If you are a soccer fan and you live in Houston, you probably know Jen Cooper. You might get Keeper Notes, the soccer newsletter she's published since 2002, or maybe you've bought something from her at Soccer 4 All or seen her at a Dynamo game, where she is the game day coordinator for the volunteer Blue Crew.

Now you can listen to her talk about the beautiful game every Sunday morning as the host of The Firkin Soccer Show on 1560 The Game.

"We're going to focus on North American soccer. And that's not just American; it includes Concacaf, Mexico, all the national teams," says Cooper. "Most of the coverage out there on blogs and podcasts is heavy on the European and international coverage. We want to focus more on our own backyard, the MLS but also the growing leagues that are coming up. The MLS had 10 teams in 2002, now there 19 — there's a lot to cover. But we aren't going to deny we're a local show, there will be lots of Dynamo."

Cooper has a rotating crew of four co-hosts that she says will each add a different dimension to the program.

"One guy used to be an MLS-basher and now he's a Dynamo season ticket holder. Joe [Ashmore] used to live in Portland and he's watched the Timbers since the '80s when they were in the NACL," says Cooper. "All of us travel as much as possible for games — we've gone to Japan, Cancun, South Africa. Three of the guys were flying to Philadelphia for the Dynamo playoff game and their flight got cancelled, so they drove to Dallas and flew from there. We're all very hardcore supporters, and we know what we're talking about."

The Dynamo season might be over, but Cooper says there's already plenty to talk about between Brian Ching going to Montreal, the new stadium being named, Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear and the Dynamo schedule that was just released. Cooper says she also hopes to cover the women's side of the sport the right way.

"One of the things this month is I'm heading to Vancouver for the [Olympic] women's qualifying tournament, so I'll be calling in from there," says Cooper. "I got frustrated [working with another radio show] that when I wasn't on, they'd make fun of women's soccer. You either take it seriously or you don't. Obviously if the women are playing we are going to cover them. We don't need a little women's segment. And it's not going to be sensationalist like when someone takes their shirt off or gets kicked off Dancing With the Stars. It's going to be appropriate and professional."

The Firkin Soccer Show will air at 7 a.m., which Cooper says is both a challenge and an opportunity.

"It's going to work really great once the season starts when we have a game Saturday night and go on Sunday morning for a fresh rehash. 7 a.m. is going to be rough but I'm telling people that it's also going to be available as a podcast so they can listen later," says Cooper.

As to whether a new stadium will bring soccer into the mainstream for Houston sports fans, Cooper says she thinks its already there.

"I think we're already more mainstream than people realize. The discussion for the last 15 years has been 'soccer's getting big now.' It's already pretty big. You can tell by how much soccer is on TV that you dont have to pay satellite for. At the store, our sales this fall were up 30 percent — that's Dynamo, Seattle, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona. The bump to MLS has been not only Beckham but also Thierry Henri and other big names coming in."

"But there's a reason The Game wanted a soccer show for this year. With the new stadium we can actually host national games now that aren't Mexico. There is talk about bidding for the women's final four. There's so many new things that it's going to bring."