A new PDL expansion franchise for 2010: the Dayton Dutch Lions! http://www.uslsoccer.com/home/383093.html
This is news to me. The media, if you want to call it that, hasn't even spoken of soccer since the last local high school team was knocked out of the state tournament. Where on earth will they play their matches?
It doesn't say. My guess would be "the biggest high school football stadium in Dayton", wherever that is.
Well, in the city of Dayton...Welcome Stadium would be the biggest but it's astroturf and on the bad part of town...actually all of Dayton is the bad part of town. Maybe in Kettering, Centerville, Beavercreek, or Riverside. Anyway, this maybe their logo: http://www.aargh.nl/Joomla/index.ph...cle&id=15:dayton-usa-dutch-lyons&catid=3:news The designers are the AARGH! firm in Holland. It kind of reminds me of the Seattle Wolves.
That's interesting about that new team. And it's another team with the pro PDL model. I wonder if they are thinking long term of maybe moving up to USL 2 if it expands to the area. But more importantly it gives them the sell on rights to any players that they develop. For stadiums, what does the Univ. of Dayton soccer facilities look like? Could they play there? I can't remember where the last Dayton PDL team played. But it was basically run by one guy.
Cool logo. Looks like it's based on Dutch historical heraldry, and has a lion rampant similar to the one on the Dutch national team's jersey and the Dutch royal coat of arms. I wonder if they'll play in orange, like the Dutch, or red, like Twente?
great news for SW Ohio soccer fans, wonder if theyll develop a competition for a trophy with cincy and cleveland. the press release stated that these players will be paid but will also be able to work towards gaining college scholarships, are ncaa soccer rules different from their other sports, basically, how do players not lose their eligibility?(pardon me, im still learning the game.) also, since there's no venue yet, i'll speculate, would 5/3 field be an attractive option? obviously other usl clubs have done it, but with varying degrees of success.
NCAA rules haven't changed. The team is PDL-Pro, which means they pay their players. As a result, they cannot have ANY active NCAA players on their roster. However; they can have as many NAIA, Community College and other types of players as they want, alongside ex-pros who have re-adopted amateur status. They still have to adhere to the age limits through; 26-man roster. No more than 8 can be over the age of 23. A mininum of three MUST be 18 or younger.
Actually you can't be an active pro and play in the NAIA. You can have been a pro, but you lose years of eligibility and can't have been a prob for I think at least one year to be eligible. I'm not sure what the guidelines are for Junior Colleges but I'm guessing it's the same. I think when they are talking scholarships I think they are talking about the non athletic type. Also, I think it's just the PDL team that's pro, so a player in their youth teams would be able to get a NCAA athletic scholarship. I hope this partnership works better then the Ajax one that was in Orlando.
I highly doubt that they would try move up to USL 2 (if there is one by the end of this weekend). There is NO market for it in this area. The soccer crowd is basically select and high school, after that no one gives a sh&t except a chosen few. A PDL club with the backing of a major club is about as high level as it will get. And this isn't an Anti-Dayton/Ohio rant, this is just how it is. The Crew won the Cup last year and it made it as a blurb on Sports page 6 of the only newspaper in the area. Well there is Baujan Field that holds 2,000: http://www.daytonflyers.com/facilities/BaujanField.html But there is almost no parking That would be the Dayton Gemini (they wanted to be the Gems but someone still had the rights to the old hockey team.). I do recall they played their last season at Wright State's Alumni Field in Fairborn: http://www.wsuraiders.com/facilities/wrst-facilities-alumni-field.html This seats 1,000.
Fifth/Third Field?......Highly doubt it. First, This is a PDL club not a MLS, USL 1 type club who could draw at least 10,000 to the park so the money wouldn't be there to off set any inconvenience that may come to the current tenants. Which brings me to point two. The Dayton Dragons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dayton_Dragons) are the tops in attendance in Single A ball and are looking to remain that way in their 10th year. Now if Mandalay (who owns the Dragons) also owned this soccer club and attendance was poor then MAYBE they would make them a tenant as well, but I just don't see it. Now I do remember that Warrior Soccer Club (Huber Heights, OH) was building a new soccer complex: http://www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/local/2008/08/09/ddn080908spsoccer.html http://www.warriorsoccer.com/complex/index_E.html But I don't see a 'stadium' in the design plans: http://www.daytondailynews.com/s/co...2008/08/09/43463205_ddn080908spsoccerp04.html
It has been decided that this team is going to play at Bellbrook HS's turf football stadium. Not sure where they are going to drum up enough support in the Dayton area. I have been told that they are banking on 2000 fans per game. Good luck to that. Not bashing the idea, but 2000 fans per game is a pipe dream and nobady cares about the Dutch affiliation.
I am afraid you are right, these guys are signing some dutch professional players, I really wonder where they are going to find the money to pay them