Official 2009 St Louis Lions Thread The St Louis Lions are currently accepting players applications for the 2009 season. Applications are being accepted for the PDL Team and the Super 20 Team. Please visit our website www.stllions.com for more details or call 636-939-5151. USL PREMIER DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE The top U23 men’s amateur league in North America lives in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the development ground for elite players. The 2009 campaign features a 70-team format within four conferences, consisting of 16 regular season matches, 8 home and 8 away. The schedule is augmented by participation in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, and various exhibitions. Players have the ability to compete in the PDL throughout the summer months in a professionalized setting while maintaining their collegiate eligibility. The league is the proving ground for players that aspire to reach the highest-levels of the game, while providing affordable family entertainment within their city. USL SUPER-20 LEAGUE Created in 2006, the league provides the opportunity for the top 17-20 year olds to compete in high-level competition, as well as affords the opportunity to establish a reserve team system for the Premier Development League. The 2009 campaign features teams competing in four conferences, consisting of 8-10 regular season matches throughout the summer months.
Re: Official 2009 St Louis Lions Thread CHECK OUT THESE TICKET PRICES!!!!! The 2009 St Louis Lions Season is quickly approaching. Season Tickets: $85 Includes: Game Ticket Premium Parking Hot Dog and Soda at every game Advance Ticket Sale Package: $15 Includes: 2 Game Tickets 2 Hot Dogs 2 Sodas Game Day Tickets: $5 each[/CENTER[/CENTER]]
Re: Official 2009 St Louis Lions Thread I tried to attend a game in 08 but got lost on the way. I'll give it another shot this time, with directions!
Re: Official 2009 St Louis Lions Thread We look forward to having you there. The easiest way is to mapquest or google Woodlands Park in St Peters. We are right next door The USL Annual General Managers meeting is next week. I will make sure to keep everyone up to date on some of the happenings from Tampa.
Re: Official 2009 St Louis Lions Thread So in addition to accpeting applications for players, how is the recruiting going? It always seems like you have a good mixture of players from various levels of college soccer in the area (ie D1, D2, D3 and NAIA).
Re: Official 2009 St Louis Lions Thread Sorry for not responding earlier ButlerBob. The balance is great, and is necessary. You don't know how long you will have the D-1 players during the season. A lot of the times they come in late to training in the ealry part of the season and later in the season coaches request that they come back. So the balance with of players from multiple divisions is important. The quality of the players is really good across the board. There are some very good players at other levels, some choose not to go D1 and others aren't ready for it so they ply thier trade at another level. The interest that we are getting is widespread. It is good to know that players at all levels across the coutry know that we will give them a shot so long as they commit to organization and to the team goal.
Re: Official 2009 St Louis Lions Thread Soooo, any new developments in the Heartland Division? Are the Thugger Gays still in our division avoiding Colorado? What's happening with USL-1? What's the overall mood of USL's management/Marcos given the MLS moves into our teritories??? Are "Nike people" around? Have fun at the dinner tonight..............
Re: Official 2009 St Louis Lions Thread Sorry folks I wanted to post but my head was spinning all over the place. Lots and lots of stuff going on with scheduling, new teams, teams dropping out and a hotel that charged a riduculous rate for internet service. I am going thru my notes and will post what i can.
Re: Official 2009 St Louis Lions Thread Well I am back from the USL GM meetings in Tampa FL. Great times had by all and some great information was shared between all of the teams. The first night was Pub Night. It is a chance for the teams to get reacquainted. All of the teams are represented from the W League, PDL USL2 and USL1 teams. Some of the teams take the time to ask about players. The second day we have some brief league meetings with Lee Cohen (PDL Operations) and get a chance to hear about the state of the USL from Francisco Marcos (President of USL) and Tim Holt ( Executive VP and COO of USL). I was able to attend a couple of side sessions on Nike's envolvement in the USL, Risk Management and International Partnerships. All very good information. I attended a session and met with the West Ham organization discussing how they evaluate players and how they are set up for player development. VERY interesting. In the Nike session, Mark Duggan explained some of the Nike/UMBRO USL relationship. I know what I am telling you is high level but I want to give you an idea of what is presented and provided at the meeting. If you have questions on a session post it and I can give more info on the session or what was presented. West Ham was represented by several people. Tony Carr Academy Director did the presenting. That session was followed up by a presentation by Beswicks - a bunch of football crazy lawyers. MOST OF THEM STOKE SUPPORTERS. Beswicks represents many EPL players and discussed a variety of topics that include player transfers and how teams are compensated, how players obtain work permits, and all the wonderful legal issues with football. Adrian Heath was also at this presentation he is the new Austin Aztec Head Coach. Day two was concluded with the USL Hall of Fame Award Dinner which was taped by Fox Soccer Channel to be aired at a later date. At the dinner Amos Magee, Pat Onstad and Mo Sheta were inducted into the USL Hall of Fame. Also at the dinner the USL handed out the league hardware, unfortunately our Lions came out with nothing this year so that is good and bad. Good becasue I did not have to make room in my luggage and bad because well we will need to work harder in 2009 to win the league. Day 3 was more breakout sessions. We had to split up so Tony and Tim went to the Fan Experience. They came away very pleased and with a lot of ideas for Game Day operations. I unfortunately had to go to the due diligence presentation of meeting withe US Soccer to talk about player registration. You know all of the behind the scene thing's so that we can get players registered and on the field. I was amazed that there really is only two people that handle all of the registration for all of the leagues, MLS, USL, WPSL, Indoor, Clubs, MRL, and anything that has to do with soccer in the US. They even handle the registration of the all referees. They have a thank less job and get 3 day turnaround on registration. Remarkable. Later in the afternoon we had our division meeting. We aired out some of the thing's that can make our division better and stronger, We work together well and we all see how we can make improvements. Saturday night it was over to the fields to take in some Super Youth League (SYL) action. Great game was played by Northern Virginia Royals and the Rage SC in the U17 Boys division. The Rage have two stud midfileders that are coveted by jsut about every single college in the country. The USL Owners and GM's then laced them up ourselves for a little 5 v 5 tournament put on by Sprinturf. Great fun was had by all and we were a little sore the next day. On sunday we worked on schdules and submitted what we as a conference thought would be best. Of course we all know that the league will make changes. So w can not release schedules until a later date per the league. I believe we need to make sure the US open Cup Qualifiers are all played early and we don't have any conflicts. We packed up and came home after that except we had some soccer fun in the Tampa Airport. Let's just say an unofficial rematch of the 5v5 game broke out at Gate 81 and 82 in the concourse. USL Oorganization 10 -- Homeland Security 0.
Re: Official 2009 St Louis Lions Thread Six St Louis Lions are on thier way to the upcoming professional combines. Invitees to the 2009 MLS Adidas Combine in Ft Lauderdale Fl Januray 9th thru 13th. Calum Angus of St Louis University\St Louis Lions Kyle Patterson of St Louis University\St Louis Lions Also joining them is Brandon Barklage of St Louis University Invitees to the 2009 USL UMBRO Combine in Charleston, SC Dec 14th-16th Tommy Heinemann of Rockhurst University\St Louis Lions Jarius "Juice" Holmes of McKendree University\St Louis Lions Jon Fridal of Western Illinois\St Louis Lions Jona Andrade of Western Illinois\St Louis Lions Congrats to everyone attending and good luck!!!
Re: Official 2009 St Louis Lions Thread Brad Peters also made the USL Combine. He played for Colorado U23's last season. Brad played for St Louis in the 2007 season.
Re: Official 2009 St Louis Lions Thread Have you seen this yet? https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=16519065&postcount=110 Lions to apply for 2010 USL-1 franchise ST. LOUIS LIONS ANNOUNCE EFFORT TO ACQUIRE MEN'S PROFESSIONAL UNITED SOCCER LEAGUES FIRST DIVISION FRANCHISE FOR ST. LOUIS Cottleville...Following the Annual General Meeting of the United Soccer Leagues (USL) in Tampa, Florida November 21-24, 2008, St. Louis soccer icon Tony Glavin has decided to begin the process to acquire a men's professional team to play in the USL First Division beginning in 2010. Glavin, who is Owner, President and Head Coach of the St. Louis Lions USL Premier Development League franchise located in the St. Louis region, will be heading a group of investors who will bring some of the highest quality professional soccer being played in the United States to the region. "We're well aware of the wonderful effort to bring Major League Soccer to the St. Louis area and we certainly wish Mr. Cooper and his group our hope for every success in Collinsville" said Glavin. "However a USL1 franchise is a very different creature than the MLS. To begin with, while the quality of play in the USL has proven itself to be comparable to that of the MLS in both the 2008 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup and the 2008 CONCACAF Champions League of international play, USL franchise fees have historically been well under $1 million, while MLS franchise fees are now at some $40 million. Where the MLS might need to fill a 20,000 seat stadium for every game to break even, we'll be looking at something on the scale of 3-5,000 attendance per game to be profitable."
Re: Official 2009 St Louis Lions Thread ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE MEDIA From: The St. Louis Lions Contact: Tony Glavin 2 Woodlands Parkway (636)939-5151 Cottleville, MO 63376 www.stllions.com Dec. 1, 2008 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ST. LOUIS LIONS ANNOUNCE EFFORT TO ACQUIRE MEN’S PROFESSIONAL UNITED SOCCER LEAGUES FIRST DIVISION FRANCHISE FOR ST. LOUIS Cottleville...Following the Annual General Meeting of the United Soccer Leagues (USL) in Tampa, Florida November 21-24, 2008, St. Louis soccer icon Tony Glavin has decided to begin the process to acquire a men’s professional team to play in the USL First Division beginning in 2010. Glavin, who is Owner, President and Head Coach of the St. Louis Lions USL Premier Development League franchise located in the St. Louis region, will be heading a group of investors who will bring some of the highest quality professional soccer being played in the United States to the region. “We’re well aware of the wonderful effort to bring Major League Soccer to the St. Louis area and we certainly wish Mr. Cooper and his group our hope for every success in Collinsville” said Glavin. “However a USL1 franchise is a very different creature than the MLS. To begin with, while the quality of play in the USL has proven itself to be comparable to that of the MLS in both the 2008 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup and the 2008 CONCACAF Champions League of international play, USL franchise fees have historically been well under $1 million, while MLS franchise fees are now at some $40 million. Where the MLS might need to fill a 20,000 seat stadium for every game to break even, we’ll be looking at something on the scale of 3-5,000 attendance per game to be profitable.” In the 2008 Lamar Hunt US Open, USL1 Charleston Battery defeated both FC Dallas and the Houston Dynamo of the MLS before falling 3-1 to DC United of the MLS. In earlier rounds, Crystal Palace Baltimore, a Second Division (USL2) team beat two MLS teams before losing to DC United. In CONCACAF play, both Montreal and Puerto Rico of the USL have moved into the knock-out rounds of international play against the best teams in the Americas. Buoying the bid by the St. Louis Lions are a number of developments that argue for future success. When sports apparel and equipment giant Nike acquired the UK based Umbro sports shoe and apparel company, it also became a 94% owner of the United Soccer League. Mark Duggan, President of Umbro-The Americas, announced at the Annual General Meeting that Nike is committed to the success of the league. As USL President Francisco Marcos stated earlier, “Whether we are covered in diamonds (the Umbro logo) or surrounded by the swoosh (the Nike logo) I am convinced that the combination of Nike + Umbro is future of soccer, and certainly ours.” With a lucrative(for American soccer) television contract in hand with the Fox Soccer Channel along with players and television audiences throughout North and South America, the USL has also begun to look abroad for strategic partnerships and once again, Tony Glavin and the St. Louis Lions are well placed. As Tim Holt, USL Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer said at the USL AGM, “The USL continues to evolve into a viable alternative league model for Pro Soccer in North America featuring the USL developmental pyramid with an increasing focus on international relationships.” English Premier League teams West Ham and Bromley have begun player exchange and player development projects with the league while Glavin has developed a relationship with the famed Celtic FC from his hometown of Glasgow, Scotland. “What also makes our efforts attractive to the league is the fact that we have so much of the necessary infrastructure in place, including five full size fields, an indoor soccer field and facility, an extensive youth program and a thousand seat stadium with full size professional field along with all the necessary land for further development,” said Glavin. “We’re going to be looking at expanding our stadium and installing a variety of seating while expanding our parking to accommodate the larger crowds. It is for those reasons we feel assured of our own success even with an MLS franchise less than fifty miles away.” The United Soccer League has room for growth with the Seattle Sounders, a USL1 team joining the MLS next year and the Atlanta Silverbacks taking a hiatus as Atlanta bids for an MLS franchise for 2010. Current USL1 franchises are: Minnesota Thunder Rochester Rhinos Carolina Railbacks Montreal Impact Charleston Battery Portland Timbers Vancouver Whitecaps Miami FC Blues Puerto Rico Islanders For the 2008 season, there was a 30 game league schedule with 15 home games. The United Soccer Leagues was founded in 1986 and the USL1 began play in 1996. Currently there are 120 franchises comprise USL1, USL2, USL-Premier Development League, and USL-W, a women’s league. There is also an extensive SUPER Y league composed of youth boys and girls teams with players competing at the highest levels of youth soccer competition. The St. Louis Lions was a awarded a USL-PDL franchise in 2005 and was named “Rookie Franchise of the Year” in 2006. Tony Glavin is a former professional player from Scotland who has played and coached professionally in the United States since 1978 with the Philadelphia Fury and the St. Louis Steamers. He was a three time MISL All-Star and also won the MISL All-Star Most Valuable Player Award. He has coached the St. Louis Steamers, the Kansas City Comets and the Dayton Dynamo. “I look forward to the day in the very near future when there is competition between two professional soccer teams in the St. Louis region that takes on all the excitement and fanaticism I remember as a boy in Scotland when the Old Firm, Glasgow Rangers, the Bluenoses and Glasgow Celtic, the Bhoys, faced off in a cross town rivalry, “ said Glavin. “When we have generated that kind of passion St. Louis will have regained its place as the soccer capital of the United States.” Press Conference with more details to follow in January.
Re: Official 2009 St Louis Lions Thread So how do you feel about it, especially in regards to STL MLS?
Re: Official 2009 St Louis Lions Thread Well, I'm sure you are that! However, as a fan of a longtime USL-1 club that 'went away' for a huge response to our new MLS club, I've got to ask why you think this is a good idea. Or, is MLS not going to happen in STL? (Yes, I read the comments in the press release, but find them a bit optimistic.)
Re: Official 2009 St Louis Lions Thread The individuals involved see USL-1 as a viable opportunity in the St Louis area. They believe that St Louis can support both just like MLB and the minor league baseball teams in the area. Altough I have closely watched the proceedings with the St Louis MLS bid I don't have any dealings with his organization so I don't have updates as to the status of the MLS bid.
Re: Official 2009 St Louis Lions Thread I hear that Jarius "Juice" Holmes did very well at the USL Combine. Apparently he has a couple of tryouts scheduled with USL-1 sides and is on his way to a tryout this weekend. Tony said he was unbelievable. Completely on his game.
Re: Official 2009 St Louis Lions Thread It's called the hype sell and that's what press releases are for. Especially start ups. What do you want them to be - pragmatic?
Re: Official 2009 St Louis Lions Thread I'm trying to find out how to submit an application for the 09' tryouts and nothing has been posted on the main site yet, any help would greatly appreciated!
Re: Official 2009 St Louis Lions Thread Tryout info has now been posted on the Lions website. Any players interested in trying out please go to www.stllions.com and reference the tryout info.
Re: Official 2009 St Louis Lions Thread If you are going to be attending National Soccer Coaches Association of America Conference in St Louis next week, please take time to stop by the St Louis Lions and USL booth to say hello.