L.A. firm to design World Cup stadium

…Los Angeles design firm NBBJ Sports And Entertainment has been selected to design the 2002 World Cup stadium in Seoul, South Korea. The stadium will also become the permanent home for the LG Twins Baseball Team. A five-month international design competition was held to select the winner. The competition requirements called for a multi-purpose, all-weather stadium that would become a symbol for Seoul. The new stadium includes a 45,000-seat stadium capable of expanding to accommodate World Cup games. Also integrated into the stadium design is a 307,944 sq. ft. indoor health club. Surrounding the stadium will be 1.98 million sq. ft. of retail and entertainment consisting of a multiplex theater, restaurants, banquet facilities and convention halls. NBBJ Sports & Entertainment is a division of NBBJ, the second largest architecture firm in the country and the fifth largest in the world.

NISOA to serve 50 states

…MONTANA and SOUTH DAKOTA have become the 49th and 50th states respectively to have chapters of the National Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association, making a total of 130 chapters in all 50 states. In 1974, RAY BERNABEI, NISOA’s executive director, set a goal to have a NISOA chapter of college soccer refs in every state. It’s taken 23 years, but NISOA has finally reached that goal. The organization started in 1964 with 184 members located primarily in the northeast. NISOA provides referees for every college and university in the NCAA, NAIA, NJCAA and the NCCAA. With 30 national clinicians and 276 national and regional assessors, NISOA conducts training and testing programs for all of its referees…

Hamm is finalist for top honor

…MIA HAMM is a finalist for the Women’s Sports Foundation’s 1997 Team Sportswoman of the Year Award. Voted on by all active members of the Women’s Sports Foundation, both an individual and team sportswoman is selected. The award is presented at the annual Women’s Sports Foundation Awards Dinner in October.

Moore Elected to NorCal Hall of Fame

…Former San Jose Earthquakes player JOHNNY MOORE has been selected to the California Soccer Association North Hall of Fame for 1997. Moore, a well-known personality throughout his North American Soccer League career, was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1947 and immigrated to the United States in 1965 at the age of 17. He played in the CYSA with the E. Bercovich/Hayward United Juniors, the Northern California state champs in 1965 and 1966. He then played for the San Francisco Scots for a total of 15 seasons. He signed his first professional player contract with the Oakland Clippers in 1969 and joined the Quakes in 1974. He played for the U.S. national team from 1971 to 1974 and represented the U.S. 11 times. He was honored, along with fellow inductees JULIO C+SAR PE-A of Club Peru and JOSE FERRIEA of the North Bay Soccer League, at the CSAN’s annual awards banquet in San Francisco. In a surprise halftime ceremony, the Hall of Famers were also honored at the Clash-Wizards game on Aug. 24 in San Jose…

Sandsharks acquire ‘El Colorado’

…The ARIZONA SANDSHARKS of the CONTINENTAL INDOOR SOCCER LEAGUE have signed Mexican First Division and former national team member MIGUEL HERRERA. Known as El Colorado (for his red hair), he was co-captain of Toros Neza, the Mexican league’s national runner-up for 1997…

Soccer Mom handbook debuts

…If there’s a soccer mom in your life, or in your neighborhood, she now has her own handbook in “The Soccer Mom Handbook,” a new paperback with a foreword by ANNE WOODWORTH, the mom of ALEXI LALAS. Written by JANET STAIHAR and DICK BARNES, soccer parents from Bethesda, Maryland, it’s “for and about real moms of real soccer kids.” Says Woodworth in her introduction for the book, “it provides a good, solid background in soccer, combined with laughs and a basic message of common sense, ingredients that will make being a soccer mom one of the best experiences of your parenting. This book with its ready information all in one place makes me wish I could do it all over again.” Ask at bookstores for “The Soccer Mom Handbook” or order directly from publisher Sports Barn. Send a check or money order for $9.95 plus $2 for shipping to: Sports Barn, 5335 Wisconsin Ave. NW, #440 Washington DC 20015. It’s also available in quantity to youth soccer organizations for fund-raising. Contact Sports Barn at (202) 895-1513…

SA Welcomes Two

…We’d like to welcome two new members of Soccer America: LAURA NELSON, Circulation Assistant, and JANET CEJA-OROZCO, Distribution Supervisor… by Soccer America Editor-in-Chief Lynn Berling-Manuel