Okay cool. == OLujosh: He's just saying that USL won't become a regional 2nd division, because the USL (read Rochester) wants to appear bigger than it is.
There is nothing wrong with being regional and I'm all for it , esppecially to discover good local talent. The USL could do that but they don't want to. The PDL & the NPSL is actually a great regional set up but they are 3rd & 4th division outfits. You also have to consider that currently, the players are amateur and most of them play for NCAA school. NCAA won't allow pros any which way & I don't think we can just close our eyes and make those PDL teams become USL2 or USL1 because the owners won't want to pay the financial dues required to become that high of a division. I think the USL tried doing that back in 1997 or 98 and many teams ended up folding. From what I gathered it was too costly and too much travel. I wish it would happen and also wish the USL would split the country in 4 - 6 regional divisions but I doubt its going to happen.
i think a more appropriate comparison would be AAA Baseball, where the International League plays in the east and the Pacific League plays in the west and midwest. The two leagues only play each other during the AAA All-Star Game and the AAA World Series. Even though the American Hockey League is ice hockey's only AAA level minor league, it isn't national in scope. It goes as far west as Omaha, Nebraska and Houston, Texas, and only goes as far south as Norfolk, Virginia.
Every USL-1 team visits every other team every season. This has been the case at least since the name change from A-League to USL-1. They play a full home-and-away schedule, plus a few extra games between nearby teams to add up to a 28-game season.
I'm wrong...I was thinking of 2004. 2001 - Portland played at Rochester 2002 - didn't play Rochester 2003 - didn't play Rochester 2004 - Rochester played at Portland 2005 - played a home/home w/ Rochester 2006 - played a home/home w/ Rochester The Home/Home thing is a recent thing....I just remembered Timber fans complaining in '04 that this was the Rhinos first trip out west in a long time...
I thought NPSL was equal to PDL. If you look at this news release just put out by the new NPSL team on Long Island, they are saying it is equivalent to Division 2 in the USSF hierarchy? NEW MEN'S TEAM L.I. Academy to compete in NPSL The Long Island Fury of the Women's Premier Soccer League, the league's 2006 national champions and organization of the year, announced Sunday the formation of an affiliated men's team. The Long Island Academy will compete in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) this summer. A schedule will be announced soon. In the U.S. Soccer structure, the Long Island Academy and NPSL are Division 3, two levels below MSL and equal to USL Division 2. The Academy and Fury names derive from the top premier teams in the Long Island Junior Soccer League's Albertson Soccer Club. Albertson is the only top-to-bottom premier soccer club on Long Island. From Under-7 to U-18. Boys wear the navy blue-and-red uniform of the Academy and now they have a top level men's team to support and follow. The Albertson Soccer Club and the Long Island Academy will develop programs that enable players to flourish and reach their potential in order to play college ball and subsequently the NPSL, with MLS and even foreignleagues as the top goal
I am not sure where they get that "Division 3" info, but it can't be correct-- unless USL-2, PDL and NPSL are all considered "Division 3" by USSF/FIFA which I highly doubt. PDL and NPSL are at the same level. The difference between the two in terms of soccer hierachy, as I understand it, is that NPSL derives its charter and status through USASA ( http://www.usasa.com ), whereas the PDL derives its charter and status directly from USSF (although they are both adult mens leagues for amateur status players). And unlike the USL-2, no professional players are allowed in the PDL and NPSL. There are slightly different eligibility rules, such as the PDL has a limit on the number of players over the age of 24 (or is it 23 or 25?) and requires three U-19 players on the roster, but the leagues are basically the same as to everything else except Open Cup qualification. (NPSL must go through the USASA qualifying process, whereas the PDL has its own process and a dedicated number of spots, currently 8, for PDL clubs only.) So I would be extremely surprised if the PDL and NPSL were regarded as different soccer divisions by USSF/FIFA.
This link is from the American Soccer History archives. Its from 2004 and it lists the PDL as DIVISION 4.....Now if things have changed in 2 years , its a different story. There is no listing for the NPSL although there is one called the MPSL. It doesn't say what division they were, however. USL Premier Development League (PDL) ("Division 4") http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/year/2004.html#pdl
Therefore, there are only 10 teams in the USL2 which is actually a 3rd tier status & there are two 4th division leagues in America. http://www.uslfans.com/ MLS=Division 1 (1st tier) 13 clubs USL1=Division 2 (2nd tier) 13 clubs USL2=Division 3 (3rd tier) 10 clubs NPSL & PDL = Division 4 (4th tier) clubs????Many!
Here's a useful (but far from comprehensive) page which shows the basic organizational structure of U.S. Soccer: http://www.ussoccer.com/about/soccer/index.jsp.html Click on the icons for USL and for USASA for more info (which is not up to date). On the USL page, it is confirmed that USL-1 is Division 2 of U.S. Soccer, but it says nothing about USL-2 or PDL in terms of their "division."
Just to clear things up a bit. PDL and NPSL are not as I understand it on the same level in the US soccer Pyramid. See my webstie http://web.mac.com/ecampsromero Under soccer pyramid. So I gather that D1 = MLS D2= USL D1 D3 = USL D2, NPSL D4 = PDL and all other amature soccer That's what I understand anyway
I agree, its been circulated to various sites that NPSL is some how at a different level than PDL. But in reality they are almost identical. At least as far as player level is concerned. Its non-professional. Period. It's- D1 = MLS D2= USL D1 D3 = USL D2 D4 = PDL, NPSL and all other amature soccer
Soccer Prime I am not so sure, the PDL has age limtis and the like that the NPSL doesn't have. I do think that it should be possible to get a more authoritative response than Wiki, I am work now and I have the NPSL paperwork at homw which I also think might state D3 status. Anyway it should be available from another source. If I get some time I will search for it.
What age limits for PDL are you referring to? Wiki says: A maximum of eight players on each team's 26-man roster can be over 23 years old, and at least three players on each team's roster must be 18 or younger. I don't see how NPSL is a higher level than PDL.
That would be the restrictions I was referring to. I am not commenting on the quality on the pitch just how the USA soccer Pyramid seems to rank them.
The key is money, amateurs are amateur, and professionals are professional. NPSL is amateur PDL is amateur USL D2 - professional contracts are signed, regardless of amounts of money exchanged. With an NPSL or PDL team, a player can basically leave your team and you really can't do anything to stop him. You can't fine him, you can't transfer list him - he can sign with Barcelona and you might, if you are lucky get a "formation rights" fee... if you can prove you developed him.
If anyone is interested or didn't know, the USASA is in the 5th division of US Soccer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USASA In the amateur leagues in this country, teams have been paying players for years. What are players being paid under the table considered?
You still have to register the players, and I'm pretty sure that if they sign for a professional team the amateur team still has to release that player. Same if they leave the team for another sanctioned team in the amateur ranks.
No way PDL, NPSL "and all other amateur soccer" is on the same level. PDL and NPSL are more or less on the same level, but pretty much every amateur soccer league is at the very least one step below.
USSF, when they run the Open Cup, tend to treat PDL as 4th division and USASA (inclusive of NPSL) as 5th division. Mind you, NPSL teams give and take reasonably with PDL in those matches. ******************************** One of the things I noticed at the birth of the NPSL was that Chico opted to have a few more "overagers" on their roster. I'm just wondering if that was part of their motivation for jumping, because otherwise they were actually drawing well. It's my impression that NPSL clubs don't draw, I thought Chico was an exception (they're out), supposedly Albuquerque does OK.
Here's my take on why the NPSL is considered part of the USASA qualification for the US Open cup. When they started, they were primarily a league in one region (similar to the Pacific Coast League). So they threw them in with how the regional and local leagues qualify teams. Now that they cover three regions, they should probably be put in at the next level. This would probably encourage the USASA clubs on the West Coast to stay involved after the state level. Here's how I think Chico ended up in MPSL/NPSL. They were one of the better D3/now USL2 teams in the west region. But then their league continued to shrink until they were pretty much without other teams. They moved PDL, but had to drop a number of their older players. They still had a lot of travel at the PDL level and got tired of being told what to do from across the country. So they followed the example of the women's clubs that left the W-League and helped to form the MPSL /now NPS.