saad_english

In 1998 and 1999 SAAD ESPORTE CLUBE worked towards creating a Brazilian Team in the Women's Professional League of the United States, the WUSA. This was a very audacious project, which had in mind creating roots for Brazilian Football in the US. The project was made possible due to the great relationship between SAAD and the National American University (NAU). The NAU made it's training centers and lodging in Rapid City available to SAAD, which was a great help. In exchange SAAD had to provide Brazilian athletes to play in the University League, this made the NAU one of the main powerhouses in the Mid-West University Soccer. In Rapid City SAAD maintained women's teams in two different types of competitions: Soccer and Indoor Soccer. SAAD also had a CO-ED soccer team. An amazing thing that SAAD was able to do was get permission to compete in 6 different competitions, winning the following: · Women's Indoor Regional Champion - Spring/98 · Black Hills Conference B division Champion - Summer/98 · BHSU Cup Championship - Women's Indoor Winter/98 · BHSU Cup -Men's Indoor - Winter/98 · 3rd in America Championship of Region Teams - Region II · 3rd in the Regional Cup of Women's Indoor - Spring/99 SAAD's main team had the following Brazilian Players: Carol, Talita, Aninha, Camila, Raquel, Monica, Talita, Debora, Michele and Daiana (who all started at SAAD). There were also some very talented American's like: Brook, Kate Theiz, Kate Jobgen, Tiffany, Katie Howz, Lidya, Jeniffer, Porsha and Donna. Brazilian's Talita and Michele played for the US's Region 2 team in the US Soccer Festival. Michele played the competition really well and had her name in the US National Team's B list. With the approval of the WUSA's new legislation, which did not permit any team to have more than 5 foreign players, SAAD abandoned the idea of getting a franchise in the country, but continues to promote foreign exchange with American Universities. This foreign exchange open's doors to many great female Brazilian players because it provides them with a solid education and a great infrastructure. In 2003 the two main foreign player's in the WUSA are Sissi, and Kátia Cilene which play for the San Jose Cyber Rays.