We caught up with former Bundesliga and US Mens National Team star Tony Sanneh and Gopher Soccer Head Coach Stefanie Golan following their diplomatic trip to Kenya. We talk about connecting with kids across the world, Tony's recently awarded Bush Fellowship, the Gophers spring season, and how the game is growing in Minnesota.
You can watch the whole chat in the video embedded below or download it as a podcast in iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher.
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  The Women’s Professional Soccer League has expanded so rapidly in the area that Minnesota and its border communities now have their own conference. This summer, to celebrate that growth, we’re going to take a road trip to every single home field to do pre and post game interviews, live tweets, and a full game recap. With the season still weeks away, we’re releasing a framework for each road trip with two key assumptions built in:
When are we going? Pick a day using our handy google sheet with all WPSL games for the Minnesota + Fargo squads. One thing the WPSL does, like many college leagues, is to schedule in pairs. For example, the Dakota Fusion may play Mankato one day and the Fire the next day because the teams are fairly close together. Because it’s a small conference, and there are so many staggered match-ups, multiple conference games rarely take place on the same day - **EXCEPT** on June 8th. Rochester hosts Dakota Fusion at 2PM. Mankato hosts Fire SC at 7PM. And that means we’re doing a double header road trip! (full disclosure: many of our road trip plans will be hypothetical. But this one seems so fun that we might actually do it…)  First leg: St Paul to Rochester For this double header, the travel will have to be by car. St Paul to Rochester to Mankato to St Paul is basically a triangle. Each leg takes about 90 minutes. Here’s how it breaks down. Leave the Midway neighborhood around 10:15 so we can make it to Med City by noon for lunch at Trip Advisor’s top recommendation: Chester’s, where the “Contemporary vibe is felt through service and food preparation.” We’re nothing if not contemporary. Then it’s off to Mayo High School for the first match. We’ll assume it wraps up at 4PM. Add in some post game interviews and we’re on the road by 4:30PM.  Second leg: Rochester to Mankato Taking off at 4:30PM should land us at Mankato’s top Yelp rated happy hour spot, 7West Taphouse, by 6PM for a quick pregame beer. The top review says: “Date night with the hubby and friends. Great atmosphere. It is lively with music but we still could have a conversation with our friends.” Sounds good. We’ll have a chance to converse about match kicking off at 7PM. Third leg: Mankato to St Paul The game should wrap around 9PM. After we post some final thoughts and players interviews, we should be on the road by 9:30 and home around 11PM. Just in time to let these sleepy pups out before going to bed and writing the game stories the next morning.  
The Women’s Professional Soccer League has expanded so rapidly in the area that Minnesota and its border communities now have their own conference. This summer, to celebrate that growth, we’re going to take a road trip to every single home field to do pre and post game interviews, live tweets, and a full game recap. With the season still weeks away, we’re releasing a framework for each road trip with two key assumptions built in:
When are we going? Pick a day using our handy google sheet with all WPSL games for the Minnesota + Fargo squads. How are we getting there? As someone who grew up playing soccer in super rural northern Minnesota, nothing would send be down memory lane like driving several hours for a soccer game. But why not mix it up? According to Google Maps, driving would take 3.5 hours while taking the train (5 hours) and bus (5.5 hours) would take a little longer. But as someone with an Amtrak Guest Rewards credit card, I can tell you that a nice train ride can be tons of fun. You can bring some food and drink. Watch a movie. Read a book. Look at the rural countryside. It’s majestic. Plus, if you’re driving by yourself and dividing the cost of gas by 1 rather than 4, you don’t really save that much by driving. Still, we’re skipping the train this time in favor of Minnesota-based bus company Jefferson Lines. They have everything. Power outlets. Restrooms. Air conditioning. Reclinable seats. You’re basically traveling like a real life lower league professional soccer player. Plus, it drops you off right downtown in Fargo. 
How are we getting around once we’re there? Did you know that Fargo has a bikeshare program called Great Bikes? Did you know that it only costs $4/hour and would therefore be cheaper than taking a cab or getting a Lyft or Uber? Did you also know that it technically has a twitter account and that twitter account last posted about a Politico article about Russian officials? What a time to be alive.
We’re using Great Bikes because of the paragraph above but also because they have a rack of bikes stationed right by the Jefferson Lines bus stop downtown. We’ll pick one up, use it to get around before and after the game, and return it. 
Where are we hanging out for pre-game? Visit Fargo Moorhead tells me I should go to Junkyard Brewing. It has beers from all over Minnesota and the region. And it’s Moorhead’s only brewery?! Where are we hanging out for post-game? After we’ve watched an entertaining game of soccer, we’ll bike back to the west side of the river to see more of downtown before staying over at one of the many available AirBnb’s in the area and catching our bus home the next day. We’ll need our rest after playing Mario Kart with the Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce.
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