Wingert Racing for Charity

Fresh off of helping Real Salt Lake capture the 2009 MLS Cup title, defender Chris Wingert is now taking on professional athletes from other sports in a race of giving.

Out of 60 athletes from various professional sports such as skateboard-icon Tony Hawk and the Pheonix Suns' Steven Nash, Wingert currently sits in fourth place on the money raising leader-board. The idea of the competition is to see who can raise the most money for his/her charity of choice by January 15, 2010.

Wingert's cause, Rural Ghana Children's Aid, seeks to provide, "sustainable education for children in rural Ghana through community collaboration. Community matches each dollar raised thrugh self-sustaining model. Academic instruction, cultural identity, sports."

The leader so far is Major League Soccer's own Diego Gutierrez with, 'Nothing But Nets' malaria prevention. Hawk, who currently sits in second place, is raising money to build a skatepark in Watts. While the third best money raiser - at press time - was Nash who is fighting for Educare Arizona - a world-class preschool for at-risk children ages birth to five years, with teacher training, public policy and health platforms to ameliorate lives of families in poverty.

Donations will be accepted until January 15. "The athletes who raise the most money on behalf of his/her project in that time, and those who receive the greatest number of donations will win additional bounty awards of $10,000, $5,000, and $2,500, respectively (total of $30,000 in bounty awards)," said the Athletes For Hope site.

For a current view of the Athletes For Hope leader-board, go here.

Colohan Called into U-20 U.S. Camp

The U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team will be gathering to Sunrise, Fla. this Saturday for a week long training camp. Among the 24 players invited is Utah's own Cloee Colohan from West Point.

Colohan is a veteran of the U.S. Soccer system, captaining both the U-17 and U-20 WNT in previous tournaments. After playing two years for Syracuse High School, Colohan turned her soccer focus to her club, Black Diamond SC, and the national team. She began her NCAA career with the Portland Pilots this last fall. Although her freshman season for the Pilots was shortened to just five appearances due to a leg injury that she suffered early on. Her Pilots team-mate, Eli Reed from Park City, appeared in all 22 of Portland's games, scoring three goals while assisting two others.

United States head coach Jillian Ellis will use the camp to make some final decisions on a roster that will represent the United States at the CONCACAF U-20 Women’s Qualifying Tournament that will send three nations to Germany for the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. The qualifying tournament will be held in Guatemala from Jan. 19-30, at the 17,000-seat Estadio Cementos Progreso. The roster is filled with players coming off excellent college seasons, including UCLA forward Sydney Leroux, the only holdover from the U.S. team that won the 2009 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Chile. Leroux, who won the Golden Ball as the best player in that tournament, scored 23 goals for the Bruins this season. The roster includes just five players not yet in college in defender Crystal Dunn, midfielders Elizabeth Eddy, Samantha Mewis and Jenna Richmond and forward Maya Hayes. Dunn, Eddy and Mewis represented the USA in New Zealand. Richmond would have made that roster if not for a knee injury. Ellis will add two more players to the roster before camp begins.