With the Sonoma County Sol capturing the 2009 NPSL Championship, it's time to set our sights on the start of the 2010 season. It will be a busy off-season for all of us on the Exec Committee, as well as the teams who are all looking to build from the best NPSL season yet. In announcements, the NPSL site will be completely redone in the coming months. The estimate is that the new site will be up and running in Mid/Late September. Also, the NPSLInsider blog will get a revamp as well, and will be hosted at www.npslinsider.com. That update is also expected to last until Mid September.
when would be the earliest that you can publish all of the expansion franchise nominees for 2010? I see that Philly MLS is listed up on the website for entry in 2010, is that definite?
All teams listed on the site have submitted their fee's for the next season. There are others that are still in the process. The PHilly MLS group was a partnership between the WPS owner and the MLS group, but that is more than likely changing. There is a team in Philly though for 2010.
Sonoma County Sol are currently looking for investors for our highly successful men's soccer team. The Sol have a proven track record of success that includes a recent 2009 NPSL National Championship and 2nd round appearance in the prestigious Lamar Hunt US Open Cup where they played against future MLS Expansion team Portland Timbers. If you are looking to support a nationally recognized and a top level men's soccer club, email SonomaCountySol@gmail.com. For information on the Sol, visit www.SonomaCountySol.com
no idea. No one ever contacted me about coming in since initially saying they wanted to do it 3 years ago.
Yeah, at first I heard the MySoccerClubUSA folks talking about placing a team in Providence RI and then it changed to the Scranton PA area...then in the last few months their website was removed. I know that they had at least a couple of hundred folks who signed up, I doubt anyone got their money back. It's really too bad because I think that they initial concept could work. Live and learn I guess...
I'm confused. The teams for 2010 are the ones here? I thought SD United outright folded. They plan on coming back in '10? http://www.npsl.info/loadPage.aspx?iPage=19-48
They would have played this season if there had been anyone in the SW to play. Unless something has changed in the last couple of weeks, as far as I know they plan on playing in the NPSL in 2010 (obviously, barring a repeat of this year's circumstances that left them and the Sahuaros out to dry).
That's good to hear. Thought they had planned on using USD stadium rather than El Cajon in 2009, which would work fairly well for me if they do that in 2010.
You're right, that was the plan for 2009 until there ended up being no games to play. The SD United Women's team (WPSL) played their home games at USD this year; MUCH better than a turf high school field! From what I hear, the plan is to have their home games at USD again next season.
Awesome! Grat to hear they have a women's team, too. There's one up in Del Mar Heights, but I don't want that commute.
So I saw that are teams listed for OKC, Tulsa and three in Texas listed for 2010? Can someone confirm this for me? I'd be very interested to get some details.
I found the list here: http://www.nationalpremiersoccerleague.com/LoadPage.aspx?iPage=24-48 And when I looked up the NPSL on Wikipedia I saw that the Tulsa Revolution of the AISL were moving there in 2010. However, I have not confirmed this with the team.
I assume the SW division will have more than the 3 teams currently listed. Are they waiting on announcing the final alignment?
They should have more than 3 teams in that division. I mean it's hard for teams from OK and TX to go to places like Albuquerque regularly. I'm still waiting for more info from the league and the Tulsa guys.
Sorry I haven't been on in a while. Yes the SW will have more than 3 groups. San Diego, LA (should have 2 there, we are finalizing with the 4 groups that are interested from that area), Vegas, Phoenix (should have 2, have 1 right now). The Texas/Oklahoma/Arkansas group will be in the Southeast, and will be a South Central Conference in the Southeast Region. At least that is the working plan right now. Little Rock, OKC, Tulsa, Dallas, College Station ('10), San Antonio, and a few more cities we are trying to work on right now. We would like 5 teams to start up the Conference for next 2009.
So where is league heading in the next 5 or 10 years? Is the next goal to fill in some of the gaps in regions?
Their first goal should be some league stability so that we don't get things like last year's "hiatus" for the SW division.
NJ Blaze tryouts 12/19/09 & 1/2/10, both 12-2pm. To register, please go to: http://www.njblaze.com/tryouts.shtml
Personally, I'd like to see a situation where franchises that are successful on the field are successful off the field too. There's been a couple too many top franchises who have to fold due to off the field problems. Somebody made the point over on the USL board that in minor league sports the bottom 20% of your league is always in flux. The depth of creativity and ability in ownership and team management just isn't there. Also, look around your city or town, some businesses are well-run and succeed, some are badly-run and fail. However, yes, there needs to be greater franchise retention, as having lost 45% of your total franchises is way high.