These are signs that the women’s game isn’t getting stronger; in fact, we may be seeing the same trend that we’ve seen with women’s hockey. After a surge in interest in the 2000s, the game is shrinking rather than growing.

It was a fascinating exercise to go through a couple of hours worth of tweets after Arsenal’s stunning 2-1 win over Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie. The pundits are one thing, but when the tweets come from players or, in the case of Eskandarian, recently retired players, it’s amazing to see people who are (or recently were) paid to play the game become fans.

FC Edmonton will sport a new look for the 2011 season.The team confirmed that the kits it will wear for its inaugural NASL season will be different than the ones the club wore in a series of 2010 friendlies. Umbro will remain the team’s kit supplier.

A Canadian Soccer Association delegation has delivered the bid book for the 2015 Women's World Cup to FIFA headquarters in Zurich.The delegation, which included federal Minister of State (Sport) Gary Lunn, Canadian Soccer Association President Dominic Maestracci, Vice-President Victor Montagliani and General Secretary Peter Montopoli, met with FIFA officials Tuesday, including President Sepp Blatter.

TSN was officially confirmed Monday as the new official broadcaster of MLS in Canada. But, for fans of Toronto FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps, there won’t be an overwhelming number of games on Canada’s most popular sports network.

According to FIFA’s international match calendar, Canada’s senior men’s team will face Belarus March 29 in Antalya, Turkey.But FIFA announced Monday that it is investigating two international friendlies that were played in the Mediterranean resort. Last Wednesday, Estonia drew Bulgaria 2-2 and Latvia defeated Bolivia 2-1 in a doubleheader played in Antalya. In those two games, all seven goals were scored on penalties.

According to the NASL, the Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps can field affiliated teams in Div. 2 as early as 2012.While neither team has concrete plans in place to have affiliated teams in NASL, Vancouver has retained its membership in the league and Montreal plans to do the same when it leaves NASL for MLS in 2012. This is consistent with previous indications from the league.

A diving goal-line clearance from the Edmonton Drillers’ elder statesman has given the club a massive lead in the Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League standings.Calgary United held a 4-2 lead in the third quarter of Saturday’s tilt at Edmonton’s Soccer Centre South and was simply dominating the game — outchancing, outpassing the Drillers. Calgary’s Arthur Paszkowski looked sure to make it a 5-2 game; on a break, he rounded Drillers’ keeper Jay Vetsch and rolled the ball towards the open goal.But Chris Devlin, who spent the 2004 season in the USL with the Edmonton Aviators/Edmonton FC franchise, hustled back, threw himself at the goal line, and got enough of the ball to deflect it just wide. That play energized the Drillers; the team scored three unanswered goals in the third to take a 5-4 lead, and went on to a 7-5 win.

After a close board vote on Friday, the decision to give NASL the Division 2 sanction was ratified by the membership of the United States Soccer Federation Saturday in Las Vegas.But the sanction is only good for the 2011 season. According to a release from the league, “The NASL will need to meet certain requirements defined by the Board of Directors to be granted full sanctioning beyond the 2011 season.”

The Cody Arnoux saga is close to a resolution.The Vancouver Whitecaps released the former Everton prospect on Friday, paving the way for Arnoux to make his MLS debut. He will likely come to the league via a weighted lottery.