Austin Aztex U23 (PDL)

[chapulincolorado]

Should we have a pinned thread for the Austin Aztex U23 team? :confused:

FWIW....schedule is out

http://www.austinaztex.com/u23/schedules/index_E.html

[joxash]

Hey Chap! Any chance you would be at the game against DFW on May 17th? My son is playing with them this summer while he is home from Belgium and I would like to meet ya after our communications about Laredo.

Joe Shaughnessy

[VioletCrown]

Well, this seems like a reasonable place to post this.

The team website has posted a 2-1 win friendly win over St. Eds (http://www.austinaztex.com/index.html).

I got to see the game, and man, can Uriarte leap.

[chapulincolorado]

Hey Chap! Any chance you would be at the game against DFW on May 17th? My son is playing with them this summer while he is home from Belgium and I would like to meet ya after our communications about Laredo.



Probably I will not be at the since I may have a work conference to attend to. But. If things change, looking fwd to meeting ya. :)

[VioletCrown]

Report on Saturday night's friendly win (http://www.austinaztex.com/home/242576.html) and some photos at the Aztex website.

It's going to be a little tough to swallow those lines. The surface is brand new... and so are the football markings.

But it plays very nicely. And it's plenty wide, I think.

Didn't get to see the first half, and there were a lot of new faces out there for the second half. Looks like they're still testing a few players.

[chapulincolorado]

Who is "Millennium Select Eleven team"?:confused:

[FrogHammer]

Do you remember when everyone thought Y2K was going to be the end of modern civilization, and then the year 2000 came and went without incident? The "Millennium Select Eleven" must have been a team of 11 super-heroes that worked against the forces of evil and saved the planet. Now, since the Patriot act we are safe and secure, so they have nothing left to focus on and have reformed into a soccer team.

[CR#7]

The team they scrimmaged looks to be high school or youth. They all look fairly young. All the Aztex players look older. Anyone see the scrimmage that can give a critique? How is the team shaping up? They should have the team narrowed down pretty far by now since the first game is in two weeks.

[VioletCrown]

Who is "Millennium Select Eleven team"?:confused:

Millennium is an East Austin hispanic adult league, through which they sponsor several youth teams. I think I have that right. It was explained to me twice, but I probably still got it wrong.

[VioletCrown]

The team they scrimmaged looks to be high school or youth. They all look fairly young. All the Aztex players look older. Anyone see the scrimmage that can give a critique? How is the team shaping up? They should have the team narrowed down pretty far by now since the first game is in two weeks.

Not necessarily. As with all PDL teams, college players drift in over the next month as they become available. I believe they've narrowed things down fairly well. I know they're planning on an 'Announce the Players' media event this week. But I also expect that there are players they plan on using that haven't gotten home from college yet.

I have no idea how many that is, though.

[ReadyToDoIt]

will some of the standout players be brought to the pro team when they start? i know the pdl team dont get paid but does the club provide them with all the playing gear, food before games, flights/trains etc for away matchs? are most of the players also working or in college?

[mgrayscale]

None of the PDL players are paid, as technically, the PDL is amateur, and not pro. This is what allows several of the players to play for the Aztex without endangering their NCAA scholarships. Even if they were played, it wouldn't be much. For instance, even in MLS, the lower tiered players are played around $12,000/year, if anything. There are no $300,000/week Kaka's in Austin, that's for sure. The organization does pick up the tab for meals, travel and boarding for away games, and Phil and Kay have been amazing at making the players feel at home (especially nice for the out of town footballers).

However, many do work as well as play, and from what I hear, has been the challenge when some folks haven't played (work v. soccer either for games or practices). There are also some international players who are in the US on student visas that do not allow them to work off campus.

This is where I will make a plug. As mentioned above, there are a lot of players who are looking for work that will give them the flexibility to practice (I believe they're running two a days at 10:00 and 4:00) as well as play, so something in the evening with variable shifts. If you know of any positions that might fit this need, I strongly encourage you to reach out to me (use the BigSoccer email) and I'll get you in touch with the right agents within the Aztex organization. I am working on now on getting some folks into Alamo Drafthouse as I have a contact there, but we need all sorts.

Here endeth the plug.