RTP Internacional, the international television service of public broadcaster Rádio e Televisão de Portugal, will be attending the USLSoccerFest later this month as part of its continuing USA Contacto television show, which covers organizations around the world with a Portuguese background and leadership.

The Coquitlam Metro-Ford U14 boys are a first year team that took to the task of qualifying for the North American finals with great determination combined with hard work and camaraderie. With a mix of players that boasts a player who stared at the U16 Canadian National Championships and seven additional players who competed at the U14 Canadian National Championships, the team will not be inexperienced. With strong defense and a potent attack, the Coquitlam Metro-Ford team will be one to watch in Florida.

In the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the USL story centered around the surprising success of former USL players leading Trinidad & Tobago in the tournament. In just over a week, former Richmond Kicker Tim Brown will take the field in what will be the most important 90 minutes in New Zealand soccer history.

Parsippany’s U13 team, the Lightning, hail from northern New Jersey and are coached and trained by Dominick Bucci. Their 2009 season was their first season playing in the Super Y-League and they finished in first place with an impressive 12-0-3 record. Last year, they were New Jersey State Cup semifinalists. They participate in many premier tournaments in the Mid Atlantic region. The team is very excited to represent Parsippany in their first national tournament.

A new era kicked off for the United Soccer Leagues First Division Tuesday in Beaverton, Oregon at the headquarters of Nike and Umbro (Nike Inc.), a worldwide leader in sports apparel and leading strategic partner of USL. Owners of USL-1 clubs, prestigious partners Beswicks Sports and Premier Partnerships and USL management gathered to chart a new direction for the flagship professional league that included expansion, international affiliations and corporate opportunities.

In a country where the national pastime is unquestionably hockey, the summer clearly belongs to soccer as witnessed by the growing success of the sport within USL over the past six years. Three of the past four-1 championships have been won by Canadian clubs for example. “With the recent rapid Canadian expansion and the new direction our new USL ownership group is taking that includes a commitment to working with the teams at all levels, we are planning on opening a full-service Canada USL office in 2010 to work with our teams and the [CSA] more closely in continued development of the sport,” said Papadakis.