New PDL teams.

[ButlerBob]

Here's a couple of locations that I heard, may be joining the PDL next season. This unconfirmed speculation.

Toledo, OH
Wheeling, WV
Ft Wayne, IN
St. Louis, MO

[prk166]

St. Louis, eh? I've always wondered why they didn't have an a-league franchise. Well, I guess PDL will have to do! :)

[TheMutts]

All of those citys sound like they could carry a team. I think that they are good ideas.

[Easybake15]

What's the deal with Cleveland? I've never heard a peep out of anything there. Anyone from the area?

[SueB]

Albany, NY.

The Highlanders team from the Blackwatch Soccer Club there played a provisional schedule this season. See:

http://www.blackwatchsoccer.org/Hl_Team.htm

[fanmaster]

It is always funny that we talk about which location can support a team, but we forget that the management almost has more to do with it than the city. Look at Des Moines, what is the population? 200,000? Compared to say Tampa Bay? Yet you get 3500 average @ Des Moines (well maybe not that many) and you get 30 at Tampa Bay. They have probably the two top goal scorers in the league (Boltnar and Avli).

Anyway, I know some managers that could ruin any team no matter where they are located.

[SueB]

Des Moines metropolitan area has more like half a million, I think. That's about the same population as the state of Vermont. And yes, at this level, it's more about the who and the how than the where.

[Wade Bills]

To this list add the BYU club soccer team. Chris Watkins, their coach, currently plays for the D3 Utah Blitzz. He announced a few days ago that the BYU club team would be joining the PDL next year. (Likely this means he won't be playing for the Blitzz next year.) BYU apparently can't add a men's soccer team because they would also have to add a women's sport too, so they play at the club level. They apparently are quite good and have won a number of national collegiate club championships and they anticipate being able to play competatively in the PDL. As they will be able to play on BYU's soccer field, they won't have to pay rent and shouldn't need too large a fan base to succeed.
The Utah Blitzz used the BYU field for a single game in 2000 and for about half their games in 2001. While the facilities are somewhat spartan (temporary metal bleachers hold about 1000 fans, rest rooms are about 500 feet from the pitch, and there is just a small portable concession stand) the pitch was usually in very good shape and the best grass on which the Blitzz have played any home games.

[Cruyff14]

Williamsburg elite seem to have something of a setup like that. They really are the William and Mary team.
It is a great Idea. PDL means college players can play.

[fanmaster]

Ok one twist to this to think about . . the NCAA rule change of February says that college coaches can coach PDL/W-League and college players can play in PDL/W-League, but there cannot be more than 7 (or 8) kids from the same college team on the same PDL/W-League team AND a college coach that is coaching in the USL cannot coach ANY of his college players while in the USL. How is that going to work in this case?

[SueB]

That seems odd because the Williamsburg Legacy (it's NOT the "elite", I tell you - that's Raleigh) were coached this summer by longtime William and Mary head coach Al Albert. I thought the rule about college coaches not coaching their own players had actually been around for a long time. Could it be that it changed the OTHER way (ie that now it's okay?).

BTW, per the Legacy website, 8 players on the roster are listed as William and Mary players. The rest of the team are from Old Dominion, VCU, Va Tech, with a few here and there from other states.

At any rate, these rules wouldn't have any effect on a possible BYU entry because they're a club team and not under the jurisdiction of the NCAA. What might be a problem for them are the PDL's age limits (many BYU students are older than typical college kids because of their missions) and foreigner limitations although the restrictions are kind of lax at the moment.
Also, there is a requirement for a certain number of players to be U-19, so they'd have to be sure to have some young freshmen or perhaps local high schoolers on the roster.

[fanmaster]

The Greenville Lions Premier had 2 coaches and 14 players from Clemson set to play this year and in February, and after the NCAA changed the rule, they had to send the two coaches and 6 or 7 players back - it was a huge setback for them.

I heard that some teams might be getting around the coach/player rule by having the coach quit his job in the spring and get hired back in the fall. Seems there is no police force in this league. I 'heard' of other things that are not within the rules, but no proof of anything, all is heresay.

[Cruyff14]

Really when you look at it the colleges would want to be involved so it could attract good college playewrs to ther schools/and pdl side. otherwise the player would just try his luck at pro and lose his elegibilty. so it is a win win situation.
cheap use of stadium,too

[SueB]

Yeah, fanmaster, my bad. As I was posting at usldiscussions, I decided to double check the Legacy coaching staff, and Albert is not the coach there. I could've sworn I saw a press release about it somewhere, but whatever. Sorry about that.

[SueB]

Actually, where I saw it (that Albert was the coach of the Legacy) was the 2002 USL Media Guide.

[CalgaryMJ]

Good to see a soccer hotbed hopefully starting the process of embracing the pro game. Was highly disappointed when visiting this summer that they didn't have an outdoor team of any sort. Anyone know if they are going to be doing the same as Calgary in terms of PDL one year and then moving up as they get used to running a team, or is it just a means for the SLU players to get more playing time together?

[crewcrazy17]

Originally posted by Easybake15
What's the deal with Cleveland? I've never heard a peep out of anything there. Anyone from the area?
Cleveland had a team a few years back but it wasn't advertised well. I think they were called the Whitecaps. They played one game in my town but never mentioned where they usually played(to my recollection. Goes to show as someone posted that the place doesn't matter as much as the people. Cleveland has had indoor soccer for twenty plus years because of good management and fans that care. I have not heard of anything coming to Cleveland but hope something does. Plus Garber said investors from Cleveland were in DC over the all star weekend.

[SnakeEyes]

Originally posted by fanmaster
It is always funny that we talk about which location can support a team, but we forget that the management almost has more to do with it than the city. Look at Des Moines, what is the population? 200,000? Compared to say Tampa Bay? Yet you get 3500 average @ Des Moines (well maybe not that many) and you get 30 at Tampa Bay. They have probably the two top goal scorers in the league (Boltnar and Avli).

Anyway, I know some managers that could ruin any team no matter where they are located.

it's more like half a million. And yes we do get that many. This season we averaged over 4K a game. Topped 5k twice, and 6K once. Don't have the exact numbers in front of me :) Promotion, media coverage, play quality, and overall front office organization matters.

[SueB]

The Cleveland Caps were in the D3 Pro League in 1997-98. They went 9-9 in their first year, playing at Byers Field in Parma. Attendance was an impressive 2237 per game - tops in the league! The team went 10-8 the next year - then folded. I don't have the attendance figure for that season. I think their problem was the other D3 teams in the region moved up to the A-League or down to the PDL, and there are STILL no D3 teams in the Midwest. Sure seems like a PDL team in Cleveland would be a good thing though.

[SueB]

St. Louis last had a full USL franchise in 1995 - the Knights, who played in the "Pro League" (now D3). Then "Team St. Louis" played a 6-game provisional PDL schedule in 1999. Home field was the "SportPort" in Maryland Heights. They went 5-1 but didn't survive to the next year.