Sky opens activation for Sky Sports 5 channel

Sky has today opened up registration for its new Sky Sports 5 channel.

The new channel launches on August 12 and will be Sky's exclusive home for European football coverage, including Champions League, La Liga, Copa del Rey, Coppa Italia, Eredivisie and the Euro qualifiers.

The service is free to existing Sky Sports customers on Sky but must be manually activated either by pushing the red button on a Sky Sports channel, visiting the Sky website or calling customer service. Virgin Media customers will also have access to the new channel but will not have to manually activate it.

The launch of Sky Sports 5 comes one year ahead of the switch of Champions League coverage to the rival BT Sport service, which also boasts exclusive rights to the Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1.

Source : http://www.sportsmole.co.uk/of...

Today News: Growth of soccer in U.S. tied to performance on highest stage

It’s the world’s premiere soccer tournament and the highest stage for the beautiful game, but for the United States, the World Cup is a barometer by which the nation’s top soccer athletes are measured against the rest of the world’s best.

A sport embraced across the world, soccer has lagged behind in the United States, but the national team’s consistency in qualifying for the World Cup over the past three decades has fans wondering if this is the year the team stakes its claim as a contender.

“The game has grown tremendously,” said Dan Balaguero, head coach of the men’s soccer team at the University of Texas at Brownsville.

Balaguero, who is from England, has been involved with soccer in the United States as a player and coach for two decades and said the nation’s soccer development has grown rapidly thanks to professional leagues and consistent World Cup qualifications.

Balaguero said Major League Soccer and other professional leagues give college athletes opportunities that were not available back in the 1990s, giving rise to homegrown talents that can compete at a high level without crossing the pond to play in European leagues.

“I really feel the game is growing here,” Balaguero said, noting that he has a handful of athletes on his Ocelot squad this year who will likely “get a look” from pro teams.

And while not every player gets a shot at a pro contract, UTB women’s soccer coach Helen Wagstaff said the sport can be an avenue for many to get to college.

“The doors are open here for collegiate careers,” she said, speaking specifically to the growth of soccer in the Rio Grande Valley.

Both UTB programs have historically recruited South Texas heavily, and Wagstaff, who is also from England, said that while there are great coaches in the area, they aren’t common enough.

She said she would like to see a soccer academy in the area to help develop young players at the grassroots level.

The two suggested that type of commitment is needed nationwide to eventually establish the United States as a soccer power, adding that additional soccer coverage in the media could help to propel the nation forward.

“I’m not convinced that soccer gets the attention it deserves here,” Wagstaff said.

Balaguero said the United States’ continued focus on leagues on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean saps the nation of its ability to grow its soccer programs on its own.

“Everything is more geared toward the European leagues,” he said.

While soccer purists — many of whom hail from Europe — suggest the level of play in the MLS pales in comparison to that of England’s Premier League or Spain’s La Liga, Balaguero said he feels the competition in the United States’ professional league is “fantastic.”

“We don’t see enough about MLS,” he said, explaining that Americans claim teams like Real Madrid and Barcelona as their favorites, forgoing MLS powers like the Los Angeles Galaxy and the New York Red Bulls. “There needs to be more coverage.”

And while both coaches know the blueprint for building the nation’s soccer programs lies somewhere between coaching and exposure, they also know the next step for the nation — whether forward or backward — will be taken in Brazil over the next month.

Source : http://www.brownsvilleherald.c...