Jill Ellis has been named the U. Lukas Sedlak Jersey .S. national team coach in the run-up to the womens World Cup next summer in Canada and beyond. Ellis has been the interim coach since Tom Sermanni was surprisingly dismissed in early April after an exhibition victory against China. It was Ellis second stint as an interim coach with the team; she also took over when previous head coach Pia Sundhage resigned in 2012 to become head coach of Swedens national team. Ellis has a 6-0-3 record overall as the teams interim coach. Ellis was an assistant to both Sermanni and Sundhage. She was on the staff of the gold medal-winning U.S. teams at the Beijing and London Olympics. The 47-year-old coach, who is well respected among national team players, has had a lengthy coaching career, including 12 seasons at UCLA. "Not beating around the bush, I know the expectation, embrace the expectation," Ellis said Friday. "I know that we want to win, and I think this group is capable of winning. Thats what we want, it is always the expectation. People ask me if thats intimidating and I say no, because when you work for U.S. soccer its about winning gold medals and standing on the first-place podium." The U.S. womens team, which has been ranked No. 1 for the past six years, next plays a pair of exhibition matches against France in Tampa, Florida, and East Hartford, Connecticut, in mid-June. The United States will host the eight-team CONCACAF qualifying tournament in October for the 2015 World Cup, according to an announcement Friday. The tournament was originally scheduled to take place in Mexico but there were "issues" concerning the venues, U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati said. The venues and schedule for the tournament have yet to be determined. Despite the teams success on the international stage in recent years, the U.S. women havent won a World Cup title since 1999. Japan won the 2011 World Cup in Germany, defeating the United States on a penalty shoot-out following a 2-2 draw after extra time. "The job description is to win next summer," Gulati said during a conference call Friday announcing Ellis appointment. Beyond that, the U.S. team will also look to defend back-to-back-to-back Olympic titles in Brazil the following year. Sermanni helped the U.S. to a 13-0-3 record last year, but the Americans went 1-2-1 at the Algarve Cup in March, the last major tournament for the U.S. before qualifying this fall. The seventh-place Algarve Cup finish included a 1-0 loss to Sweden and Sundhage, ending a two-year, 43-game unbeaten streak. That was the first loss following a 16-0-4 start under Sermanni. Ellis led the team to a 3-0 exhibition win in the second match against China after Sermanni was dismissed. "Were comfortable with Jill, we love Jill, we have a lot of respect for Jill, and she didnt really miss a beat. She put the pen on the board and she just started coaching," U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo said following the match. "Im always honoured to be coached by Jill. Every time she has something to say, I always perk up and listen." Ellis will step down from her position as U.S. Soccer womens development director now that she is the head coach, the organization said. "We think Jills got all the right credentials, both in terms of experience, and how she relates to the players -- weve been able to see that firsthand in the two times shed been with the senior team and previously with our youth teams," Gulati said. "She gets top marks in all the work shes been doing on the technical side with all of our programs in the last several years. Its all of those things." Seth Jones Jersey . Cox started the season with San Francisco, but was released by the team on Nov. 12 before being signed by Seattle, where he appeared in two games and tallied three tackles before being released on Dec. Sonny Milano Jersey ., climbed from seventh to fifth spot in womens competition Sunday at the ISU world junior figure skating championships. http://www.officialbluejacketsfanstore.com/authentic-alexander-wennberg-blue-jackets-jersey/ . HEROES Alex Ovechkin – Scored a pair of goals in Washington’s 4-0 win over Pittsburgh. With 13 goals in the past 13 games, Ovechkin now has 29 goals on the season to lead the league.SEATTLE -- Steve Ballmers departure from the group looking to bring the NBA back to Seattle isnt derailing lead investor Chris Hansens hopes of getting a team back in the region. Hansen told The Associated Press on Monday that he is confident hell be able to find investors to take Ballmers place in his group that is trying to build a new arena and last year nearly bought and moved the Sacramento Kings to Seattle. Hansen is the majority investor in the project, but said it would likely take more than one person to replace Ballmers investment. Other than Hansen, the only other known partners in the investment group are members of the Nordstrom department store family. Hansen said he wont put a limit on the number of investors at this time. "I think we want to have a reasonable group of partners," Hansen said. "That will be the thing that is probably most missed from Steves involvement. One, hes a great guy and very successful in his career and would have added a lot of insights and value in operating the team. Thats probably the first thing that will be missed from having him as a partner and the second thing, given his net worth, (he) had the ability to be really the only other partner that we needed. In all likelihood there are not a lot of Steve Ballmers in the world with his financial well-being, so in all likelihood I think its reasonable to assume we have a few more partners rather than just one." Seattles hopes seemed to take a blow last week when Ballmer agreed to buy the Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion. Among other things, it raised questions about whether Ballmers decision should be taken as a sign that Seattles hopes of getting a franchise are dwindling. Hansen tried to calm those concerns, noting the environmental reviews on the proposed arena site are ongoing aand that he remains committed to continuing the process both with the arena and a team. Mark Letestu Jersey. . Hansens memorandum of understanding with the city of Seattle and King County on the arena goes through November 2017. "Everybody is very interested in what that means for right now. In six to nine months this will pass and well still be here trying to get our arena built and still be here trying to pursue a franchise and I think that is what is most important," Hansen said. "There is nothing we have to do. We own the land outright. There is no immediate time pressure that we have to do something and thats been very well received by the NBA as well -- the fact were willing to be patient and endure through this." Because of a lack of buzz about the NBA prior to Ballmer agreeing to purchase the Clippers, questions about whether the NHL could be first to land in Seattle have increased. It peaked recently when NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman flew to Seattle during the NHL playoffs to meet with Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and King County executive Dow Constantine. Hansen reiterated he does not have an interest in being the majority owner of an NHL franchise. But hes willing to partner with another investor who has that passion for the NHL. That would require a restructuring of the memorandum of understanding and Hansen said any re-writing of the deal would have to be initiated by the city and county. "We would like to be accommodative to get the NHL here. There should be no question about that. Were building this arena as a two-sport building. It has the larger footprint for hockey. Weve worked hard to do that. We would like to do everything in our power to allow hockey to come here in a way that makes sense for the NHL and for a prospective partner," Hansen said. 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