Eagleman and Wonder Woman Scrapbook: 2017

After attending 70+ US Soccer games over 20+ years and spending 4 years dressed as Eagleman, I thought I had a pretty good understanding of US Soccer as an organization. After all, I closely follow all US National Teams, am a “founding member” of the US Soccer Supporters Club and have gold status in the new US Soccer Membership…I even have the requisite photo with Sunil Galati.

A couple months ago when I received an email from Mary Teeter, Senior Manager of Development at US Soccer, I was flattered by the recognition of my many years supporting US Soccer. I was also intrigued at the prospect of learning more about the US Soccer Development Fund. At the time, all I really knew was that the Development Academy had a cool logo and some nice apparel in the US Soccer Store.

After a delightful phone conversation with Ms. Teeter and some time reading the recommended online literature, I discovered that the US Soccer Development Fund "enables our country's most passionate and committed soccer supporters to contribute their gift and directly impact the future of the beautiful game at the national level." Donations to the Development Fund help to:

- Develop world-class players

- Develop more and better coaches

- Develop National Teams that consistently succeed on the international stage

I also learned more about the Development Academy, which was started by US Soccer in 2007 and provides high-quality training and competition for US youth soccer players. Donations to the Development Fund support the Development Academy by:

- Providing need-based scholarships for elite players to train and compete at the highest level

- Investing in infrastructure of our country's highest performing youth clubs

I was particularly excited to hear that on September 2, 2017, the US Soccer Girls' Development Academy would be starting its inaugural season, after 10 years of success for the Boys' Academy. The Girls' Academy will provide over 6,00 players from 69 member clubs access to the highest level of girl's youth soccer in the US. In addition, the Girls' Academy has backing from the National Women's Soccer League.

After becoming aware of the Development Fund and Development Academy, I began to wonder if it would be possible to leverage our fan interactions as Eagleman and Wonder Woman to mobilize other fans to support the Development Fund. Given that we have 2 daughters that played youth soccer and are Portland Thorn's fans, it seemed natural that our attempt to raise support should be centered around the kick-off of the Girls' Development Academy.

So to celebrate this historic accomplishment, we (Eagleman and Wonder Woman) will be attending the USWNT in Denver on Sept 15th. In and around the stadium we will be asking those that request photo ops to donate to the US Soccer Development Fund. In addition, we will be reaching out to our many US Soccer fan-friends through social media to have them also consider supporting the Development Academy and other Development fund Activities.

Our initial goal is to raise $1,325
-the average amount of a Development Academy scholarship award.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

Thank you so much for your donations. We look forward to joining all of you in the stands at future games to cheer on the US Soccer talents created by our investments in the youth of today!!

-Mark and Lila (Eagleman and Wonder Woman)