Many say that sports extend way beyond the playing field - this saying could not be more true for some coaches from the Richmond Strikers. As a result of their affiliation with Virginia Commonweath University, some Strikers coaches are on their way to China this week as part of the U.S.-China Consultation on People-to-People Exchange (CPE) Cooperation on Sports.

According to the official release, the CPE aims to "enhance and strengthen ties between the citizens of the United States and China in the areas of sports, education, culture, science and technology, and women’s issues." The CPE's specific soccer component discusses the exchange itself: Twelve Shanghai Football Association coaches traveled to the United States in June, 2010 on a SportsUnited training program focused on developing and managing youth soccer teams and on coaching techniques for young players. In July, 2011, Virginia Commonwealth University will send U.S. soccer experts to Shanghai, where they will run coaching and management clinics.

Happy Independence Day Weekend! With a long 3 day weekend underway in the United States, many Americans have traveled to beaches, mountains, or other vacation destinations to celebrate. With the Women's World Cup well underway, what better way to celebrate Independence Day than watch the U.S. Women's National Team play Columbia in their second match of the World Cup? The game kicks off around noon eastern time.

In their first match earlier this week, the U.S. defeated North Korea 2-0. With a win today against Columbia, the team would cement its place in the knockout round regardless of their result against Sweden next week.

Over the past few weeks, Google has rolled out its new +1 recommendation button. The button appears now on many websites along with other social media sharing options such as Facebook Like and Twitter. These +1's also appear in Google search results and can indicate if people you know have recommended specific content before you click on it.

To take full advantage of the feature, you need to have a Google Profile. This profile can tie together information from other social networks and make search results more personal.