1.
Richmond, Virginia
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Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond Region and it was incorporated in 1742, and has been an independent city since 1871. As of the 2010 census, the population was 204,214, in 2015, the population was estimated to be 220,289, the Richmond Metropolitan Area has a population of 1,260,029, the third-most populous metro in the state. Richmond is located at the line of the James River,44 miles west of Williamsburg,66 miles east of Charlottesville. Surrounded by Henrico and Chesterfield counties, the city is located at the intersections of Interstate 95 and Interstate 64, Major suburbs include Midlothian to the southwest, Glen Allen to the north and west, Short Pump to the west and Mechanicsville to the northeast. The site of Richmond had been an important village of the Powhatan Confederacy, and was settled by English colonists from Jamestown in 1609. The present city of Richmond was founded in 1737 and it became the capital of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia in 1780. During the American Civil War, Richmond served as the capital of the Confederate States of America, the city entered the 20th century with one of the worlds first successful electric streetcar systems. The Jackson Ward neighborhood is a hub of African-American commerce. Richmonds economy is driven by law, finance, and government, with federal, state. Dominion Resources and MeadWestvaco, Fortune 500 companies, are headquartered in the city, in 1737, planter William Byrd II commissioned Major William Mayo to lay out the original town grid. The settlement was laid out in April 1737, and was incorporated as a town in 1742, Richmond recovered quickly from the war, and by 1782 was once again a thriving city. A permanent home for the new government, the Virginia State Capitol building, was designed by Thomas Jefferson with the assistance of Charles-Louis Clérisseau, after the American Revolutionary War, Richmond emerged as an important industrial center. The legacy of the canal boatmen is represented by the figure in the center of the city flag, on April 17,1861, five days after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, the legislature voted to secede from the United States and joined the Confederacy. Official action came in May, after the Confederacy promised to move its capital to Richmond. It became the target of Union armies, especially in the campaigns of 1862. The Seven Days Battles followed in late June and early July 1862, during which Union General McClellan threatened to take Richmond, three years later, as March 1865 ended, the Confederate capitol became indefensible. On March 25, Confederate General John B, gordons desperate attack on Fort Stedman east of Petersburg failed
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Seating capacity
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Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats hundreds of thousands of people. The International Fire Code, portions of which have adopted by many jurisdictions, is directed more towards the use of a facility than the construction. It specifies, For areas having fixed seating without dividing arms and it also requires that every public venue submit a detailed site plan to the local fire code official, including details of the means of egress, seating capacity, arrangement of the seating. Once safety considerations have been satisfied, determinations of seating capacity turn on the size of the venue. For sports venues, the decision on maximum seating capacity is determined by several factors, chief among these are the primary sports program and the size of the market area. Seating capacity of venues also plays a role in what media they are able to provide, in contracting to permit performers to use a theatre or other performing space, the seating capacity of the performance facility must be disclosed. Seating capacity may influence the kind of contract to be used, the seating capacity must also be disclosed to the copyright owner in seeking a license for the copyrighted work to be performed in that venue. Venues that may be leased for private functions such as ballrooms and auditoriums generally advertise their seating capacity, seating capacity is also an important consideration in the construction and use of sports venues such as stadiums and arenas. The seating capacity for restaurants is reported as covers, a restaurant that can seat 99 is said to have 99 covers, seating capacity differs from total capacity, which describes the total number of people who can fit in a venue or in a vehicle either sitting or standing. Use of the term public capacity indicates that a venue is allowed to more people than it can actually seat. Again, the total number of people can refer to either the physical space available or limitations set by law
3.
Richmond Spiders
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The Richmond Spiders represent the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia. The Spiders compete in the Division I FCS of the National Collegiate Athletic Association as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference for most sports, from 1876 through 1893, Richmonds sports teams were known as the Colts, reportedly for their play as an energetic group of young colts. To this day, Richmond is the university in the United States with the spider as its official nickname. The Spiders have qualified for the WNIT six times under Shafer, through the end of the 2016–17 season, Shafer had amassed an overall record of 200–176 record, including an 89–89 record in Atlantic 10 play. The womens basketball plays its home games in the Robins Center. The Spiders mens cross country team is coached by Steve Taylor, Lori Taylor serves as the overall director of all of Richmonds cross country and track and field teams. In 2010, the team won the Atlantic 10 Championship as a team for the first time ever. They went on to fourth at the NCAA Southeast Regional meet to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA National Championship. Seeded in 28th place, the Richmond Spiders placed 24th at the NCAA National Championship, beating, among others, top-ranked Notre Dame, Texas, Louisville, Penn State, the Richmond Spiders Womens Cross Country and Track and Field teams are coached by Lori Taylor. In 2006-2007, she guided the Spider women to a finish in the Cross Country, Indoor Track. In 2008, she coached the Spider women to a championship in Cross Country. In 2010 the conference championship again went the Spider women, making it their second championship to date, the home of the Spiders XC/Track program is the Fred Hardy Track, on the University of Richmonds campus just north of the Robins Center. The history of the dates to 1920, and it has been ranked as high as tenth among Division I programs in recent years. The teams home field is Crenshaw Field, the University of Richmonds mens golf team finished fourth in the 2007 Atlantic 10 Conference championship tournament. The Spiders have captured three conference championships and qualified for four NCAA Regional Championships, as well as the 1999 NCAA National Championship, the current head coach of the Spiders is Adam Decker. The University of Richmonds womens golf competes as a member of the Patriot League beginning in the 2014-15 season. They used to be a member of the Colonial Athletic Association, the program came into existence in 2002, and since that time the Spiders have finished no lower than fourth in any of the five CAA championship tournaments in which they have competed. The current head coach of the Spiders is Ali Wright, the Richmond mens lacrosse team played its first full varsity season in 2014 as an associate member of the Atlantic Sun Conference
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National Collegiate Athletic Association
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The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a non-profit association which regulates athletes of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations, and individuals. It also organizes the programs of many colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. The organization is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 2014, the NCAA generated almost a billion dollars in revenue. 80 to 90% of this revenue was due to the Division I Mens Basketball Tournament and this revenue is then distributed back into various organizations and institutions across the United States. In August 1973, the current three-division setup of Division I, Division II, under NCAA rules, Division I and Division II schools can offer scholarships to athletes for playing a sport. Division III schools may not offer any athletic scholarships, generally, larger schools compete in Division I and smaller schools in II and III. Division I football was divided into I-A and I-AA in 1978. Subsequently, the term Division I-AAA was briefly added to delineate Division I schools which do not field a football program at all, in 2006, Divisions I-A and I-AA were respectively renamed the Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision. Inter-collegiate sports began in the US in 1852 when crews from Harvard University, as other sports emerged, notably football and basketball, many of these same concepts and standards were adopted. Football, in particular, began to emerge as a marquee sport, the IAAUS was officially established on March 31,1906, and took its present name, the NCAA, in 1910. For several years, the NCAA was a group and rules-making body, but in 1921, the first NCAA national championship was conducted. Gradually, more rules committees were formed and more championships were created, a series of crises brought the NCAA to a crossroads after World War II. The Sanity Code – adopted to establish guidelines for recruiting and financial aid – failed to curb abuses, postseason football games were multiplying with little control, and member schools were increasingly concerned about how the new medium of television would affect football attendance. The complexity of problems and the growth in membership and championships demonstrated the need for full-time professional leadership. Walter Byers, previously an executive assistant, was named executive director in 1951. Byers wasted no time placing his stamp on the Association, as college athletics grew, the scope of the nations athletics programs diverged, forcing the NCAA to create a structure that recognized varying levels of emphasis. In 1973, the Associations membership was divided into three legislative and competitive divisions – I, II, and III, five years later in 1978, Division I members voted to create subdivisions I-A and I-AA in football. Until the 1980s, the association did not offer womens athletics, instead, the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, with nearly 1000 member schools, governed womens collegiate sports in the United States
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Continental Football League
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The Continental Football League was a professional American football league that operated in North America from 1965 through 1969. It owed its name, at least in part, to the Continental League, Bill Walsh, Ken Stabler, Sam Wyche and Otis Sistrunk were among a few players and coaches who would later gain fame in the NFL. The formation of the Continental Football League was announced on February 6,1965, the league was primarily formed by minor-league teams that had played in the United Football League and Atlantic Coast Football League. Happy Chandler, former Kentucky governor and retired Major League Baseball commissioner, was named CFL commissioner on March 17,1965, the league originally adopted a professional appearance. Teams were sorted into two divisions and each team had a 36-man roster with a taxi squad. The rules were primarily those of the NFL except that a sudden death overtime period was employed to break ties, to reinforce an image of league autonomy, teams were restricted from loaning players to, or receiving optioned players from, the NFL or AFL. The first CFL season opened with three games played on August 14,1965, before the season began, the Springfield, Massachusetts, franchise moved to Norfolk, Virginia. The Norfolk club went on to become the most successful team in the league at the box office, Chandler, charging that the league was altering the terms under which he had accepted the position, resigned on January 20,1966. He was replaced by CFL Secretary Sol Rosen, owner of the Newark Bears, the league engaged in some unsuccessful preseason negotiations with the Empire Sports Network to obtain a television broadcasting agreement. However, it was able to get ABC to broadcast the game on the Wide World of Sports. The Brooklyn Dodgers, although under the managership of baseball Dodgers player Jackie Robinson. Part of the problem was that they were playing nowhere near Brooklyn, evidently, the Dodgers had trouble securing home dates at Downing, a season-ticket application showed only five home games in a fourteen-game schedule. Charlestons Coy Bacon,1966 CFL All-Star end, went on to play for the NFLs Los Angeles Rams, San Diego Chargers, Cincinnati Bengals, the league also established farm team relationships with semi-pro clubs. The division comprised established minor-league teams in British Columbia, California, but four small western franchises, in Eugene, Oregon, Long Beach and San Jose, California and Victoria, B. C. left the league after the season. The remnants of the Brooklyn Dodgers were sold to Frank Hurn, Hurn used Chicago Outfit funding to buy the team and swindled numerous businessmen into providing lavish benefits for his team for which he would never pay. Hurn would later amass a long record of criminal activity after his time in Akron. Such instability marked the season for the CFL, particularly because the league could not improve upon its overall semi-pro public image, inability to establish working relationships with NFL and AFL teams was a contributing factor. The San Jose Apaches in 1967 were coached by Bill Walsh, the Quad Cities franchise moved to Las Vegas midway through the 1968 season
6.
Richmond Kickers
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Richmond Kickers Soccer Club is an American professional soccer club based in Richmond, Virginia. Founded in 1993, the plays in the United Soccer League. The team is one of the oldest continuously run soccer clubs in the United States, the teams home field is the 22, 000-seat City Stadium, where the club has played since 1995. The teams president is Richmond native, and former Kickers player, Rob Ukrop, the team is coached by Englishman Leigh Cowlishaw, who has been the teams head coach since 2000. The Kickers had two teams, Richmond Kickers Future and Richmond Kickers Destiny. Future played in the mens USL Premier Development League until 2008, the team originally played their home matches on the campus of the University of Richmond and targeted players specifically from Virginia. After a poor season in 1994, the club self-relegated to the newly formed fourth-tier USISL Premier League, now known as the Premier Development League. During the 1995 season, the Kickers battled to a 15–3 winning season and went on to win the first ever USISL Premier League championship and that same season, Richmond won their first, and to date only, Lamar Hunt U. S. Open Cup championship. The following year, Richmond chose to rejoin the third division, for the next nine seasons, Richmond played in the second tier of the American soccer pyramid, earning the Commissioners Cup twice, in 1998 and 2001, as well as earning two conference championships. However, the club was never able to secure a division two league championship, their closest coming in 2005, when the Kickers fell to the Seattle Sounders in the 2005 USL First Division Championship. After the 2005 season, the Kickers ownership self-relegated the team back into the third division, since joining the third division, the Kickers have had tremendous success, making it to at least the playoff semifinals each season they have played in the third division. Additionally, the Kickers have won two third division premierships and two division championships during their spell. Richmond Kickers have not only experienced league success, but have been contenders in the Lamar Hunt U. S. Open Cup tournament. In the 2007 U. S. Open Cup, the Kickers defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy of the first division, Major League Soccer, 1–0 in the third round of competition. The Kickers won their First Round match of the 2008 U. S. Open Cup, in the 2011 US Open Cup the Kickers made a Cinderella run, defeating MLS clubs Columbus Crew and Sporting Kansas City to reach the semi-finals, before falling to the Chicago Fire. In September 2005, Rob Ukrops #6 jersey was retired and he was a well-liked soccer player on and off of the field, and particularly notable since he is the son of the influential Ukrops grocery store CEO Robert Bobby Ukrop. On January 24,2013, it was announced that the Kickers had signed a deal to become the USL Pro affiliate of D. C. The Kickers primary colors are red and white, having been so since the beginning of the 2001 season and their kits are manufactured by Adidas, as they have been since at least 2009
7.
Richmond Kickers Future
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Richmond Kickers Future was an American soccer team based in Richmond, Virginia, United States. The team played its games at Sports Backers Stadium. The teams colors were red, white and black, the Cup was held every year since 1996 with the exception of 1997 and 2001 when Virginia Beach did not field a team. In 2007, the Virginia Beach team was disbanded, for the 2008 season, the James River Cup was contested between the Richmond Kickers organization and the Hampton Roads Piranhas organization. The cup went to the organization that had the most points in games between their PDL and W-League teams, the series ended up tied 2-2-1, with the Piranhas winning the Cup on goal difference
8.
Premier Development League
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The Premier Development League is a development league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league system. It is currently considered the top-level mens amateur soccer competition in the United States, the league has 76 teams competing in four conferences, split into ten regional divisions. Unofficially, it is considered to be the fourth tier of competition, behind Major League Soccer, the North American Soccer League and the United Soccer League. With USL Pro re-branding as the United Soccer League in February 2015, Michigan Bucks are the current PDL champions, having defeated the Calgary Foothills FC 3–2 in the 2016 PDL Championship game on August 6,2016. The Premier Development League, as of the 2016 season, is divided into 4 conferences, the league season runs from May through July, with the playoffs decided through July and August. Most divisions aim to play a regular season schedule of between 12-14 games in a round-robin home and away format, with the top 2-3 teams of each division advancing to the playoffs. In 1995 the United States Interregional Soccer League changed its name to the United States International Soccer League, the inaugural season of the new USISL Premier League featured 27 teams, and the Richmond Kickers won the first title, beating the Cocoa Expos 3–1 in the championship game. Gabe Jones of the Austin Lone Stars was the top scorer. Pasi Kinturi of the Nashville Metros was the top scorer. In 1998 the PDSL took to the field with 33 teams, in the championship game the San Gabriel Valley Highlanders upset regular season champions Jackson Chargers 3–2, taking the trophy to California for the third straight year. The league took in several teams from the D3Pro league, expanding to 42 teams in six divisions, expansion franchise Chicago Sockers ultimately won the league, beating Spokane Shadow 3–1 for the title in a tight championship game. Fabio Eidenwein of the Sioux City Breeze was named League MVP and was the top scorer, the PDL expanded by a further eight franchises in 2000, and the Chicago Sockers won their second straight title, beating the Mid-Michigan Bucks in a close 1–0 championship game. The single goal was scored by Rodrigo Costa who, having received a pass from teammate Hamid Mehreioskouei, Fernando Salazar of the Los Angeles-based San Fernando Valley Heroes was the leagues MVP, while his teammate Arshak Abyanli took the honors as top goalscorer. The league grew from 41 to 44 teams in 2001 through the mix of relegation from D3Pro, teams folding. 2002 also saw the debut of the soon-to-be PDL legend, Tomas Boltnar of Des Moines Menace, the mid-2000s was a period of steady growth and consolidation for the PDL. Des Moines Menace took the PDL Championship trophy back to Iowa in 2005 after beating the El Paso Patriots 6–5 on penalty kicks,2006 saw the beginning of two seasons of dominance for two teams, the Michigan Bucks and the Laredo Heat. The 2010s began with a record, as the Portland Timbers U23s ended the season as national champions, the Timbers also had the best regular season record, winning all their 16 games, scoring 53 goals and conceding just six along the way. Portland Timbers U23s striker Brent Richards was named League MVP and Rookie of the Year for his campaign with the national champions
9.
Richmond Kickers Destiny
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Richmond Kickers Destiny was an American women’s soccer team, founded in 2004. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues W-League, the team played in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The Richmond Kickers folded the Destiny after the 2009 season in a cost-cutting move, the team played its home games at Sports Backers Stadium in the city of Richmond, Virginia, and also occasionally at University of Richmond Stadium, and the former First Market Stadium. The teams colors were red, white and black, the team was a sister organization of the mens Richmond Kickers of the USL PRO league, and Richmond Kickers Future, which played in the USL Premier Development League until 2008. Chantel Jones Nikki Krzysik Becky Sauerbrunn
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United States
Trinidad and Tobago
