From Feb. 27 to March 5, U.S. Soccer will host the fourth annual SheBelieves Cup, one of the most elite four-team international women’s soccer tournaments in the world. The top-ranked USA will welcome women’s soccer powers Brazil (No. 10 in the FIFA Rankings), England (No. 4) and Japan (No. 8). Here are five things to know about the 2019 SheBelieves Cup.

France Bound: 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup Participants
This year, the SheBelieves Cup includes Brazil and Japan, two teams who have been part of the Tournament of Nations the past two years. They join England and the USA to make up an incredibly competitive field, as all four participants are not only among the top women’s soccer countries in the world, but more importantly, are all headed to France this summer for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. Brazil, Japan and the USA are three of the seven teams that have participated in each of the seven previous Women’s World Cup tournaments.

• WATCH: WNT’S Top 10 Goals of 2018
• READ: 3 Reasons the SheBelieves Cup Transcends Soccer
• FIFA Women’s World Ranking

Schedule Format and How to Watch
The U.S. team begins its schedule on Wednesday, Feb. 27 against Japan at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pa. (7 p.m. ET on FS1). England will kick off the competition against Brazil (4p.m. ET on ussoccer.com) in the early game that day. All the teams will then travel to Nashville, Tenn. and Nissan Stadium where the USA will play England on Saturday, March 2 (3:30 p.m.CT on FOX), which will be preceded by Brazil vs. Japan (1p.m. CT on ussoccer.com). The tournament will finish on Tuesday, March 5, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. as Japan takes on England (5:15p.m. ET on ussoccer.com) followed by the tournament finale, featuring the USA against Brazil (8p.m. ET on FS1).

SheBelieves: Inspiring the Next Generation
Conceived and developed by the U.S. Women’s National Team players, SheBelieves is a movement to inspire young girls and women and encourage them to accomplish their goals and dreams, athletic or otherwise. The campaign was originally launched in the run-up to the 2015 Women’s World Cup but has since evolved and grown into a special bond between the team and its fans, taking its powerful message of empowerment and that of believing in yourself into communities across the nation. 

As one of the most popular women’s teams in the United States, the WNT is the prime example that dreams are attainable if you set your mind to it and go after what you want. Through dedication, teamwork, perseverance and success, the players in the U.S. team inspire new generations of young girls and women to be better and strive for better. They inspire them to believe.

SheBelieves Cup History
In the 2016 SheBelieves Cup, the USA defeated England and France by 1-0 scores and downed Germany, 2-1, in the de facto championship game to take the inaugural tournament title. Germany finished second, England was third and France was fourth. In fact, none of the games were decided by more than one goal with the results coming down to three 1-0 victories, two 2-1 victories and one 0-0 draw.

At the 2017 SheBelieves Cup, the USA defeated Germany 1-0 in the opening match on a goal from Lynn Williams, but fell to England 1-0 and France 3-0. France won the tournament, Germany was second, England third and the USA finished fourth. France defeated England 2-1, drew 0-0 with Germany and downed the USA, 3-0.

Last year, the USA took back the trophy, finishing ahead of England, France and Germany. This time, the teams scored 16 total goals and two games featured larger than one-goal margins with England beating France, 4-1, and France beating Germany, 3-0. The USA, in 2016, was the only team to win all three games in any of the previous SheBelieves Cups. 

 In the previous three editions, no individual player has scored more than two goals in a tournament. Four players have scored twice: Alex Morgan in 2016, Camille Abily of France in 2017, and Ellen White of England and Eugénie Le Sommer in 2018.

The Best Players in the World
Probably one of the most exciting things about the SheBelieves Cup, not only for teams and players but also for fans in the United States, is that the tournament provides the opportunity to watch some of the most talented women’s players on the planet.

This includes not only the U.S. players like prolific goal scorer Alex Morgan, or creative attackers like Megan Rapinoe and Tobin Heath, but also forward Eugenie Le Sommer and towering defender Wendy Renard of France; six-time FIFA Player of the Year Marta of Brazil and her strike partner Cristiane, veteran Japan players Rumi Utsugi of Reign FC and Saki Kumagai of two-time reigning UEFA Champions League winners Olympique Lyon, or England players like team leader Steph Houghton, veteran midfielder Jill Scott and Barcelona forward Toni Duggan.

Take the classic American dream. Now add soccer.

That was Fernando Clavijo. An immigrant to this land, he rode that dream – soared on it, really – to grand places. He rode to the very tip-top for almost every professional soccer dreamer, into a World Cup. Later he rode that dream to a career in management and administration as well as the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

That life, rich in soccer and in even richer in personal relationships, was in evidence as tributes poured forth for Clavijo last weekend. They mostly arrived along social media, but also elsewhere, as with the moment of silence before FC Dallas lined up to meet Bayern Munich’s reserves in a preseason friendly.

The former U.S. international and, most recently, FC Dallas’ technical director, passed away on Feb. 8 at his home in Fort Lauderdale. Diagnosed with multiple myeloma five years ago, he had continued to work for the Major League Soccer club until late last summer. He was 63.

Any player would be proud to have achieved what he did in the game: Clavijo was capped 61 times for the United States, including his spot on the U.S. roster for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. The oldest player on the roster at age 38, Clavijo started three tournament matches, on guard at right back for the team’s shocking first round upset against Colombia. History was indeed made on that June day at the Rose Bowl, and he was front-and-center in it.

Alexi Lalas, a teammate on that squad, remembers Clavijo as a tenacious tackler, truly a destructive force along the back line – but one of those soccer players who was a completely different human being outside the white lines. “He was a gentle soul, and a guy who loved playing soccer, loved the game,” Lalas said this week from his Southern California home, not far from where he trained daily with Clavijo in the long run-up to the 1994 World Cup. “He was certainly someone who appreciated every single moment the game gave to him.”

After the World Cup, Clavijo solidified his spot as a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, as head coach of the New England Revolution and later for the Colorado Rapids before moving into the front office with FC Dallas.

Yes, all that would suffice to ensconce himself U.S. Soccer history. But his trajectory toward those rewards of the game were anything but typical, and that’s what makes his story extra special.

Immigrant anonymity to international prominence

Clavijo was a fully professional player in his native Uruguay by age 16, and soon after began scanning for opportunities in lands beyond. By the time he was married and into his early 20s, Clavijo definitely wanted to expand his personal soccer world. Alas, he was boxed in by some byzantine rules in Uruguayan soccer at the time, significantly restricted in his ability to move abroad.

Frustrated, he quit the game. At age 22, he was ready for something different, something greater than professional soccer could offer in his native land.

So his humble-beginnings story began like so many others: with a move to the United States and a dream of something more. He and young wife Martha settled in New Jersey, where Clavijo worked as a busboy and played soccer in the park on weekends. That’s where Martha picked up the story, as told to FCDallas.com last year.

Clavijo taking on his native Uruguay on May 5, 1991 in Denver, Colo. 

“One day playing soccer with an Italian team at a park in New Jersey, these other Italian guys came and asked him his name,” she said. “That was the beginning of a chain of events, because that Italian knew another Italian who knew another Italian and that other Italian had a soccer team. And that's how it all unfolded. Just from someone that saw him in a park in New Jersey.”

One thing led to another and Clavijo eventually made good use of a tryout for the New York Apollos of the American Soccer League. Indoor soccer was catching on through the 1980s, so Clavijo’s second stop was the New York Arrows of the thriving Major Indoor Soccer League. Clavijo excelled as a defender, helping the Arrows and, later, the powerful San Diego Sockers claim four MISL championships in six seasons.

All of that helped him gain notice from U.S. national team coach Bora Milutinovic, the Serbian tactician who was charged in 1991 with cobbling together a team that could adequately represent the American game during the 1994 World Cup. It was no easy task, as there was still no major professional outdoor league at that time. (Major League Soccer, in its nascent planning stages through the early 1990s, would not actually launch until 1996.)

So Milutinovic began assembling a mish-mash of college players, professionals from the shoestring-budget American Professional Soccer League and, yes, even indoor soccer. Of that group, Clavijo was quite important. He was already older than most of the players, 38 years old during World Cup USA 1994. Even then, however, Clavijo was among the team’s fastest players.

Marcelo Balboa was positioned nearby along the U.S. back line that summer. The longtime U.S. center back remembered how his early suspicion – here was a guy who was potentially a threat to take Balboa’s starting spot in defense – melted away as he came to know Clavijo’s humility, his easy-going spirit and obvious love for the game.

Clavijo with fellow 1994 FIFA World Cup teammate Paul Caligiuri

“When he comes [into the team], let's be honest, he was like a father figure to most of us because he was older and the experience he had with the San Diego Sockers and the championships he'd won with them. The one thing that pissed everyone off was that he was older than all of us, but he was faster than all of us.”

Even before the 1994 World Cup, Clavijo was leaving his mark on the U.S. scene.

The back line was being built in 1992 around a pair of twin center back hammers, Balboa and Lalas. But it all took a detour when Balboa tore his ACL during a friendly against Iceland in April 1993. He later acknowledged how rehabilitation that year was such a long, frustrating haul. There were days when he wanted to give up – but Clavijo was there and determined not to let him.

“I think that's more and more how our friendship grew and got stronger,” Balboa said. “We became roommates and as a young professional who thought he knew the whole world of soccer, he straightened me out pretty quick on how life is and how a professional acts.”

Fernando Clavijo tackling tough in a match against Romania on Feb. 6, 1993 in Santa Barbara, Calif. 

That was off the field. But Clavijo certainly knew how to leave a mark on match day, as well. Figuratively and quite literally, it seems.

“He was a force of destruction that would take out the ball, the player and the first 10 rows of a stadium on a consistent basis,” Lalas said. “He was a lethal hatchet man in terms of the tackles he would put in. But he was also fast enough that he could make up for any mistakes. Not just his, but any mistakes that we made as center backs.”

“He tackled harder than a lot of guys double his size,” Lalas said. “Marcelo and I certainly appreciated that.”

There are surely lots of stories, telling anecdotes, quips etc., en route to gathering up 61 caps, as Clavijo did. Just as surely, the shining moment above all came June 22, 1994, as hard evening shadows and 93,000-plus filled Pasadena’s Rose Bowl. Clavijo lined up at right back against Colombia, a pre-tournament favorite, largely due to exquisitely skilled playmaker Carlos Valderrama.

Clavijo (bottom row, second from the left) in the U.S. Starting XI that faced Colombia on June 22, 1994 at the Rose Bowl 

Cle Kooiman was a media favorite and a highly regarded teammate for his pump-it-up enthusiasm. Kooiman had started in the team’s World Cup opener, a 1-1 draw with well-regarded Switzerland. Now up against an even stronger team, Milutinovic surmised that he needed something different at right back,  a faster set of feet to deal with speedy forward Faustino Asprilla. U.S. fans and media were shocked when they saw a starting 11 without Kooiman. With a little double-teaming help from Lalas, the U.S. back line kept Valderrama, Asprilla and the rest at bay for 89 minutes, eventually securing the 2-1 upset. It was easily the foremost group-stage shocker of the ’94 tournament.

More than just helping to frustrate Asprilla, Clavijo had an important clearance in the match, earliest to a loose ball during a hold-your-breath moment, a first-half flurry in front of Tony Meola’s U.S. goal.

"Bora called it," Kooiman said after the match, referring to the defensive switch. "The man's a miracle worker. He knew exactly what to do. I don't start, he puts Fernando in there because he's very quick. … Fernando came in and did a great job.

"It was Bora's call, and if he [Clavijo] can keep doing it, more power to him,” Kooiman continued. “I'm a team guy. Today, I'm just happy to be here, to be on the team. I sat on the bench, but right now, I feel like I played an entire game. I got chills out there. Near the end, I felt like crying."

That victory still stands among the most historic in U.S. Soccer history, right along with the 1989 win in Trinidad (that propelled the United States into its first World Cup in decades) and the 2002 World Cup elimination match against Mexico, along with perhaps a couple of others. Thanks largely to that emotionally charged afternoon at the Rose Bowl, the United States did indeed progress into the second round. 

Clavijo and Romario during the USA's Knockout Round match against Brazil on July 4, 1994 in Palo Alto, Calif. 

Clavijo was again on the field two weeks later against Brazil – he made the pass to Tab Ramos and then was first on the scene to assist his fallen teammate, shoving Brazilian attacker Leonardo, whose vicious elbow to the head had just finished Ramos for the day and nearly for his career – as the United States was eliminated in the second round on Independence Day.

Still, passage into the second stage, the Round of 16, had been the primary U.S. goal all along, the generally accepted marker for success that summer. The Knockout Round achievement was a sort of benchmark that helped validate the United States as a deserving World Cup host. Every member of that team, staff and players alike, played an important role in helping the sport in the United States climb that critical rung; Clavijo, the oldest among an otherwise youthful squad, certainly did his part.

All of that, from a guy whose first job in the United States was as a busboy. “What he made of himself was no surprise to those of us who knew him,” Lalas said. “But it was still an incredible story.”

Into Major League Soccer

As Clavijo was past his ideal playing age, he moved quickly into coaching after that 1994 World Cup experience. In fact, coaching was already being sewn into his soccer DNA; Clavijo had served as player coach in 1991 with the (indoor) St. Louis Storm. By the end of 1994 he was head coach of the Seattle SeaDogs of the Continental Indoor Soccer League. Three years later, still in Seattle, he was named CISL Coach of the Year.

Brian Schmetzer, long before he would win an MLS Cup as manager of Seattle Sounders FC, was one of Clavijo’s players with the SeaDogs.

Clavijo’s obvious move from there was back to the outdoor game, where Major League Soccer was planting its spindly roots through the mid-1990s. Clavijo first rejoined his old professor, Milutinovic, serving as an assistant on Nigeria’s 1998 World Cup team. He followed Milutinovic to MLS in 1999 as they paired to coach the league’s high-profile MetroStars. From there Clavijo struck out on his own, assuming the New England Revolution manager’s seat in time for the 2002 season.

Following two and half years at Gillette Stadium and a brief spell coaching Haiti’s national team, Clavijo took his second MLS head coaching appointment, this time with the Colorado Rapids. His first season with the Rapids (2005) was also the year Clavijo was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame. His team at Colorado finished third in the league’s Western Conference and upset higher-seeded Dallas in the playoff’s first round.

Clavijo with fellow 2005 Hall of Fame inductees Hank Steinbrecher, Marcelo Balboa, Tab Ramos and John Harkes

By 2008 he was done with coaching and, four years later, moved into the front office as FC Dallas’ technical director. Clavijo did his part in helping collect young talent from South America and beyond (Fabian Castillo and Mauro Diaz most notably) while also nurturing and mentoring a wellspring of skillful young players rising through the club’s vanguard academy.    

U.S. international Kellyn Acosta was one of those players that Clavijo helped along the way, and was among the many players who expressed their heartfelt sentiment along the social media byways: “RIP Fernando! Thanks for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to become a professional. You’ll be greatly missed. Fly high Fer”

Higher up in the FC Dallas organization, club president Dan Hunt had similar words of high praise for someone who practically counted as family. 

“Fernando was a soccer pioneer,” Hunt said. “His knowledge and passion for the sport were unparalleled. While he was a phenomenal soccer mind, he was an ever better person who brightened the day of everyone he met. This is a sad time for the FC Dallas family and the entire soccer community.”

CHICAGO (Feb. 21, 2019)—The U.S. Beach Soccer National Team will return to Huntington Beach, Calif. for its second camp of the year from Feb. 21-24.

After kicking off the year in California, this camp will see the Beach NT continue preparations for this spring’s 2019 Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship. There, the team will look to qualify for the biennial FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup for the first time since 2013 with a top-two finish.

U.S. Beach NT head coach Eddie Soto has called 14 players for the February camp. Eleven players return from the Jan. camp roster, while five return from the USA’s 2017 Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship squad.

U.S. Beach Soccer National Team Roster by Position:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Aldo Balsano (Miami, Fla.), Juan Cervantes (Los Angeles, Calif.), William Morlock (Grand Rapids, Mich.)
DEFENDERS (9): Tanner Akol (Santa Cruz, Calif.), Christian Blandon (Hollywood, Fla.), Fredo Dilbert (Miami, Fla.), Ryan Futagaki (Gahanna, Ohio), Bryce Kaminski (San Clemente, Calif.), David Mondragon (Santa Cruz, Calif.), Nicolas Perea (Hallandale Beach, Fla.), Oscar Reyes (Santa Ana, Calif.), Jason Santos (Cardiff by the Sea, Calif.)
FORWARDS (2):  Alessandro Canale (Venice, Calif.), Gabriel Silveira (San Francisco, Calif.)

CHICAGO (Feb. 19, 2019) – The U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team will travel to La Manga, Spain from Feb. 24-March 6 to play its first three international matches of the year at the Women’s U-19 La Manga Tournament. It’s the U-20s’ second tournament after December’s Nike International Friendlies as the team continues in the early stages of the 2019-20 cycle with the goal of qualifying for the 2020 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.

The USA will face the Under-19 sides from Germany on March 1, France on March 3 and Sweden on March 7 in La Manga but the opponents will feature players from the same birth years as the U.S. team as it embarks on the first year of the new two-year cycle.

The 20-player U.S. roster is made up of 11 players born in 2000 (the age cut-off year for the next U-20 WWC), eight players born in 2001 and one in 2002. Nine players on the roster were a part of the USA’s 2018 FIFA U-17 WWC Team and three – defender Naomi Girma, midfielder Brianna Pinto and forward Alexa Spaanstra – were a part of the USA’s 2018 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup roster and return for their second U-20 cycle.

The roster is a mixture of collegiate and youth club players, with seven already enrolled in college. Eight of the 13 youth club players on the roster currently play in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, including 2017-18 West Conference U-16/17 Player of the Year Sophia Jones. The team will be coached by Mark Carr, who helmed the USA through the last U-17 Women’s World Cup cycle.

The friendly competition will feature 14 countries. In addition to the USA and its three opponents, China, Denmark, England, Iceland, Italy, Netherlands, Scotland, Spain and Switzerland will also participate.

U.S. U-20 WNT Roster by Position – Women’s U-19 La Manga Tournament 2019:
GOALKEEPERS (2): Julia Dohle (New York City FC; Scarsdale, N.Y.), Hensley Hancuff (Villanova; Edmond, Okla.)    
DEFENDERS (6): Michela Agresti (FC Stars of Mass; Swampscott, Mass.), Maycee Bell (NC Courage; Wichita, Kan.), Naomi Girma (Stanford; San Jose, Calif.), Brianna Martinez (Notre Dame; Albuquerque, N.M.), Makenna Morris (Bethesda SC; Germantown, Md.), Natalia Staude (Tophat; Atlanta, Ga.)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Maya Doms (Davis Legacy; Davis, Calif.), Coriana Dyke (Colorado Rapids; Littleton, Colo.), Emily Gray (Virginia Tech; Sewell, N.J.), Sophia Jones (San Jose Earthquakes; Menlo Park, Calif.), Brianna Pinto (North Carolina; Durham, N.C.). Sakura Yoshida (Reign Academy; Redmond, Wash.)
FORWARDS (6): Jordan Canniff (Washington Spirit Academy - Baltimore Armour; California, Md.), Isabella D'Aquila (So Cal Blues; Mission Viejo, Calif.), Samantha Meza (Solar Soccer Club; Dallas, Texas), Alexa Spaanstra (Virginia; Brighton, Mich.), Hannah Richardson (Sockers FC; Bartlett, Ill.), Summer Yates (Washington; Pasco, Wash.)

CHICAGO (Feb. 19, 2019) — The USA will face Canada, Barbados and Guatemala in Group F play at the 2019 Concacaf U-17 Championship from May 1-16 at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. Four teams from the tournament will advance to represent Concacaf at the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Peru. Concacaf (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) conducted the final draw for the upcoming tournament today at its headquarters in Miami, Fla.

The U.S. will begin the tournament against Canada on May 2, take on Barbados on May 4 and finish group play versus Guatemala on May 6. After round-robin play, the top three teams in each group will advance to the 16-team knockout round from May 8-16, joined by four group winners from a preliminary qualifying round which will be played in March and April. The tournament’s four semifinalists will advance to October’s 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

2019 Concacaf U-17 Championship

USA - Group F Schedule

The top four teams in the Concacaf U-17 rankings, Mexico, the USA, Honduras and Costa Rica were seeded for the draw. The full results of the championship draw are listed below:

Groups A, B, C and D will be contested as qualifying groups before the tournament proper begins on May 1, with each group winner advancing directly to the knockout round. Groups A and C will play March 16-25 and Groups B and D will follow from April 1-10, with all matches at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

IMG Academy is familiar territory for the U-17 MNT, who competes annually at the Nike International Friendlies in nearby Lakewood Ranch, Fla. and gathered in the area for a training camp last month.  IMG Academy was also home of the U.S. Soccer U-17 Residency Program from 1999 to 2017, an initiative that brought together the country’s best young players for full-time daily training with the U-17 MNT staff.

Six teams have already qualified for the FIFA U-17 World Cup thus far: host Peru, along with Australia, Japan, Korea Republic and Tajikistan, who qualified via the 2018 AFC U-16 Championship in Malaysia, as well as New Zealand from the 2018 OFC U-16 Championship in the Solomon Islands. The remaining 18 nations will qualify over the course of this year.  

CHICAGO (Feb. 19, 2018) – A panel of former U.S. WNT players has narrowed down the 2019 SheBelieves Hero contest to four finalists whose inspiring stories and determination made them stand out from the impressive field.

A SheBelieves Hero is a leader in their community, a confident and passionate individual who empowers others around her and actively works to make a difference.

We now need YOU to pick your favorite! Watch all four videos and vote for who you believe should be a SheBelieves Hero. The winner will be announced the week of Feb. 25.

@ussoccer_wnt @ussoccer , McKenna Woodhead's team would like to nominate her @mmmmwcwood for the #shebelieveshero #contest. McKenna is 15 years old from Clover SC She played for the @RapidsGirls @theECNL and @CloverSoccerG and her story inspires us all! @CarolinaRapids pic.twitter.com/qAECVAxi7V

— kat (@katteck1) February 10, 2019

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my name is Maddie Lauro and I am proud to operate such an amazing program called Champions League. Many people don’t usually get to see this side of me, but I am here to express my gratitude in running for the SheBelievesHero contest. This video is being submitted with the permission of my parents. #shebelieveshero #contest #ussoccer @uswnt

A post shared by MADDIE LAURO (@maddielauro) on Feb 8, 2019 at 11:24am PST

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Kick Childhood Cancer 🎗⚽️ #shebelieveshero #contest #uswnt #shebelievescup #shebelieves #⚽️ #🎗 @uswnt @ussoccer @alexmorgan13 @malpugh (parent approved)

A post shared by Snapchat: aly.corb (@corb.1) on Feb 11, 2019 at 7:37pm PST

Nominating my daughter @MollyEClark3 for the #SheBelievesHero #contest @ussoccer pic.twitter.com/PaGX7Kumka

— Jim Clark (@jimclark_inDE) February 12, 2019

CHICAGO (Feb. 16, 2019) – The U.S. Soccer Membership approved a range of appointments and proposals this weekend at the 2019 U.S. Soccer Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Scottsdale, Ariz.

During the National Council Meeting, former U.S. Women’s National Team star Cindy Parlow Cone was elected Vice President, while technology executive Patti Hart was confirmed as an Independent Director on the U.S. Soccer Board of Directors. Additionally, three applicants, Asociacion Nacional Futbol en EU, U.S. Youth Futsal and United States Association of Blind Athletes were admitted as new U.S. Soccer Member Organizations, and the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) was provisionally sanctioned as a Division III professional league.

CINDY CONE ELECTED NEW U.S. SOCCER VP
Recently inducted as a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame Class of 2018, Parlow Cone was the sole candidate to complete the nomination process in order to run for the office of the Vice President. Parlow Cone’s term will last one year as she assumes the office that was vacated when former Vice President Carlos Cordeiro was elected as President last February at the 2018 U.S. Soccer AGM. Once the current term is finished next year, the Vice-Presidential election for a full, four-year term will be held at the 2020 National Council Meeting.

“I am grateful to be able to continue to serve our great game as U.S. Soccer Vice President,” said Parlow Cone. “I believe with my extensive knowledge of, and experience working in, the soccer landscape of our country, from grassroots to the international level, I will help U.S. Soccer continue to build, develop, and grow soccer in the United States at every level.”

Parlow Cone’s election as U.S. Soccer VP is the latest step in an impressive career that began as a star forward with the U.S. Women’s National Team from 1996-2004, and title-winning coach at the grassroots, collegiate and professional levels. During the past 20 years, she has served on U.S. Soccer’s Referee Committee, Medical Advisory Committee, Appeals Committee and the Athletes’ Council as well as more recently with U.S. Soccer’s Youth Task Force.

PATTI HART CONFIRMED AS INDEPENDENT DIRECTOR
To replace Independent Director Val Ackerman, whose term expired this week, the National Council elected Patti Hart, an experienced CEO and board member with deep expertise in technology and entertainment to the U.S. Soccer Board of Directors. She also specializes in sales and marketing and brings a keen understanding of consumer trends and corporate governance. Hart has spent 13 years at International Game Technology, Inc., including six as CEO and the last three as vice chairman, leading one of the most innovative and profitable gaming companies with offices on six continents.

“We’re very grateful to Val for her years of service to U.S. Soccer,” said U.S. Soccer President Carlos Cordeiro. “We wish her the best as she continues in her role as Commissioner of the NCAA’s Big East Conference.”

“We’re excited that we were able to bring on such an outstanding individual to serve as Independent Director,” Cordeiro said about Hart. “Patti comes to us with an incredible business background, tremendous experience, and a track record of success in her professional career. We delighted to formally welcome her to the U.S. Soccer family.”

THREE NEW U.S. SOCCER MEMBERS
The addition of Asociacion Nacional Futbol en EU, U.S. Youth Futsal and United States Association of Blind Athletes as new Members brings the total number of U.S. Soccer Member Organizations to 110 and will help further U.S. Soccer’s mission to make soccer, in all its forms, a preeminent sport in the United States and to continue the development of soccer at all recreational and competitive levels.

PROFESSIONAL LEAGUE SANCTIONING
The National Women’s Soccer League was sanctioned for 2019 Division I professional competition during the U.S. Soccer Board of Directors meeting on Friday, Feb. 15.

In the same meeting, the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) was provisionally sanctioned, adding a second Division III professional league in the United States alongside the United Soccer League’s (USL) League One. USL also operates the USL Championship as a Division II professional league, while Major League Soccer operates as a Division I professional league.

COMMITMENT TO U.S. SOCCER EXTENDED NATIONAL TEAMS
U.S. Soccer has made a tangible commitment in the form of increased resources to its extended National Teams. Starting this year, for the first time ever—U.S. Soccer will have a new department focused exclusively on supporting the Beach National Team, Futsal National Team, and Para 7-a-Side National Team. It will include three new technical hires and a dedicated budget of $2 million. This commitment will enable our Paralympians to play for the team full time.

U.S. SOCCER HONOREES
U.S. Soccer honored two life-long servants of the sport during the AGM. Richard Groff, a former USASA President and U.S. Soccer Board member, joined the family of U.S. Soccer Life Members, which is an honor presented to individuals in recognition of long-time service and distinguished contributions to soccer in the United States. Groff was previously bestowed with the prestigious Werner Fricker Builder Award in 2014, receiving the U.S. Soccer Federation’s highest individual honor for tirelessly furthering the interest of the sport of soccer without regard to personal recognition or advancement.