I LOVE your Reebok Stadium!. That's hardly the opening remark you expect from a total stranger in these parts.

But the pride of Bolton has found fame and won acclaim the world over, so why not in Indianapolis?

Actually Ron Lawson, the full time chief executive of the Indiana Youth Soccer Association, was quick to come clean and declare a vested interest.

"I worked for Reebok for four years!" he owned up. "So I got a chance to visit the stadium and it's an impressive place."

Impressive is certainly a word that comes to mind when surveying the 21 newly-laid pitches adjacent to the IYSA headquarters at Lawrence, some 12 miles out of Indianapolis - the site where Wanderers are holding the majority of their training sessions on their US trip.

The development of a former giant US military base - now the location of the US Army Finance Centre - has provided a quite staggering facility for a city with a population below 40,000.

Hackney Marshes with pop-up sprinklers! Not bad for a town that only saw its first white settler in 1823.

Little wonder then that with the drive and enthusiasm of its Mayor, Tom Schneider, Lawrence City won the bid to host next year's prestigious National Youth Soccer Finals.

"The last tournament was held at Disney World in Florida, next time it's the City of Lawrence ... " director of Economic Development Charles W Ricks said with justified pride.

"We're learning all the time and it's great for us to have Bolton Wanderers come and visit and use our facilities. Unfortunately the Mayor is out of town on a previous engagement. I know he was very disappointed not to get to meet the guys and see them play.

"He's done so much to provide these facilities for soccer."

THE ruthlessness of the US Olympic selection process was highlighted again this weekend when Bob Kennedy, America's top ranked 5,000 metre runner in each of the last seven years, failed to make the Sydney squad.

Recovering well after a car crash near his Indianapolis home in May, Kennedy is expected to be fully fit in time for the Games, which start on September 15.

But his lack of training showed up when he finished sixth and in the Olympic trials it's the first two - and ONLY the first two - who are selected. No ifs or buts.