Fantasy Shots: Week One (PART One)

Many things are new to Women's Professional Soccer this year: Two new teams in Philadelphia and Atlanta made their debut this weekend, the collegiate and expansion drafts brought in new players, changes in the offseason introduced new coaches,  fantastic advertisements drew in new sponsors, and PUMA unveiled a new set of jerseys .

One of the most exciting additions to the WPS is something that is challenging and nerve-wracking. It's exciting and competitive. It's not even real.

The WPS Fantasy Challenge kicked off two weeks before the opening weekend and has already garnered hundreds of fans. For those who want competition, or those who simply want to support their favorite players, the Fantasy Challenge is a great addition to the WPS community.

My own experience with fantasy teams prior to the creation of the WPS Fantasy was negative. As a member of my collegiate track and field team, I would join the rest of my female teammates as we scorned the boys who were constantly talking about fantasy baseball, hockey, or football.

How could anyone's life be so controlled by something that doesn't even matter in the big scheme of things?

Following the opening weekend matches on Twitter and the WPS Match-tracker, I saw that many tweets and posts were about fantasy rosters. Some tweets or posts were extremely positive as they had chosen players who performed well.

Others were not so thrilled. Some of my favorites were: "Epic @wpsfantasy fail". Another: "Dear Abby, please score. A bunch of times, if you can. My fantasy team depends on it. Yours in soccer, dharv5."

After a particularly crafty bicycle kick by Boston's Fabiana, attempting to score against Washington on Saturday, a tweet was sent out by @WPSFansGameDay: "How many points does a bicycle kick count as on fantasy?"

During this opening weekend of WPS's second season, I found myself enthralled with every game, including those that didn't involve my favorite teams. While I was as excited for the season last year, I decided to make a fantasy team this time around.

My fantasy roster for Week One consisted of players from 6-of-8 teams, and all were playing in each match up of the weekend. Naturally, I was keen to see how well I would do in my choices and their points earned.

Who would have thought that a fantasy naysayer would turn into a fantasy nut?

In light of my new found obsession, I've decided to do a weekly article entitled Fantasy Shots. It is my hope that you, as readers and soccer fans, and perhaps fantasy participants, will find it useful in reviewing the previous week's fantasy achievements. I will also preview the next week's games, including suggestions for picks, captain choices, and formations.

Mind you, while I am passionate about soccer and fairly knowledgeable (if I do say so myself) on the topic, I should not be held responsible if my pick suggestions fail at garnering many (if any) points.

In saying that, I learned from my first week to, like you do during exams, follow your own first instincts, as they are usually right.

I took advice from some fellow B/R writers and fans (I won't mention any names though...*coughLaurenGreencough*) and found that, had I listened to my gut instead of their suggestions, I probably would have been near the top of the listings.

No hard feelings, though!

To create your own WPS Fantasy team, click here !

Oh, good luck coming up with a team name! This might be the hardest part of your Fantasy experience!

Read Part II of this article HERE