Atlanta Soccer » Tobin Heath

Atlanta Beat Update

Scott — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:00:35 +0000

Auburn Preseason Game: Atlanta defeated Auburn 3-2 behind goals from McCall Zerboni, Christine Latham, and Shelley Thompson. The Beat fought back after being down twice to win the game with 20 minutes remaining.

Goalkeeper Allison Whitworth was at the jersey sponsor unveiling and I got a chance to talk with her about returning to Auburn. Allison said “I loved playing at Auburn. It was a good experience for me and it definitely helped me grow as a player.” When asked about how preseason was shaping up she said “It’s going pretty well. We’re paring it down to what our team is going to look like and really working on our team chemistry and learning to play with each other.”

Allison also shared something with me about her time at Auburn that was pretty amazing. I hope to reveal that and more in an in-depth interview with Allison in the coming weeks.

Roster Cut Down Day: Speaking of paring down, today the Beat released their 24 player roster. Click this link to see the latest list of players. The most notable cut was former WUSA Atlanta Beat player Sharolta Nonen who ended last season with the LA Sol and was picked up by Atlanta during the expansion draft. The majority of the releases have happened over the past few weeks. One of those cuts occurred early on and involved former UGA player Carrie Patterson. Apparently Carrie and coach O’Sullivan discussed the difficulty she may have in cracking the Beat roster and with Philadelphia showing interest in her they mutually decided it would be in her best interest to be waived and have the entire camp to trial with Philadelphia. Apparently the moved has payed off as she is in Philly’s 24.

The Beat now prepares for upcoming friendlies against the U-20 Women’s National Team, the University of Florida, Boston Breakers (WPS), and Florida State University during a week-long road trip in Florida beginning Friday, March 19. The final roster is scheduled to be cut down to 18 + 4 developmental spots on March 31st.

UPDATE: Forwards Kerri Hanks and Lauren Sesselmann will be coming into camp after being released by Philly and St. Louis respectively. Also, 2010 Draftee and Defender Shameka Gordon was added to the injury list on 3/17.

Tobin Heath has yet to arrive in camp and will be the last player to arrive as all other players have made it to preseason camp. Tobin was pulled from the Algarve cup roster due to “illness”. She also didn’t make the roster for USWNT friendlies later this month in CA & Utah. Hopefully all is well as the only word we’ve received is that she’s “recovering from stomach illness”.

International Friendly: Steve Goff of the Soccer Insider tweeted the other day and reiterated today that there could be a ”women’s friendly between the top-ranked United States and No. 2 Germany on May 22″. Goff is usually money on things like this and he believes Cleveland is the front-runner but hopefully Atlanta’s new women’s soccer stadium is also on the short list. Update: Cleveland announced as host. Told you he was good.

As we come upon the season I hope to start more regular post on what’s going on with the Beat. I also will be working to bring you some player interviews to help you get to know the Beat better. Let me know what questions you have for the players.

Tobin Heath’s Juggling Act

Scott — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 12:30:55 +0000

Tobin Heath has some pretty awesome juggling skills. Check out this video from 2008.
It looks like she’s also going to be juggling her time and responsibilities this year as a lot of her schedule has already been booked for the year.

1/17 – 2/4 - USWNT Training Camp
2/5 - 2/21 - decompress & relocating to Atlanta ?
2/24 – 3/3 - Algarve Cup
3/7 - 9/12 - WPS Season (including championship game)
10/TBD - Qualifiers for the Women’s World Cup in 2011

How do you think she’ll be able to handle the changes? Do you start to view the national team differently when you have a local club player involved at that level? Let the club vs country debate continue.

Tobin Heath is #1!

Scott — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:21:18 +0000

The Alanta Beat picked Tobin Heath with the first pick of the 2010 WPS Draft. There was very little doubt that Tobin would be picked first but the Beat never showed their cards. Tobin is a difference maker and tabbed by many as a rising star in the Women’s National Team. She was named the US Young Female Athlete of the Year for 2009 and recently won her third NCAA championship this past year with UNC. Things are going to slow down now because Pia Sundhage has called her into the first WNT camp of the year which runs from Jan. 17 throught Feb. 4th. Then Tobin will have about a month to make the transition to Atlanta and prepare for her first season with the Beat.

Did you think anyone but Tobin would be the numer one pick? What type of impact do you think she’ll have with the Beat in 2010?

GM for a Day

Scott — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 22:00:46 +0000

BleacherReporter.com did a simulated WPS draft on twitter this past Saturday where several beat writers posed as GM’s for their respective teams and made selections of who they would draft. Alondra Hernandez took on Shawn McGee’s role as GM for the Atlanta Beat. Alondra’s picks were very safe and straightforward. It’s hard to argue though with taking the top talent in the draft and then picking up the players that shore’s up the needs of the team.

Atlanta’s mock draft selections were were:

1) Tobin Heath MF

21) Dea Cook D

23) Kristen Olsen GK

I’m not sure I’ve seen one media outlet choose someone other than Tobin Heath as the first pick. Many prognosticators have gone on to say that it’s the “worst kept secret in the WPS draft.” But the Atlanta Beat camp has been very tight lipped on what they plan on doing with their first draft selection.

I don’t doubt that Heath will be the first player picked. My only question is who will own that pick. I think it boils down to one major decision. What is more important to the organization? Building a foundation that will serve as the backbone for years to come or round out the team to be able to better compete from day 1. I think there are arguments for both scenarios.

Heath is a backbone player that has a world of potential and has been displaying her skills for years. The other option in my mind is to trade the 1^st pick in the first round for 2 first round picks. There are several teams that have multiple picks but if I were making the decision I think the only scenario that would cause me pause is if LA Sol offered their 5^th and 9^th pick or FC Gold put up their 3^rd and 10^th pick of the first round. You would possibly get the two strongest defenders, my perceived greatest need, in the draft. And then go on to pick up some additional support at goalkeeper and defense/midfield.

As previously posted the Beat is a very young team and I think they have at least a year’s grace period as being a new team that people won’t walk away if they don’t make it to the playoffs this year. With that said I personally would follow the route Alondra took by selecting Heath and then using the remaining picks to shore up the defense and GK position. We have plenty of talent up front and even though coach O’Sullivan is partial to forwards I would think we have greater needs right now.

The only other wildcard out there is our last remaining international player spot. If the Beat has signed Maurine Dornelles Goncalves or Therese Sjögran then I think it makes it easier to pass on Heath and lock up some defenders. I guess we’ll find out soon enough. Friday morning at 10 AM ET Atlanta will be on the clock…or will they? You can follow the draft live on twitter @womensprosoccer .

What would you do as GM for the day?