============== I always thought NASL needed to get connected with the NPSL, much the way MLS is with USL, and taking the logical step down to PDL. After all, wasn't the original split or forming of the NPSL away from the PDL, was pretty much the same reason why some USL1/USL2 teams moved to NASL? "League running the League", rather than 'teams running the league"....or something similar to that.
That and I believe its cheaper to field teams in the NPSL as opposed to the PDL. Not sure why it would be though as its not like players are really paid and the levels of play are pretty much the same.
The difference comes in the franchise fee and the yearly dues. Why? Well...just the difference in how the organizations choose to run each.
Probably true. Still don't know how that higher fee and/or dues help increase or raise the level of play. I mean the players are pretty much at or near the same type of skill and its not like either league is different in quality. I just wish they would all just work together.
You and I, and many US soccer fans, wish the same. Some would say that a higher fee weeds out crappy ownership, structure, teams, etc. Can't say they are wrong...or necessarily right.
Its not like any PDL or NPSL owners have ever had much of a chance to play at a higher level. I mean in most countries if an owner has serious ambitions, he will invest his money in a group of guys and move up to a 3rd, 2nd or maybe with hope, a 1st tier. I've never seen any of these owners say they want to play at those levels and if anything, they seem content to play as an amateur under 23 , 4th or 5tier level. Some teams might be better or just as good as the NCAA D1 but they don't get nearly 1/2 as much exposure as college soccer and if anything, they get a lot less. I can talk about college ball and their players but I can't name hardly any guys from either the PDL or NPSL.
Well typically if you want groups to work together you start from the top league and work your way down which I think all can agree that MLS is the top league (no matter how you define it.) You now have a league underneath that working as a partner/affiliate with them. To me that is the cooperation you are looking for. In this case you just have another league in the middle who wants to try and go head to head instead. Which if that is what they want to, then so be it, that is their perogative but that is certainly not a group trying to move towards a unified system. Some now say NPSL is moving towards that with them which again if that is their concept then so be it, but bottom line that is not starting at the top and then working in collaboration. Just my opinion.
Kind of reminds me of the years in American soccer, 1967-68.... http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1967.html http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1968.html Who said history doesn't repeat itself?
The ambition of a PDL/NPSL to "play at a higher level" isn't possible without money. That's not there in countries where they can move up tiers -- promotion/relegation system. So, why not continue to operate as an amateur side? They don't have the money to do anything else. In other countries where promotion/relegation happens, there's also MAJOR media money involved in promotion. That helps ease financial burden of promotion. That media money doesn't exist in this country. You can't talk PDL or NPSL because it's not covered. The media sucks for it. Heck, even from a collegiate perspective, colleges do not cover their players that play PDL or NPSL very well. If all parts did their jobs in marketing and promotion, then you'd be able to talk amateur soccer more. But, it also helps when/if the PDL/NPSL clubs operated locally instead of completely new rosters each year. It truly is hard to keep up with rosters as much as they revolve. Overseas, lower level clubs operate locally (for the most part) because the players have to be there with the structure of the leagues. They only move on if they are sold, loaned, or even an employment relocation. It's not out of the norm to see players play for the same amateur team for 10+ years because they love the game and they have a job that allows them to continue playing (almost similar to our baseball system where minor leaguers can be lifers in the system).
Wait, you have been promising it was a done deal. Now you are hoping? What about all that superior St. Louis intel?
Yes this is true. Those levels also field a few older players and/or former 1st tier guys who decide they still love to keep playing , making 50-80k a year playing in what is (for them) an easy league. I don't think PDL or NPSL pays any players though.
Except that it's never worked that way in the modern history of professional soccer in this country. MLS has never shown much more than teped interest in having major affiliations with D-2 or D-3 minor leagues. Until now. That's the kind of answer I'd expect from someone who works for the Energy front office. No. Despite occasional odd-sounding "head-to-head" rhetoric from Commish Peterson, the NASL consists of some owners who split from USL-1, disgruntled with the limitations of the USL system-- and there's plenty of wiggle room between a $500k USL Pro expansion fee and the tens of millions MLS expansion teams have paid of late. Arena football seems to work okay without any major affiliations with the NFL; while the NBA D-league hasn't exactly been setting the world afire. Except that your opinion about "starting at the top" has precious little basis in fact when it comes to soccer. There is no track record; and if Holt/USL gets his wish for "30 to 40 teams," what does that do to the level of talent compared with today's USL Pro? Baseball (and to a lesser extent hockey) have had effective systems of minor league affiliations in place for decades; but basketball, football and soccer clearly have not.
Except for the fact that they could....you know..."play at a higher level" merely by choosing to do so. Where did the Dayton Dutch Lions start out, again? For the most part, these team owners are where they are because that is where they can afford to be. Proles want to see teams who can come up with some decent players and win a league get promoted, whether or not they can pull it off from an organizational or financial standpoint. Which is supposedly somehow a better solution than identifying teams that can afford to play at a higher level and deciding whether or not to allow them up. They would also like you to believe that the prospect of promotion will bring owners out of the woodwork, all flush with the prospect of getting in on the cheap and eventually getting to the top level, even though they seem to ignore the little details like the facts that promotion wouldn't be assured, that relegation would be at least an equal prospect and while you are trying to achieve one and avoid the other, you actually have to spend - and probably lose - a bunch of money to actually run the team. The fact is that any PDL team could turn professional tomorrow. Most would probably not have the resources to do so (history shows us that the experiment has not gone well for most amateur teams that went pro), but it is not because they are being denied the opportunity. That is the big lie that proles want you to believe - that there is this cabal keeping clubs from being free, somehow as "nature intended" or some such bs. NPSL and PDL teams are where they are because they choose to be there, for the most part. And it is the right choice for the vast majority of them. Promotion to a pro level would be unrealistic for most of these teams, regardless of how romantic it might be.
Aww, crap. Does all this mean I have to know which leagues the Charlotte Eagles and the Carolina Dynamo play in now that Tulsa has a team... Honestly, it's all a blur... Is there gonna be a test?
They sure do. Kitsap Pumas (PDL - Oregon) is one that does. Now, is it full-time pay? No, but it is payment for soccer playing services. There are numerous clubs that do the same.
Maybe some but not all clubs and I doubt others get enough to live on. My cousin played for the Ventura County Fusion and he didn't get anything other than a paid apartment in El Segundo. I think they also paid for his food but he didn't get a salary.
Right. That's typical. The only players who may get paid enough to live on also work for the club/system to do other things. But there's also some that pay enough where it doesn't permit college players to play for the teams.
The Philadelphia Fury made a comeback, as an amateur team, they even got beaten 2-0 by the Ocean City Reserves
It's official... the Tulsa World editorial board totally likes soccer!!! Oooh. Aaah. Golf clap... Editorial: Soccer franchise headed to ONEOK Field http://www.tulsaworld.com/opinion/e...5cb7-9b70-1b2176b03827.html#user-comment-area By World's Editorials Writers | 9 comments Professional soccer is on its way to ONEOK Field. USL PRO, a third-tier league in the United States Soccer Federation hierarchy, announced a new Tulsa franchise last week. The as-yet-unnamed team will begin play in 2015. Tulsa Drillers owners Dale and Jeff Hubbard will be majority owners of the new franchise with Prodigal LLC owning a piece of the action. Prodigal owns the league's Oklahoma City franchise, which begins play in 2014. Tulsa has strong soccer roots. In 1983, the Tulsa Roughnecks won the North American Soccer League championship. The league, the first earnest attempt at world-class, professional soccer in the United States, folded in 1984. Tulsa also was home to an indoor soccer team, the Tulsa Ambush, in the 90s, and the Tulsa Athletics, an amateur team that is part of the National Premier Soccer League, plays at Drillers Stadium. Not long ago, Tulsa got some talk as possible home for a Major League Soccer team. That didn't pan out, but it's important to note that the USL PRO franchise in Orlando will make the jump to MLS in 2015. Here's hoping Tulsa can someday follow that same path. Despite the naysayers who think football is the lone expression of Oklahoma sports, there is a fan base for soccer in Tulsa. The success of the Roughnecks and decades of children's leagues have educated the area about the game, which is fast-paced and fun to watch. It's good to see that ONEOK Field will have another home team. It's a fulfillment of the vision of the venue as the gathering spot that spurs downtown activity. We can't wait for the kickoff.
what should the rivalry between the Oklahoma City Energy FC and the Tulsa USL PRO Team be called turnpike cup Oklahoma Bowl sooner state cup Red River cup just a few I came up with any ideas of what we can call this rivalry that will help it stand out as one of american soccer's best most intense rivalries like it undoubtedly will become
How about My daddy bought me two soccer teams cup Hope this goes better than any other sports venture we've ran cup
Too soon. The Tulsa Ultras will be meeting in about two weeks, and the agenda will revolve around how things will be organized in support of the NPSL's Tulsa Athletics in 2014. If any Tulsa USL Pro people try to infiltrate the meeting, it'll likely be taken as an insult at this point. And if there is any discussion of rivalries at all, the subject might come up of whether any of the Red Dirt Bags from OKC Fc will be allowed to drink from our Dead Armadillo kegger or be allowed anywhere near our supporters trophy next summer...
Did someone from Prodigal steal your girlfriend in another life or something? You have quite the hard on for them.
Well understandably at this point. A successful USL team in Tulsa that doesn't end up merging with the Athletics will only result in their demise. Soccer cannibalism at its finest.