D.C. United and its non-profit arm, United for D.C., announced proceeds from the fifth annual First XI Luncheon totaled $30,000. Proceeds from the event are used to fund United for D.C.'s many community-based initiatives.

Danielle Collins of William and Mary, and Sarah Huffman of Virginia were two of 24 players selected to participate with the U.S. Under-21 Women's National Team at the 2007 Futbol Internacional Tournament. The event will feature a six-team field and will be held at various sites in Alabama from April 22-28.

The following local players from the U17 Freestate Shooters team are currently training with the US U17 WNT in Florida; Christine Nairn, Bowie (Archbishop Spalding HS) ; Tiffany McCarty (St Johns DC HS), Laurel and Julia Bouchelle, Cockeysville. (Notre Dame Prep HS - Baltimore HS).    

The U.S. Under-17 Women's National Team, under new head coach Dean Duerst, rolled over the University of Miami by a 4-1 score on the evening of April 17 as forwards Lauren Alwine and Caitlin Mooney each tallied two goals. The training camp runs until April 21st in Sunrise, Florida.

D.C. United Head Coach Tom Soehn and his wife Jean became the proud parents of a baby girl on Tuesday. The 9-pound, 3-ounce little girl was named Addison Jean by her parents and was born at Loudoun County Hospital in Virginia. Addison is the couple's fourth child, joining TJ, Payton and Sydney.

D.C. United announced the team has hired Pete Calabrese as Assistant Athletic Trainer and Strength/Conditioning Coach. In addition to his first team duties, Calabrese will also work with the reserve and youth teams and serve as a Sport Performance Coach at Velocity Sports Performance.

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The Houston Dynamo will wear uniforms with Virginia Tech's school colors in an April 29 game as a tribute to those who died in Monday's shootings. The maroon jerseys will then be auctioned off, and the funds will be donated to the school's Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund.

The Northern Virginia Royals and Northern Virginia Majestics unveiled a new logo design for the 2007 season. The logo is released in conjunction with the Northern Virginia Soccer program entering its tenth season in the USL. The Northern Virginia Royals began play in the USL Second Division in 1998.

The University of Virginia women's soccer program has announced that seven players have signed letters of intent to join the Cavalier program this fall. Among the seven are four from Virginia; Katie Carr (Williamsburg), Amy Hemenway (Charlottesville), Meghan Lenczyk (McLean), and Kika Toulouse (Arlington).

D.C. United officials were in Baltimore last week to explore the possibility of bringing their four-time Major Soccer League champion club to the city for an exhibition game at either M&T Bank Stadium or Oriole Park in the Camden Yards complex. United plays on a natural grass surface at RFK, and would likely prefer the natural surface at Oriole Park to the synthetic one at M&T Bank. Within the past year, a deal was in negotiations to pit United and European power Real Madrid at one of the Baltimore stadiums but that deal fell through.

The US Men's National Team finds itself in 29th place in April's FIFA World Rankings after moving up one slot from March, which saw them post a 3-1 win over Ecuador and scoreless draw with Guatemala. The team has yet to lose a game under interim head coach Bob Bradley, recording three wins and a draw, but has only managed to move up two places from when the former Chivas USA tactician took charge in January.

The Virginia Youth Soccer Association will host US Soccer's National Youth License Course. The NYL focuses upon the nature of children and the adjustments adults must make to coach them.  The course curriculum covers coaching 4 - 12 year olds and combines both classroom and field sessions.  It is ideal for anyone hoping to become a better and more effective coach.

United Soccer Leagues second-year initiative, the Super-20 League, concluded its expansion for the upcoming 2007 season recently. Following the release of the six divisional alignments for the second season of the league, USL has added 20 clubs in twelve months and will now feature 60 teams. The 2007 season will now be a 60 team national fight concluding at the North American Finals in August.

The Arlington Soccer Association (ASA) is seeking a Technical Director (TD) for soccer in Arlington County and Falls Church, Virginia. The TD is a paid position, and will lead technical development of the Arlington Soccer Association's Recreational Soccer Program.

VA State Cup opens play this weekend, while Maryland enters their 2nd weekend.

Updated Rankings for WAGS, NCSL, WISL, and NVSL were all posted www.potomacsoccerwire.com on Wednesday. The rain out of most games allowed teams that did play to jump up a bit. Will it be temporary

---- Editor's Corner ----

In support of all the victims of Monday's tragedy at Virginia Tech, please give what you can to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund or through the Sigma Chi Fraternity.

Maria Burns of ESPN SoccerNet updates us on ACC recruiting results and what to expect from the top area Men's college programs later this summer. She specifically outlines Maryland, Virginia, Duke, and Wake Forest.

Allen Hopkins of ESPN runs down recent BIG player signings and other goings on around MLS. Juan Pablo Angel is heading to New York from Aston Villa, while Guillermo Barros Schelotto has joined the Columbus Crew. Zidane rumors persist, and another MLS original announces 2007 is his last year. Also, Cletus, Marvell Wynn, Wimpy baseball not playing in cold weather.??

State Cup predictions-voting is slowly moving along. It only takes a minute to register, why not sign up and vote, and also start a conversation on our grassroots soccer discussion boards?