So apparently there's yet another pro soccer league planning to start in the US next spring: American Professional Soccer. I'm usually aware of this sort of thing, so I was surprised I hadn't heard of it. I did a search of BS to see if I missed a thread, but I didn't find anything. But none other than Beau Dure wrote a profile of the organization back in July. I learned about the organization on Reddit's /r/MLS board, where it's being pretty roundly mocked. Among other points of amusement is the fact that "league commissioner" is listed on the "Careers" page. So if you're the type who hangs out on BigSoccer's MLS "You Be the Don" forum, here's your chance to put all your grand plans into action! APS is affiliated in some sense with the Canadian Soccer League, which is... odd, if you ask me. They claim to have six teams, concentrated in the northeast, with a seventh due the following year. And they claim to be aiming for 3rd division sanctioning, at most. So I guess they're not showing an excess of ambition. Any thoughts? Does the USL need competiton down at that level? Or do we have enough minor leagues at this time? ------RM
On one of their slides, they misspell the name of the league. Verdict: Laugh More seriously, they are looking to start play in less than 9 months, haven't announced any teams, and are still looking to add teams for their inaugural season. That isn't much time to get places to play, players, and, most importantly, fans. The idea of a regional league at the 3rd/4th division level isn't terrible, but this seems rushed.
Just in case you weren't satisfied with today's helping of start-up soccer leagues: http://www.us-afl.com/
I don't know much about Matt Driver, only that he has his adherents and detractors. The idea itself is not completely terrible - start with a small, geographically-concentrated league with modest goals - it's just harder to pull off than most people seem to realize. The fact that we have, annually, no lack of people who invest in low-level outdoor soccer teams tells me if you can corral a handful of those people who have visions similar to yours and who are around a given geographical area, you can at least maybe have the discussion. What became the NPSL started similarly and ten years later....they're still kind of a mess, but they are still around, 71% team failure rate and all. At least the guy behind APS has some experience and history in the game that extends beyond the beer-and-a-scarf brigade who seem to think they can found and operate teams and leagues better than it's currently being done. But history tells us that announcements and websites are cheap. The rest of it takes money.
Oh, they are going to play 10-12 games from August to November, then take a four month break and play 10-12 more games, but it's totally the same season, you guys! Nice touch spelling "Americal."
Good point. They might as well just go Apertura/Clausura with a schedule like that ...or, you know, play an actual normal American (or is that Americal?) soccer season. By the way, maybe "Americal" is a portmanteau of "American" and "comical."
Check out their "Pyramid Structure Proposal" http://www.us-afl.com/?page_id=245 Div-1 (20 teams); Div-2 (20 teams); Div-3 (East Conference: 24 teams; West Conference: 24 teams); Div-4 (six divisions); Div-5 (sixteen sub-divisions); Div-6 (state level); the text also says Div-7 (county level). "When the league is fully functional, we intend to have 5 divisions that are professional that will have 120 professional clubs. Then the lower levels will have 5 divisions of semi pro and amateur clubs."
My first guess, is that if the college system eventually does disolve away, then you would have enough players / markets for the 120+ pro teams, plus the ameteur / semi-pro's. I also wonder if this system would include all current NASL and USL-Pro teams, since you couldn't have the current three pro levels, then this five-more-levels of pro teams. But in the end, no, it won't be to this level of detail; overly, overy ambitious. Remember when the USL kept talking of pyramids? Was that clip from Match Game?
Wonder what kind of relationship the APS will have with the CSL. CSL went to court and won to regain sanctioning after the CSA(Canada's USSF equivalent) withdrew it and tried to stop the CSL from having a 2013 season. Now CSL is starting their own "Soccer Federation of Canada(SFC)" and is seemingly challenging the CSA : "The Canadian Soccer League has accepted membership in the newly-formed Soccer Federation of Canada (SFC) and as a first step after removing itself from the Canadian Soccer Association and provincial soccer jurisdiction is prepared to make it easier for teams and new groups to step into professional soccer for the first time." Seems they will operate as a rougue league in 2014 as CSA sanctioning ceased at the end of the 2013 CSL season.
Which will be never. Which will be fun, considering USSF's regulations only allow for three. And if we all clap our hands and believe in Tinkerbell the Fairy, WE CAN DO ANYTHING! Pop-quiz, Hotshot: How many professional soccer teams currently exist in this country? Suuuuuuuuuuuuuure, they will. Right now they are only 120 teams shy of 120. That's 120 teams, 120 owners, 120 stadiums and 2,400 players. Yeah, we can do that. All for the Last Day of the Season Nerdgasms that these people think are soooooooooo much better than what we have now.
Do we really believe there are 2,400+ pro-quality soccer players in the NCAA? After all these years of hearing how shitty college soccer is at developing talent? I would imagine those teams and leagues will all cooperate (the first time in American soccer history!) and come under the umbrella of these guys, whose top accomplishment to this point is....creating a website...so they can all enjoy the benefits that pro/rel brings! So their franchise values can potentially go to shit and teams that can't afford to play at a higher level will be forced to! Excellent. Every day that goes by that these igmos don't get their way and prove themselves incapable of pulling off their revolution is another day of hilarity?
Even if it ceases to be a serious developmental path for professional players, college soccer will continue to exist. See CIS (Canadian University) ice hockey.