Welcome to edition No. 7 of my weekly blog. It appears on the
new HoustonDynamo.com every Monday.
It was a week without an official game, but it was not a week without news.
The biggest news, of course, came in Oliver Luck announcing his resignation from the Dynamo and hiring as West Virginia’s new AD. I wish Oliver and his family the best in their future and thank him for his contributions to our organization and our community. I know he is excited about his new role and returning to the Mountaineers. I will be working with Oliver through a transitional period in making continued progress on the new stadium and training complex. We are looking to honor Oliver at an upcoming match, so stay tuned for those details.
The other news was the match in Corpus Christi against the Laredo Heat. I missed the match because I was at a sports business leadership conference in SC, but by all accounts it was a great event. Reserved seats at the event were sold out, with many fans getting their first taste of professional soccer. Getting a win was nice, but most importantly, it was a good experience for our club. We may pursue future events in partnership with the Hooks organization, including a potential pre-season tournament.
And of course, last week was the kickoff to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. We helped get things started in style with a fabulous viewing party for the U.S.-England match at the Discovery Green. By some estimates, nearly 6,000 people attended the party. I can say with great certainty that this would not have been possible during the last World Cup. This is another great sign of soccer’s rapid growth and development in Houston and in the United States. You can check out some photos in our HoustonDynamo.com photo gallery. There are many great World Cup viewing parties lined up over the next few weeks. They are a memorable way to experience a match, so I encourage you to check it out. For a complete party schedule, click here: //www.houstondynamo.com/wcviewingparties.
On the field, this week the coaching staff will get a closer look at three players that are here on trial. They are M Anthony Obadai (Ghana), M Juan Manuel Quevedo (Argentina), and D Kendall Waston (Costa Rica). These players will train during the week and play in Saturday’s Dynamo Charities Cup versus CD Aguila of El Salvador. There are many great reasons to come out to the Charities Cup, but getting a look of these players is most intriguing.
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I am committed to making the Dynamo Charities Cup a long-standing tradition for this organization. I think it is an excellent opportunity to showcase our club against international competition while contributing to the community. The vision is to include some of the world’s most visible clubs and make significant donations to worthy causes. This week we will announce that proceeds from this year’s event will benefit efforts to assist those affected by the devastating oil spill along the Gulf Coast. I look forward to the future growth of this tradition and invite fans to get involved by purchasing tickets, attending the match, and participating in the gameday fundraising activities. Kickoff at Robertson Stadium is 8 p.m. I hope to see you there.
That’s it for this week. As always, feel free to email me at ccanetti@houstondynamo.com.
