HE’S INTERESTED: Messing wants to invest in, help revive indoor Lancers - Michael Lewis, Front Row Soccer https://www.frontrowsoccer.com/2018...-messing-wants-to-help-revive-indoor-lancers/
If the worker compensation insurance issue can be resolved (the MASL is supposedly working on a league-wide insurance plan) and they can find an affordable arena in Rochester where the MASL team can be a lead tenant and get weekend dates for most of the home games, Rochester may have a MASL team again. Those are big issues to resolve, though. It might be more realistic to run an MASL2 team in a rec center type arena at first. Develop some players and build the fan base again while waiting for the right time to start a MASL team.
So I just saw article that says Syracuse Silver Knights are moving to Utica and now being called the Utica City FC (which is the God awful name). Did Tommy Tanner sell the team? Is he still the owner? Co-owner? Part-owner? On another note. What is going with Toronto? What is the name of the team?
Press event just started 43 minutes ago. I would imagine those questions will be answered by day's end. I had heard Toronto would be called the "Rage," but I don't know if that is actually true. I do know they're <6 months from playing a game and there has been precious little activity.
Looks like my commute to games just got short. I am 10 minutes from Utica as opposed to 1 hour and 10 minutes to Syracuse.
Two more articles on the move. Wish Tanner and company nothing but the best in Utica and was glad to see the Knights relocating rather than just fold completely. They had a number of close games against the Blast last season and are 2 or 3 talented players away from a possible run at the championship. Hopefully they get a better center logo for their turf, that Dave and Busters logo always gave me double vision. https://www.syracuse.com/silver-knights/2018/06/syracuse_silver_knights_moving_to_utica.html https://www.syracuse.com/silver-kni..._silver_knights_soccer_to_leave_syracuse.html
Blast will host an exhibition vs Canada at the SECU arena on August 4th. http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/soccer/bs-sp-blast-canada-exhibition-20180627-story.html
Excited for our new team here in Utica. Does anyone know how many players are still active USL players? Trying to get a feel for the level of play in this league. Now that the season is ending a month later what will players do you play indoor & outdoor? Do the MASL players leave early to go outdoors in March or do they stay for playoffs and join the outdoor team a little late? Curious how the MASL and USL might overlap.
The only player who left indoor early for the USL that I know of this year was Tony Walls. Sean Totsch left early one year and didn't come back the next year. Franck Tayou has been playing for different USL teams, but he has finished the indoor season each year.
Quite a few of the Syracuse Silver Knight players also suited up for Syracuse FC in the NPSL. You should see some of them in Utica this year.
Which is not to say MASL players are NPSL-level. I think logistically it doesn't work out for them to play in both the MASL and USL, but the lower leagues are more flexible.
I see a pretty big talent gap between the power teams in this league and the new franchises without many resources. I understand that the league has been in decline and a good chunk of players are NPSL level, basically semi pro players. But some of the stronger clubs have many former USL players who either aged out of pro outdoor or guys would couldn’t get another USL contract after spending some time in the league. The average age of the MASL guys is pretty high, guess for many it’s one last chance to be a pro and play the game for money. Not sure to what degree this league serves as a steppingstone for young guys to move up to bigger and better teams? Will be able to tell after watching a year or two of Utica City FC.
The level of play is always subjective, but I'm not sure what you're basing your comment on that the average age of MASL players is high.
The average age is kinda high when excluding the semi pro guys and looking at those with pro outdoor experience. The players who have been in the USL are mostly near retirement and not too many current MASL players are in the USL this summer. It would be good to see indoor teams signing more current outdoor guys. Years ago, the A League was very strong and had many indoor players who played.
I have no idea if it's new, but the Lancers' website has a page that says MASL2: more info coming soon.
Just because a player is a good outdoor player that doesn't necessarily mean they will be a good indoor player and vice versa. It often takes outdoor players a significant time for outdoor players to adjust to the pace and physicality of the indoor game. For example, the Silver Knights signed former MLS player Diego Serna in their first season. In four seasons with the Miami Fusion, he had 52 goals. However, he only lasted 8 games in the inaugural Silver Knights season.
Not having outdoor experience doesn't make you a semi-pro indoor soccer player. That's like saying LeBron James is semipro because he doesn't have any hockey experience. These guys are professional indoor soccer players.
Yes, there are some players, such as Tony Walls (formerly of the indoor Milwaukee Wave and Cedar Rapids Rampage and currently USL Saint Louis FC) who are good at both indoor and outdoor soccer. That is not common though. The skills to excel at indoor soccer (great ball handling, more physical, accurate passing and shooting, speed and quickness, ability to make fast decisions with the ball) are not able to develop for many outdoor players. Teams that win a lot of games in the MASL will usually have many experienced and accomplished indoor players. As Sydney Nusinov correctly states, 'moneyball' doesn't work for indoor soccer. Teams have to 'win now' every year to keep the paying fans coming in the gate. The MASL doesn't have a draft, so there is no reason to tank for a top pick. With the proliferation of lower-level outdoor pro soccer leagues, there aren't a lot of unknown super-talented soccer players just waiting to make low wages (for the most part) in the MASL. Every team should try to develop some younger guys but you won't win much with a roster full of them. Luckily for the 'new' team in Utica, enough of the experienced guys from last season's Syracuse squad will likely grace the turf once again in New York. Don't get too excited about the 'open tryouts' players (mostly outdoor guys on the fringes of pro soccer)that join - most won't add much to the party. Preseason 'exhibition' games are also meaningless in evaluating how players will perform in the regular season. No one plays defense in exhibitions, and many of the exhibition players never see the field in regular season. How many good indoor veteran players do you have on the team and do you have a legit goalkeeper? The answers to those questions will be more predictive of winning regular season and playoff games.