEASON

Barbara Peacock	Athletes Advisory Committee
Mark Pratt	Legislative and Bylaws Committee
Joe Carrow	Equipment Specification Committee
Jonathan Newman	Tournament Selection Committee
Tracy Meyer	Officials Committee
Karen Russo	Marketing Committee
Don Faria	Rules Committee
Jenny Mitchell	IT Committee

Thank you to all who submitted their interest in being involved in the organization. All contact information will be posted on the website by the start of the season so you may contact a chairperson directly if you are interested in volunteering on a particular committee.

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TEAM USA!

The next Team USA training camp will be held in Greenwood Indiana at the Mount Pleasant Christian Church on August 12th - 14th. The training is closed to the public on August 12 and 13, but the team will welcome fans on Saturday afternoon August 14, from 1pm to 5pm for exhibition games. For more information check out the Team USA website at:

www.powersoccerteamusa.org.

Thank you for your continued support!

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USPSA DOES CHICAGO ABILITIES EXPO

Attendees were waiting for doors to open at the 2nd Annual "Abilities Expo" in Schaumburg, Illinois the weekend of July 8th, 9th and 10th. As in years past, the USPSA had been an exhibitor at the Expo, but this was the first visit in the Chicago area. The interest was high as we talked power soccer to potential athletes, coaches, sponsors and referees! We met people as far away as Kansas City, Iowa, Milwaukee and many from the Wisconsin area.

Thank you to GLASA Fire from the Chicago area and the Circle City Rollers (and Jordan Dickey, honorary CC athlete for the day) who exhibited the game of power soccer during the show. Dominic Russo commentated as the game was in play, sharing the tid-bits of the USPSA as well as game play.

The USPSA booth was quite popular with the crowds on Sunday, as the Spain vs Netherlands World Cup game streamed live onto our wide screen.

"We found this to be a great convention to share the sport of power soccer and we look forward to returning next year," says president Dominic Russo.

Jerry Frick will be manning the booth in Houston, Texas August 27th -29 and again in October in the City of Atlanta. We plan to take part in all five Ability Expo's next year, adding Southern California and New Jersey to the list.

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USPSA Athletes Win Gold, Silver, and Bronze at 2010 National Veterans Wheelchair Games

10 July 2010, Denver, CO: Members of the US Power Soccer Association (USPSA) led teams to all three medals in the power soccer competition at this year's National Veterans Wheelchair Games (NVWG) held in Denver, Colorado.

Mark Peterson and Michael Brady, both of Arizona, led their "Team Red" to the championship match which they won, 2-1, against a feisty "Team Black" led by another USPSA athlete, Ludger Pepin of Florida. Meanwhile, Tom Bungert of Washington led his "Team Orange" to a bronze medal in the consolation match.

Additionally, two veteran USPSA referees, Mike McCoy of Indiana, and Chris Mulholland of Virginia, officiated all of the matches in the tournament with help from volunteers and local outdoor soccer referees.

The theme for the 2010 was, "Games with Heart A Mile High", reflecting the character of the city of Denver. This was the 30th anniversary for the Games, the largest annual wheelchair sporting competition in the world, and was held between 4-9 July around the Denver area. The 2010 edition of the Games featured more than 650 veterans - the largest number ever - competing in 17 sports using wheelchairs due to spinal cord injuries, amputations and neurological diseases.

The Games promote rehabilitation through rigorous competition in events such as power soccer, basketball, quad rugby, softball, hand-cycling, air guns, archery, bowling, track and field events, motorized wheelchair rally, nine-ball, slalom, swimming, table tennis, trapshooting, weightlifting and whitewater kayaking.

The Games offers an exciting combination of competition, camaraderie and courage and "a place where old friends catch up on the past, and new friendships are shaped for a lifetime."

The Games introduce wheelchair sports to newly injured veterans, as well as assisting continued rehabilitation in a real world environment. The participants range from those recently injured in Iraq or Afghanistan to those who served in World War II. The camaraderie is one of the unique features of the Games, introducing newly injured veterans to those who have successfully overcome their injuries for many years.

A total of 63 athletes signed up for power soccer - almost one out of every 10 athletes! - with about half having never played the sport before. The teams were formed through a blind draw and ironically two players from the Arizona Heat, Peterson and Brady, were teamed up on the same team automatically making them the prohibitive favorite.

Although many novice players only got to play in group play, they were excited about the sport and vowed to form teams upon return to their respective homes. There is a very real possibility that new teams will soon be forming in Wyoming, southern Washington, western Virginia, Denver, and elsewhere.

The example set by the veterans participating in NVWG serves as a model of what people with disabilities can achieve, especially as the competitors are at many different points in their lives after becoming differently-abled.

You can read more about the NVWG at www.wheelchairgames.va.gov and www1.va.gov/opa/speceven/wcg/index.asp. Additionally, Xable Sports filmed many of the events at the NVWG, including several of the power soccer matches - they can be seen at http://www.xable.com/sports/nvwg2010/main.

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YOU-TUBE and USPSA

In a concerted effort to bring relevant video to people searching out information on the internet about power soccer and the USPSA, we are introducing a You-Tube page specific to the USPSA.

Tony Jackson from Arizona Heat will be working to organize and update You-Tube videos relating to power soccer. While there are tons of videos on the internet displaying the game of power soccer, they are not all current and played within the regulations of the USPSA Laws of the Game.

If you have power soccer video's that you have taken at a USPSA event or any of your local games within the past four years, please contact Tony at: azpowersoccer [at] gmail [dot] com

He is creating a USPSA You-Tube website to showcase our sport, power soccer.

If anyone is interested in video taping upcoming events and helping Tony on this project, please contact him, he would love the help!