News: NPSL Expansion 2014

A few seasons ago Jacksonville had a PDL and a NPSL franchise, only 1 of them is still alive. I'm not saying it is impossible, only extremely difficult

 

I hope the Springfield Demize do move to NPSL.

 

I believe that in 2014 we will see for the first time the NPSL having more franchises than the PDL

 

At the start of the season, perhaps. It's a lot cheaper to get into the NPSL, one. The size of the league is not necessarily an indicator of relative strength. The turnover rate in the NPSL is higher than in the PDL, which at least requires some minimum level of buy-in and makes teams, you know, play all their games and stuff.

You can have as many franchises as you want if you don't particularly care who owns them, or how many resources they have.

 

You couldn't be more right; number of teams and strenght of the league do not necesarely have much in common

 

Razors are disposable, right? Because they're cheap.

 

Ok, I admit that the expansion franchises are pretty cheap (only 10 K I believe) but when so many teams drop out there has to a problem somewhere. Probably some new owners are not well informed and/or do not have deep pockets, on the other hand when teams have to spend thousands of dollars on travel only, this cannot be good.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Premier_Soccer_League#Defunct_Teams

 

yes, the NPSL fees are $10K...Kenn has already done the research on this subject and the NPSL fail rate is only slightly greater than the fail rate for the USL PDL...with a much much lower entry point I can't say that this is really shocking news for anyone. With a brand new NPSL Commish I'm getting the idea that things might have turned the corner for the better, but let's see if they improve the website...lol

 

For sure, the standards are lower at entry so there is going to be more instability as far as turn over is concerned. But I don't think that means there is something wrong with the NPSL. Here is my take on comparing the two leagues and why they do what they do with new membership fees and such:

The PDL was founded in 1995(wiki) and has spread all across the nation. They can afford to increase their standards and focus on stability now because they probably have the membership size they are looking for as far as reliable franchises that will be there from year to year and don't need to fear collapsing from a National League down to a Regional league.

The NPSL was founded in 2003 (wiki) and is shot gun effecting recruiting new franchises and it has been working as the league seems to grow every year and retains more and more franchises from year to year. The NPSL definitely does not have the reliable membership base it needs to heighten standards just yet but it is getting there by simply adding a large amount of franchises in hopes of finding a few reliable gems in the mix. The league is still breaking into Texas and the North West.

Now lets compare: if the fees and all were the same between the NPSL and the PDL, who would you join as a person with money who is lookin to start a minor league soccer franchise? Again think visibility. The Lamar Open cup appears to be a good way to compare the two leagues from a competitive stand point to the average person and the PDL has more consistent success in the Lamar Open. The PDL also seems to have more publicized connections to the MLS when you see things like the Desert Diamond Cup. Until the NPSL has teams that start upsetting teams in the Lamar Open and develop more visible connections to say, the NASL or MLS, the average person is going to look at PDL teams as more successful and sign the dotted line there. BUT if you turn around and say, well you can save x amount of dollars by joining the NPSL and still have the same opportunites the PDL has, it is just a matter of how you as an owner handle yourself in the soccer world, all the sudden the average person has a solid incentive to join the NPSL over the PDL from a business stand point. Saving Money without losing opportunity (because let's face it, no ambitious soul is going to doubt their own potential).

 

Regals have confirmed their inclusion for 2014, Hurricanes are out.

Also Liverpool appear to still be included for 2014 as well as the newly announced Flower Mound.

 

THE NPSL COMES TO LOWELL, MA

The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is proud to announce that Greater Lowell United Football Club has joined the league as an expansion team. They will begin play in the Northeast Region’s Atlantic Conference in 2014.

"We are excited to bring NPSL soccer to the great soccer city of Lowell, Massachusetts with the launch of Greater Lowell United FC," NPSL Commissioner Michael Hitchcock added. "Lowell will be a great addition to our competitive Atlantic Conference of the Northeast Region while providing great opportunities for Massachusetts players to play high level NPSL soccer."

The Atlantic Conference already includes Brooklyn Italians, New York Athletic Club, New York Red Bulls, Rhode Island Reds, Seacoast United Mariners, and Seacoast United Phantoms.

GLUFC is led by a passionate front office that includes Director of Operations Tim Melican, Director of Business Operations Manny Andrade, Director of Marketing Lee Pender, and Head Coach Joao “John” Ramos.

As co-founder of GLUFC, Melican oversees day-to-day operations of the club and is heavily involved in recruiting sponsors, staff and fans alike. Andrade, a local business owner and entrepreneur, brings considerable business development experience to GLUFC.

Pender brings years of marketing, public relations, and journalistic experience to the club, while Ramos sports a decorated playing and coaching career.

“The NPSL presents the perfect opportunity for us to establish ourselves in a soccer-ready market and immediately jump into a high level of competition,” Melican stated. “The NPSL’s stability and national profile will enable us to gain credibility and build fan interest from the first time our squad takes the pitch.”

The team will play their home matches at the iconic Cawley Stadium, nestled in Lowell’s Belvidere neighborhood. Cawley is home to Lowell Public Schools sports as well as various events, including many prestigious soccer tournaments.

The facility was built in 1937 and features an artificial playing surface, locker rooms for home and away players and officials, a large working scoreboard and PA system, and a spacious press box. Cawley also has ample parking in a large lot directly next to the stadium.

GLUFC wants to identify themselves as Lowell’s team, a team the whole city and area can come together and support. Players and staff will be active in their interactions with the community, in schools, businesses, and houses of worship.

“We bring passion for the game and for our city,” Melican concluded. “Our goal is to set alight the soccer scene in Lowell, a city with a passion for the game but no major outlet for enjoying it live. Demographically and geographically, Lowell and the towns surrounding it are ideally suited to hosting a professional soccer team and filling out development and youth squads.”

More information about the club can be found at www.glufc.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GLUFC2013, and on Twitter @glufc2013.

GLUFC joins Gate City FC (Greensboro, NC), Nashville Atlas FC (Nashville, TN), Virginia Legacy (Williamsburg, VA), Cincinnati Saints (Cincinnati,OH), Flower Mound FC (Flower Mound, TX), Temecula FC (Temecula, CA), Storm FC (Broward County, FL), and Lansing United (Lansing, MI) as expansion clubs for the 2014 season.

The NPSL is a national league that operates in the 4th Division of the U.S. Soccer pyramid. NPSL teams are eligible to participate in the U.S. Open Cup through their affiliation with the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) and the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA). The NPSL is the fastest-growing national soccer league in the U.S., operating in 65+ markets across the country. Two Major League Soccer (MLS) clubs, D.C. United and the New York Red Bulls, operate U-23 squads in the NPSL.

 

The (Unofficial) NPSL South page on facebook has found another possible entry- FC Carolina Discoveries.

 

I'm happy to see the growth of the league. As I've mentioned on here a few times once the NPSL started to implement standards in 2008 you saw a much more stable league. That happened when we sold Queen City FC (yes I know it says defunct, but it was renamed Buffalo City FC and then those rights were purchased by FC Buffalo - so don't think you can count that as two defunct teams) and I took over as the membership person. It was a very much pay and you get in kind of league before that and you had much turnover. I left in 2011 and since then the standards seem to be much stricter and with Mr. Hitchcock coming in there is even more positive results.

If you look at 2009 to 2012 the amount of turnover in the PDL was the same as the NPSL. The amount of teams dropping after 1 or two years was also significantly lower than it had been from 2003-2008 in the NPSL.

Yes the NPSL was notoriously amateur. I have never denied that and it was the one thing that irritated me more than anything when I was a general manager in the league (and then responsible for going out and getting new teams). I think the new owners understand you have to spend some money on front office staff to make it go. I don't know if that is the case now, but it looks like it is much better than before. Not the USL level yet, but it seems to be a start (which is massive).

 

The NASL invasion continues...Minnesota United has announced they will be fielding a reserve team in the NPSL in 2014.

"The team will begin games in May and play through August in the Central Conference of the NPSL Midwest Region. Other teams in the Central Conference include the Quad City Eagles, Milwaukee Bavarians, Madison 56ers, Minnesota Twin Stars and Eau Claire Aris FC. More details can be found at MNUnitedFC.com/reserves . "

http://www.nasl.com/index.php?id=3&newsid=5933

 

The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is proud to announce that BCS Clash (Bryan-College Station, TX) has joined the league as an expansion team. They will begin play in the South Central Conference of the South Region in 2014.

 

Since I still lack privileges to post new topics, I figured this may be semi appropriate to post here.

With all of the new franchises and elaborate expansion the NPSL is seeing, what would it take to have the NPSL forums be its own topic outside of the "College & Amateur Soccer"?

I would like to refer our fans here but it doesn't do much for our image if we have to refer them to College and Amateur overhead when we are trying to market outselves as semi professional. I know by technicality semi pro is amateur but the average fan doesn't make that distinction I feel.

 

Link the whole forum instead of joysticking the direction for them to take. It bypasses all of the other stuff.

Technically anything that is semi-paid (which I am guessing is what "semi-pro" means) is not amateur. It is professional. An amateur cannot get paid for any services and still keep amateur status. We keep throwing around made-up terms and average fans continue to be confused.

 

Thats what we want to do is link the whole forum but it doesn't do us anygood if our fans have to dig to find the NPSL page. Plus if we are considering doing free advertising for the forum, are we not entitled to "joystick" the direction to the forum?

See, I was taught technically it is you are either paid or not paid. Even if you are semi paid, you are professional. A semi professional is when you travel to compete and expenses are covered for you but you receive no personal income from it. Then amateur is either collegiate play (because these players cannot play on teams that have anybody paid on them without forfeiting their eligibility) or adult leagues where you play on a local team and occasionally travel/pay your own way sort of deal like USASA.

 

Naw, it's all good. I just don't see BigSoccer changing any forum organization. I mean, the PDL forum is "hidden" under United Soccer Leagues when it could easily be with the College & Amateur forum.

 

To add to the confusion - teams in the two "semi-pro" leagues are allowed to pay some players but not ALL players. So "semi-pro" could also mean only a portion of the team is professional.