It's just been announced by David Markley that the Austin Aztex will take the field in the 2012 season in the USL PDL ranks. Although the name is the same as the previous regime, the name is the only thing that is the same. The aim is to put the ATX back in Aztex.
This is great news. Nice to see soccer return to Austin. Looking forward to coming out to games in 2012.
Excellent news! Can't wait to get to some matches and support the team. I think Markley is doing an incredible job support soccer in Austin, and providing opportunities to our young players. So excited.
Really great to see you guys getting pro soccer back. Get out there and support them and hopefully we'll see you move up the ranks soon.
Just to be nitpicky, it's not pro soccer. It's a PDL team. Details aside, I'm excited to see the Aztex and higher-level (above rec) soccer back in Austin. Fingers crossed, it will turn into a pro team someday, when a solid foundation has been laid.
A very happy day. Looking forward to seeing the player signings and everything unfold over the next several months.
OK. Fine. Even more nitpicky. So it could be a pro team in the PDL. However, it won't be. From a couple Eberly's Army tweets:
Amazing news. When I moved to Austin last year I was so exited to finally live in a town with a pro soccer team. That excitement turned to disappointment when the team announced they where leaving a month latter. May not be a pro team but I am excited again. I will be getting season tickets when they come out. Since no other PDL team has a forum will we loose ours?
No. Forum existence depends entirely on traffic. We have one of the most verbal lower division groups on Big Soccer. The only thing that needs to happen now is for our forum to get moved back to the USL level. And that logo change Probably the most effective way to expedite that is a PM to the forum moderators.
Congrats to the Austin fans - glad to see you have a team back! Let's hope they take their time and build the organization the right way.
I sent a note to Soccer Prime in another forum asking if we could get the avatar changed for the Austin Forum.
This has made me so happy. I didn't think we'd see soccer back in Austin so soon. I actually enjoyed the PDL games and rarely missed any. For me the games were more open and entertaining than the pro team although I rarely missed any of their games either. Any rumours yet about where they'll be playing? House again? I'm so excited. Jim
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_Aztex Just got it started, and added the team to the 2012 PDL season page. Have at it.
Great news, everybody needs to spread the word that live competitive Soccer is back in Austin Go Aztex
Congratulations to you VC, and all your soccer loving brethren in Austin! Very glad to hear it will only wind up being one season that you didn't have a team to go out and support. The press release as well as some of the supporter comments seem to indicate that there is some long-term thinking with this scenario that would see a pro team return to Austin. I know it's very early on, but any ideas on how they would at least like to see that progress? Set up the PDL team, get some talent in the pipeline, find the right investor, and then use the PDL team to funnel talent to a D2 or D3 pro team? Or do you think the long term vision would be to just build the foundation with the PDL team, and then move it up? Either way, sounds like you guys are getting a well-deserved second chance to build on the gains you made from 2009 - 2010. With a good stadium situation (one that sells beer for one thing!) and some talented young players developed at the PDL level, you guys could be looking at giving the pro ranks another shot in a couple years I'd think. Good luck!
I'm not speaking for the owners here, but I'll say what I think. The only way for it to work would be to 'promote' the PDL team. Off the top of my head, I can't think of a single thriving PDL team that has a D2 or D3 team over it. There are teams that have youth clubs in their system, and PDL teams tied to MLS teams (but I doubt even they are thriving), but nothing with a D2 or D3 team over a PDL team that I can remember. But it's a big league, and I haven't been paying a much attention to the PDL as I'm sure I will next year. For the record, it was 2008-2010. 2008 we had the PDL Aztex U23s. Which actually was an improvement over the 2007 Lightning. Regarding the stadium... the stadium situation here is no different than it ever has been. And I do find it odd that people in all forums keep talking about "good stadium situation + beer". I guess it's a sign of how solid MLS is that people are now expecting it out of lower division soccer. And maybe I should start imaging the possible rather than dwelling on the current realities. But I just can't yet. Unless we find someone with serious deep pockets and magical political skills, it will be a long while before a stadium happens that is the kind we want with the beer selection we want in the location we want.
MGrayscale will be on Futbol En Vivo tomorrow to discuss all of the exciting details! Locally at 91.7 FM KOOP or online at koop.org. Matt will be on from 1:30-2 CT.
Working on it. If it is not changed in the next 2 weeks, please remind me again and I will pester the proper people. Most likely we will move the Austin thread (renamed) to the USL Club level when the 2012 season arrives. Until then we'll probably just keep it where it is. But like VC said, traffic volume is the name of the game. As long as people are posting here, PDL or USL Pro, you are safe. This is your forum. Again, congrats Austin fans. Let me or ButlerBob (your other mod) know if we can help in any other way.
