Looks like Boca plan on playing their season games at Balboa Stadium in downtown. Very good choice in terms of location. http://mienlace.com/news/2010/jan/29/blanco-jugara-en-san-diego/ However they'll be opening up the preseason of course against Veracruz and Blanco at Helix High in La Mesa.
Thank you athletics68 for this thread. Here is a link that summarizes the press release from Monday January 25, 2010: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...-national-premier-soccer-league-82702477.html At SD Boca FC we are highly motivated to achieve our goal of bringing professional soccer to San Diego. The game on Tuesday February 2, 2010 against Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz is an exhibition match to show the public that we are serious as a club about bringing big games and big names to San Diego as well as making big names out of our star filled soccer population. That is why we have this game before try outs. We want to attract the best players in San Diego and we want to show that we are a serious and well organized club. Bringing Veracruz to San Diego was "no small feat", as athletics68 said. Imagine the possibilities if we can achieve this in such a short amount of time. We have our hearts, our time and not to mention our wallets in this team. We are serious about our goal and as I said before, we are highly motivated in achieving our goal of bringing professional soccer to San Diego. SD Boca Head Coach Eliseo "Papo" Santos, former SD Flash coach, will be hand picking from a pool of players that he has been working with for years. He is devoted to giving Veracruz a good game. The roster on Tuesday, February 2nd, will not necessarily reflect the roster for the NPSL season which begins April 2, 2010. The open try outs will be fair. We want the best. We will settle for nothing less and we will not allow any personal attachments to come in the way of that. I only address this because there has been miscommunication(rumors) as far as this goes with a few fans and players. "Papo" told his players on a Mission Bay run this Thursday that "once try out days come, I don't know any of you. You will all be numbers to me. You will all have to prove to me that you deserve a spot on the team just like every other player there. Your number has to stand out." Try outs for SD Boca FC are February 20th and 21st. More details at www.SDBocaFC.com. There is a lot of talent in San Diego and with Tijuana right across the border we not only have immediate access to millions of players and fans here in the US but millions of fans from Mexico as well. My question here is... why doesn't San Diego already have a professional soccer team? Respectfully yours San Diego, SD Boca FC ---- Reminders: Try outs for SD Boca FC are February 20th and 21st. More details at www.SDBocaFC.com The game will be held next week on Tuesday February 2nd at 7:30pm at Helix High School stadium. Tickets are on sale now at SDBocaFC.com for $20. Tickets at the door will be $30. Lets support the return of professional soccer to San Diego! For any additional info on SD Boca FC please contact us over email at info@sdboca.com or call us at (619) 221 8023. For sponsorship opportunities with SD Boca FC please email julio.leon@sdboca.com.
I think this game sends the message that you are a serious club; it is impressive that Veracruz would come up and play a brand-new, untested, unknown team. It certainly is an eye-catching way to make an entrance. But thinking from a player's standpoint, I would much rather try out for a team that has a big-name team on their upcoming schedule, as opposed to having already played them. "We already played Veracruz, come tryout so you can play in our next game against the Southern Oregon Fuego" doesn't sound nearly as enticing as "Come to tryouts this month and try to earn a spot in the squad that will be facing Veracruz next month". I also think you would end up with a better team to face Veracruz doing it the other way around. I have no idea who it is who will be playing next week, but you must believe there are better players out there somewhere or you wouldn't be holding an open tryout. Seems like holding the tryout first would ensure you had the best squad possible for your marquee game. If you hold the tryout and the players you already have really turn out to be the best around, then great, know you know you're working with the best available talent. But if you hold the tryouts after the game and replace even half of the current squad, chances are you would've fared better in the game, making it more likely to recruit big-name opposition in the future. I don't mean to be overcritical, just letting you know what I would think if I was trying out. I wish you guys the best of luck next week and in the NPSL season.
Probably too late to worry about that at this point. Blanco is already in Tijuana to play Tijuana FC tomrrow and will be here on Tuesday.
I always thought Torero Stadium was a good venue for soccer. Balboa Stadium would be a great venue if they kept it up and fixed the field.
Yeah, it's a pretty new turf. Not sure what year they put it in, but it's flat, which from what I hear is more than they could say for the old surface.
Yeah the old surface was so bad that it rated an article about it in the paper. Torero would have been the best choice, but I suspect it's a more expensive option that doesn't necessarily have as good of a location as Balboa.
Boca plays Veracruz tonight, but still only has 10 players listed on the roster on their website. One is the Brazilian-style one-namer "Justin". I hope they really have more than 10. It would be a shame to waste the opportunity of a big game like this.
president_nator you make a great point in saying that the try outs should have been before this game. Part of the reason why this game was possible was because it was convenient for Veracruz since they would be in the area. We saw a great opportunity and we took it. Although I agree it does not make sense from a player and try out point of view it has proved to be very beneficial in getting our team name out to the masses. In order to achieve our dream of bringing a pro soccer team to San Diego we need funds to grow. This game will help get our name out to investors. We are already looking for potential land for building a soccer specific stadium just as other big cities have done. We dream big here at SD Boca FC and although it seems like a long shot we believe that if your reach for the moon, you will land among the stars. As far as the current stadium goes, it is still up in the air. No decision has been taken. Updates on this will be posted on www.SDBocaFC.com. The roster for the game tonight is filled with 2 squads. One for the first half and one for the second half. This was designed as such in order to give the Veracruz players a greater challenge with fresh legs entering for the second part of the match. This was the last word from Coach Eliseo "Papo" Santos. As far as the "Brazilian" Justin, I believe that may just be an error on our part which we will fix immediately. Oh and president_nator, your two cents are worth more than you can think of maybe a dollar. In all seriousness we are here for San Diego and every opinion or comment is greatly valued, so maybe 2 dollars! For any other questions or concerns please post them here or on our new team forum at www.sdbocafc.com/forum. Please sign up and get the ball rolling on this forum! =D For sponsorship opportunities please email julio.leon@sdboca.com. ---------------------------- Reminder: The game against Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz is tonight at 7:30pm at Helix High school stadium. Come join the fun! Buy tickets online at www.sdbocafc.com for $20 (put Julio Leon in the comment box please) or at the gate for $30.
Re: San Diego Boca FC thread [R] http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/feb/03/blanco-scores-for-club-in-local-exhibition/ I will be moving to San Diego in the summer - really stoked to find out about this club, totally made my day!
Re: San Diego Boca FC thread [R] Glad they made the paper. But they list the final score as 2-0... wasn't it 4-0 at full time? 2-0 was the score at half.
Re: San Diego Boca FC thread [R] Maybe the writer from the Union-Tribune didn't bother sticking around for the second half after Blanco subbed out (that would explain the lack of a byline). Mexican press more or less agrees that it finished 4-0 (e.g. http://www.notiver.com.mx/index.php/eldeporte/69675.html?fecha= ; http://www.mediotiempo.com/futbol/mexico/noticias/2010/02/03/veracruz-4-0-san-diego-goleo-el-tiburon ; http://www.oncetitular.com/noticias/?p=24804 ; http://www.xeu.com.mx/nota.cfm?id=195343 ) with one report claiming 5-0 (http://www.oem.com.mx/esto/notas/n1502964.htm). Oh yeah, and the Boca FC website shows 4-0 also: http://sdbocafc.com/
That was the worst thing I have ever seen in my entire life. I went to the game and it was a complete joke. I ended up leaving before it was over b/c I got sick of swallowing my own vommit. The score...if Veracruz even took a shot would have been 20 or 30 to nothing. It is an embarassment that SD Boca would pump themselves up so much to end up fielding a bunch of 18 year old community college players. I mean no disrespect to the players themselves...they just are not at the same level as veracruz. My favorite part was when Blanco was screaming at some guy during halftime...I presume it was the person who organized this. Every time Blanco dribbled into the box he would turn around and pass it all the way back as if to say, "this is an insult". Again...I appologize to all the players as it could not have been easy being embarassed that badly. To the coach and the organizers...shame on you. You should refund all of the money we spent. Perhaps tryouts before the exhibition would have been better. Or maybe you could have had Pumitas, SD United or even the Fusion teams play instead...at least they have been playin for a couple years and have a decent player pool.
I don't know if I'd be that harsh, as it was a fun night out considering SD's severe lack of pro or even semi-pro soccer. But it did seem as though either Veracruz was pulling punches or Veracruz isn't really that good (I do suspect it's the former however). Still if you went expecting more you were expecting way too much. This was essentially a D4 level US team that just formed a week before going up against Veracruz who as a D2 (formerly D1 Mexican side) are at least the equivalent of an MLS squad. It was going to be lopsided, that was a given. Should Boca have played the game, maybe not based on how little lead time they had and how little in the way of tryouts or training they had, but at the same time I think they benefits of bringing in those several thousand folks who did come probably outweighed any downside. The Boca name is out there now where it wouldn't have been before. Time will tell though. It will be interesting to see how they draw at their next more mundane exhibition or at the season opener. Then we'll know if this calculated risk paid off.
I wasn't able to attend, but I'll weigh in. It's an exhibition. Nothing more. It's a chance to see one of the world's best teams. Back in Pittsburgh, we got the chance to host Bayer Leverkusen. The Bundesliga side. I think it was a given we were going to lose, but to all that attended, it seemed to be a great, unique night of soccer. The NPSL is what it is. It isn't the EPL, SPL, Eredivisie...even MLS. The league itself will start in due time, and we'll face opponents more our calibre. It'll likely be more entertaining in some sense, but how often does a person usually get to see the world's best teams?
Really? Veracruz? I'm sure they were better than the makeshift Boca team, but I don't know if they belong too near the top of the "world's best" list...
Well to be fair Veracruz doesn't play in the FMF anymore. They got dropped down in 2008. They're in whatever the second division is called this year.
Yeah maybe it was harsh...but I am being completely realistic when I say any of the teams playing in the Robb Field League could beat boca sd. Any premier team or super majors team and a handfull of other teams would beat boca. Do you remember Fusion or SD United or Pumitas? THey all played in the NPSL and I believe Fusion won it or came close. Those three teams are so much better than this boca team. I realize it's early, but when are these coaches going to realize that the way to grow soccer in CA is not by thinking you can build a great team. You need lots and lots of money first, then you build a good team, then you play an exhibition game. The fact that they raised a lot of money is great and very understood why they did it. However, as a potential invester....they just lost me and 99% of San Diego. With critics out there (me included obviously) you cannot afford the luxury of what Boca SD did and expect to be taken seriously. I wish them the best of luck...but there has already been 3 teams in the last two years to fail. NPSL is a good league for amature soccer players...I played in it and there is nothing against it. But most people have never heard about this league and therefore the "overselling" is my biggest complaint. We all know the NPSL is about as good as Div. III College Soccer...a competitive league that allows kids to keep playing, which is great. But there is no way this team is going to build a stadium and become what they say they will...that is absurd. If the Chargers can't get a stadium and we can't get a MLS Team how are they going to do anything? Ridiculous if you ask me.
Yeah don't know if they'll be successful with a SSS or anything like that, and in that respect they may be overselling. The San Diego Flash group will be much more likely to get things like a SSS done in this area playing at a much higher level in D2.
The Fusion did win the NPSL title (2007, I think), then became SD United the next year. Most of those guys are still playing around the county somewhere. A lot are actually with the Sockers right now, which rules them out of playing with Boca, or any other team for that matter. SD United had a team last year, but no league to play in. They do still have a team in the SDCSL (the Sunday-Robb Field league you mentioned), but it looks like they won't be playing in the NPSL this year (according to the team list on the NPSL site). Pumitas also has a pretty decent team in the SDCSL, even though they haven't played in the NPSL for a couple of years. No doubt Boca would have had a better team if they had held tryouts before the game, like I suggested in a previous post. There are a lot of talented players in San Diego. I think they realize that too, but I guess for the game to happen at all, it had to happen that way. If the goal was to get their name out there, I think they've accomplished that. No one could have seriously expected them to win anyway, and 4-0 isn't that bad of a scoreline, regardless of how bad it actually looked on the field (I don't know, I wasn't there). Reality is, they are an amateur team, and a brand new one at that. There was very little chance they were going to beat a professional team, even a 2nd division one. I'm sure they'll look much better after they've held their tryouts and trained together for a bit (not to mention playing opponents more at their level). The NPSL (and its teams) should be taken for what they are: amateur. I don't mean that in a condescending way, just saying that these are teams filled with players who are either still in college, or possibly just out, along with a few older players who just still want to play competitive soccer. I know the league likes to advertise itself as a sort of stepping stone to the professional ranks for young kids, but in reality I don't think that has happened for too many guys. Most of the guys in their 20's who are talented enough to go pro are already there.
Our operations team here at SD Boca FC managed to bring Cuauhtemoc Blanco to San Diego to play and NPSL team, please name another San Diego based soccer team that has been able to do the same in recent years? How is that a joke? How is that the worst thing you have seen in your life? The fact that the game happened and it was able to be organized so quickly was an amazing feat. Were you even at the game? 20 or 30 something? This statement is completely ignorant. Our goalies saved more than a few shots that were headed for the back of the net. Anyone that attended the game can verify that statement. Even if you did not have your eye on the game the whole time you could not ignore the numerous times that the announcer yelled, "Tiene portero San Diego!" meaning "San Diego has a goalie!" which is what you would yell out when a goalie makes a save. Our players are obviously not the same level as Veracruz. That is a given. The game was an exhibition match to get the SD Boca name out to the public. It served its purpose and we are very excited about the positives that have come out of it. Inter Milan beat AC Milan earlier this year 4-0. Did they not? Is AC Milan vommit worthy too? A brand new NPSL team vs a Mexican 2nd division team ending up 4-0 is not a bad result. My favorite part was when Cuauhtemoc Blanco stepped into the field and the fans realized that SD Boca FC could really bring out one of the best Mexican soccer players of all time to a high school to play an exhibition match against an ambitious NPSL club. Your assumption that Blanco was screaming at one of the organizers is absolutely wrong. Something you may want to know about one of our organizers, SD Boca President Yan Skwara, is that he has close ties to MLS clubs. Do I hear more exhibition games and big teams coming to play in San Diego? Near the end of march? and more international friendlies too!? More details coming soon. To start off, its apologize not appologize. Secondly, this was probably a dream come true for all the players involved on the SD Boca side. To play against a professional team would be a dream come true for any aspiring soccer player. I doubt they felt embarrassed to say, "I just played against Cuauhtemoc Blanco." Again, I challenge you to name a team that can put together something of this magnitude. We are proud to have brought this to San Diego and are excited to bring more big exhibition games to San Diego. Tryouts before the exhibition game would have been superb but unfortunately time was not so kind to us and we had to put a roster together. Eliseo "Papo" Santos did a good job putting together a roster of local players to represent us in such a short amount of time. Our player pool includes all San Diego players, that includes former Pumitas FC and SD United players if they wish to come out. We are also excited to be announcing some player signings after our tryouts and invitational training camp. The players we pick out from San Diego will be the best around. We will combining these players with other players of professional backgrounds and in the end we will have a team that will be the best in San Diego. There is no doubt about that. ----------------------- REMINDERS: 1. TRYOUTS for SD Boca FC are Feb 20, 21. For more information or a special offer on tryout registration please email me at julio.leon@SDBoca.com. There will be another big team coming to San Diego for an exhibition match after tryouts. 2. Become a fan of ours on facebook and join our forum at www.SDBocaFC.com/Forum. ANNOUNCEMENTS: 1. We are now happy to announce that you can purchase SD Boca wear at Second Chance Sports, a store that has been in business here in San Diego for 21 years. It is located right across the street from Robb field in Ocean Beach.