http://wvhooligan.com/2010/09/08/usl-to-merge-first-and-second-divisions-in-2011/ Thoughts? This probably explains why the Aztex were happy where they were.
a good move and makes the most sense, IMO. I know this option was suggested last season. http://give-em-no-quarter.blogspot.com/ mentions that it USLPRO will not apply for official Division 2 status with USSF.
I've really believed regional is the key to long term growth and stability for lower division soccer in this country and I hope USSF stands firm on their requirements for a D2 league forcing the NASL teams to join up with USL Pro. Although, even if that happens I do wonder if there will be enough teams to form regional divisions west of Ohio or south of Georgia. Right now I'm guessing a few D3 teams are not excited with the extra travels costs they might have if Austin is in their region.
They're a year late with this decision. Had they done this last year, they would have saved us all a lot of aggravation and would probably be applying for Div. 2 sanctioning.
I really want Forest City London to apply for a men's team in one of the regions...given our location we could totally play in a northwestern conference.
Well, USLPro seems firmly a Div 3 outfit, which is fine. At least now there is clarity. MLS = Div 1, NASL = Div 2 and USLPro = Div 3.
Unless USSF gives in on some of the requirements they have for Div.2, I have my doubts NASL will be given Div.2 status.
Charleston's owners suggested this route last year and from my understanding, this was a sort of presentation day to quite a few club, including a several PDL clubs that might be interested in moving up. Austin definalty seems to be "out" there and not sure how it will work out travel wise for teams.
I am amused at the phrasing. At this point, Austin is the only team left in USL from the USL1 of last year. It's hardly a merging, especially if the NASL is sanctioned or the USSF decides to run D2 another year, and the Aztex stay out of the league. This is, in reality, just a renaming of USL2 and an acknowledgment that the USL has lost D2. As to whether the USL Pro... sorry, USL PRO, will manage to have four regional divisions, we'll just have to see. It certainly won't happen next season. Unless the USL does its typical thing and strong-arms a bunch of PDL teams into going pro. If this new ownership is going to take a different path than the one the league has been on for 20+ years, they won't do it. But I fully expect them to. They're fighting to stay relevant as MLS whittles away at them from the top and the NPSL and USSF Development League carves away at them from the bottom.
Yeah, these were my first thoughts. But it seems like a lot of people are interpreting it as a lot of other ridiculous things - pro/rel, MLS reserve league, NASL has lost its bid, etc. Pretty much. What I don't get about sanctioning is (and maybe we established this during the offseason and I've just forgotten) what the point of being division 2 or 3 really is. If NASL can't qualify for division 2 status, why won't they just form as "division 3" alongside USL PRO? So what's the difference?
GoalSeattle posted this back in July and that it came from a meeting of teams looking to make a USL-2 Western Conference division. Perhaps GS will be more forthcoming about which teams were in the meeting now that the USL-PRO part is official.
Yeah, that source was spot-on, wasn't he/she? As for who was at the meeting, it was a USL recruiting trip (in Seattle) for what now looks to be a possible USL Pro West or Northwest Conference. I don't have a list of who was there. The only two that remain with any chance locally seem to be Kitsap and Victoria (moving from PDL to Pro). I have an email in to the Pumas, but I would be surprised if they get back to me anytime soon.
I was told in an email trying to get clarification from USL that both Kitsap and Victoria were at the meeting but that no final decision has been made, for any team yet. this was a presentation to all USL clubs (and I assume potential investors) those teams Including several PDL clubs, can take the info back to there club and owners, process it and see what is best for them. I imagine the "four geographical regions" comes from some interest by clubs in certain areas, I think you could get a Southern Division and North East division, perhaps the West Division and maybe either a caribean or heartland depending on team intrest. I too think this is USL way of announcing it isnt going to go after D2. I think USL took a long hard look at itself this season and made a good business decession instead of holding on to an ideal that time isnt right. a league needs to be sanctioned by a FIFA federations (like USSF) for players to play in FIFA competitions (or for that matter USSF competitions) without sanctioning players couldnt play for their country, clubs in tournaments like the CONCACAF Champions leage or the US Open Cup. might not seem much but most players aren't going to burn the bridge of playing in a not sanctioned league. As to the benifit of D2 or D3 there really isnt any I can figure out except a bye round into the US open cup. I cant think of anything else and certainly not sponsorship, tv deals or pro/rel.
Suppose I should read the press release from USL, but according to this blog there is at least fleeting interest in USL-PRO going for D2 if the NASL bid fails. But then, I don't know how much different the result would be for USL-PRO considering the teams they'd be putting in their bid can't be much better than the ones NASL is throwing into the ring. Could be interesting if NASL's D2 bid fails to get approved by USSF. I will say one thing though, Nike's sale of USL sure got a lot of balls rolling, in random and frequently opposite directions, mind you, but it sounds like D2 and D3 might be in better shape once the dust settles.
Yeah, I get the point of being sanctioned. I'm asking about the benefits of D2 vs. D3. I've read a few places people saying they hope USSF stands firm on the requirements so NASL will be forced to join back up with USL for this new league. But if there aren't any requirements for D3 (and there's no limit on how many lower level leagues you can have is the way I understand it) why can't NASL just be D3 as well? I'm sure there's a reason for the pyramid or it wouldn't be such a big deal, I'm just trying to figure out what it is.* *Will probably be an obvious reason and I'll look like an idiot.
USL Pro can *not* have it 'both ways.' By inviting USL-2 and PDL pro clubs into the mix, they have already defaulted out of the D2 USSF realm. No way that most of the USL2 or PDL Pro clubs could meet all of the USSF D2 requirements. As I just posted here, this move had to happen, and it makes sense. Now the USL (and its "Pro" owners) can operate without the pressure of D2 requirements as well.
If NASL isn't approved as D2, I don't see the teams folding. While it might be amusing to see them come back to USL on hands and knees, I suspect it is more likely that they'll try to get sanctioned as a D3 league alongside USL-PRO rather than trying to survive as an unsanctioned league.
I would agree with that assessment. If they try to go D2, I don't see many of the PDL pro teams meeting the requirements. Heck, I don't see many of the USL-2 teams meeting the requirements. Question I have is how long until USSF starts putting league/team requirements on D3?
Why does it feel like USL Pro will be a bunch of D3 teams and PDL teams with visions of being bigger than what they are. I can see PDL teams like St. Louis Lions,Richmond Kickers, and a bunch of others joining this new league.
Good lord, you put the flea powder around the dog's neck and those fleas just find somewhere else in its fur to go. Going back to 1995, building regional pro leagues from the ground up, is certainly the way to go. The problem is, the USL aren't the organisation to do it. They can have a board of governors but they're still holding the purse strings. I guess there's still some blood to be sucked out yet.
Uh.... Because it is? It'll be interesting to see the set-up of the new league. How many games it'll have, which teams make the jump, etc. Should be another fun offseason.
I'm guessing that what floodplainfooty is referencing is what BQ wrote over at IMS, "A source for IMS who said they did not want to go on record recently reported that USL’s strategy is: If there is no D2 approved this year by USSF, then D3 will be the new D2." The thing with the quote though is that the source never says they want to seek USSF D2 approval, rather without a sanctioned D2 league D3 becomes the defacto D2 league. Again thats just my guess.
The Dayton Dutch Lions (PDL) announced joining the 'new' USL Pro Conference back around June or July before all of this came to light. This has been in the works for sometime it seems and it's just now that USL is making it known. The interesting thing about DDL announcement, now, is that it seems that possibly the USL had no intensions of going after the Div. II status.