Well, we are back. I figured now that the new schedule is out, nbow would be a great time to start a new thread for everyone's favorite PDL (USL Division 3?) conference, the Great Lakes conference. We would like to welcome the Chicago Fire Reserve Premier.com's or what they are called nowadays and also the 15 Michigan teams that have somehow incorporated the word Fire into their names, includings the Michigan Fire, the East Michigan Fire, the Lansing Fire, and Los Kalamazoo Fuegoos. Also, we also expect an Cleveland Inter update giving us the game times for any game past the third one of last year. Also we may have to not be reminded that Robert Njembba scored against Inter in the second game of last year. Hey Inter! Whatever you are paying you're webmaster, double it. Any news, updates, rosters are of course welcome. Please take any trash talk to the GLC Rivalries thread, which I have clevely hidden as the Manchester United forum. Feel free to call the PDL contacts. They are happy to talk and help you out with information because they are so incredibly startled that you are aware of their existence. Right, Mario of the Invaders? Anyway, very excited to have you all back. We should try to meet for the GLS finals this year. Go GLC!
This past year, about 1/3 of the players played for Internationals in their youth programs. Nanchoff Jr. defintely. A number were from U. of Akron, John Carroll U. or just local players home for the summer. I think there were a few from Indiana (state of, not University). I'll have to go back over the rosters from last year. Here is last year's roster. I think I saw Dejan playing for Inter vs. Summit last summer.
FYI Cleveland will be playing their game here: Coughlin Field is St. Edwards HS soccer field, and is located at: 13500 Detroit Avenue Lakewood, OH 44107 Directions can be accessed at: http://www.sehs.net/drivingdirections.html This is easier than having to drive to Parma!
Don't tell me they named the field after that @!#%!@ local sports hack on Channel 8! A bit beyond ol' Joe's realm, but I'll try to take in a few matches there. Any idea what the pitch is like up there? I'll miss dear old Byers, but at least it's handier now for you, DB.
This is what it looks like supposedly http://www.sehs.net/development/ath_field__low_res.exe Thanks to the St. Eds website. Actually it's a draw for me. Byers and Coughlin are about the same distance from the Eastside. Hey, you other GLC Teams. Are you at the same fields from last year?
Dave, love your enthusiasm for the GLC!!! intersting to see the Fire in amongst it now - they must surely start as favorites along with the Michigan Bucks. Scowering GLC websites Ive noticed that the Edge will be playing outside of Holland this summer. Wonder what Edge Fan thinks of that! Also interesting to note some coaching changes - Chris Keenan stepping aside at Kalamazoo for Australian Andy Ravanello.
Joe-- St Ed's field is the new field turf, I refereed on it last fall. The continuous train traffic gets kindof annoying though. It sits behind the high school in the middle of a residential neighborhood. A good bar across the street though for pre/ post match discussions!
Well, I'm sold. Lakewood probably as more bars per square inch than any other city one could name. Madison and Detroit Road are nothing but bars. Inter was having their try-outs a few weeks back. There has been no announcements regarding their roster, which isn't surprising. I didn't know they had changed fields until I looked up their schedule on another site. It isn't as if Inter tries to inform the public and fails. They either have no interest in making their information known at all or just don't think anyone cares. Ah, the joys of PDL soccer! I e-mailed Inter's Operations Director. We shall see if there is any Cleveland news out there. Any news from any other teams?
Clevelands last years roster 1 Mike Vessells GK Cincinnati, OH U. of Cincinnati 2 Ryan Sterba D Westlake, OH U. of Michigan 3 Nate Darr D Centerville, OH U. of Dayton 4 John Dunning D Hudson, OH UNLV 5 Marc Burch F Cincinnati, OH U. of Evansville 6 Dejan Mladenovic M/F Parma, OH John Carroll U. 7 David Maier F Broadview Hts., OH U. of Pennsylvania 8 Chris Binder M/F Bentleyville, OH U. of Evansville 9 Kevin Pitorak M/D Russell, OH John Carroll U. '04 10 Sinisa Ubiparipovic F Mentor, OH U. of Akron 11 Michael Marich D Chesterland, OH U. of Akron '03 12 William Kletzien M Akron, OH U. of Akron 13 Jason Scudamore M/D Shaker Hts., OH U. of Massachusetts 14 George Nanchoff M/F North Royalton, OH U. of Dayton 15 Mario Jurcic M Kirtland, OH Lakeland C.C. 16 Robert Strachan M Hudson, OH Ohio State U. 17 Anthony DiBello M/F Chesterland, OH U. of Dayton 18 Dustin Kirby D Mentor, OH Ohio State U. 19 Dino Campellone M Seven Hills, OH U. of Akron 20 T.J. Kolba D Parma, OH John Carroll U. 21 Adam Urban GK Hudson, OH Walsh Jesuit HS '04 22 Bradley Samelko GK Strongsville, OH U. of Akron 23 John Sand M Westlake, OH Tiffin U. '96 24 Marko Vucic M Kirtland, OH Kirtland HS 25 Dustin Stelmak M Broadview Hts., OH John Carroll U. (mostly Homeboys) 17 from Ohio Colleges 6 from OUt of state Colleges and 2 from High School I will post the new one soon tryouts were March 26th, so soon i think AL
Edge has new Coach and that's the only news on the websites. Most teams have their try outs forthcoming.
Quickie Update Cleveland has sent their roster to USL HQ for registration. The names should be appearing on the USL website.
Osama, Edge fan doesn't agree with moving the team back to Grand Rapids. Originally the team came to Holland because they were getting enough exposure and fans due to arena football and minor league baseball. In my opinion the real reason why the team has done as well as they could have is the organization not doing a good job organizing and marketing the team. Don't expect too many game reports from me. If I am lucky I might be able to get to one or two games. I have been staying busy with other activites. At work today one of my coworkers said that from Holland to the new field would probably be about an hour drive. If it is an hour I might drive the same amount of time to watch a team with real management-the Kingdom. At least the W-league FireWomen are staying in town. Hopefully this will bring the team closer to going broke and having to sell. We need new management. Supposedly the group Neathon Gibson is working with asked about buying the Edge but the owner wanted too much cash. Could someone please direct me to the symbol section? I was thinking about finding a symbol so I could do the Prince thing and change my board name to "Poster formerly known as Edge Fan" .
It's great to see some people excited about the Great Lakes Division. I think it could be the most competitive it's been in years...which makes the Open Cup qualifying really tough because 1,2 and sometimes 3 REALLY good teams get left out. I'll have to see if the guys from the "Michigan Bucks rule the world" (I think that was the name) thread are still cruising around. They might be interested in joining the conversation. I have ties to all of the teams in and around Michigan...so it's hard for me to pick a particular "favorite" -- but I have to say that the Bucks and the Kingdom were the first teams that I 'discovered' years ago...but I love the Edge, Invaders and Fire organization just as well. This kind of ability to decide makes broadcasting so much easier to be "nuetral"
I'm glad that you mentioned the Invaders. I think that everyone always forgets about them. They are a very solid organization both on and off the field. They are one of those teams that if you take them for granted their going to beat you. In some ways their similar to Thunder Bay (minus the 12 hr drive). I think they are a good model for an ideal PDL franchise.
Bob, would you elaborate on the Invader's business model? I think a lot of us yokels would like to know what drives a PDL franchise. Although Chicago Premier joined up, I think a team that everyone overlooks is Fort Wayne. They were one of the top two GLC teams last year (Was Michigan the other? How soon we forget. Where did Knox Cameron play?) I wish someone could tell em why Fort Wayne was so good. They had Robert Sjemmba, right? He got signed to Richmond so he must have been decent. Was it coaching, on-field talent, what?
From a CFP point of view, The Invaders are one of the teams that have suprised us several times in the last 4 years, the I-80 battle rivalry is starting to become a classic. Mo and Mario had a great team last year. The Bucks are one of the top soccer franchises in the league and are tough on everyone. Thunder Bay has such a tough travel schedule it hurts them at the beginning of the season as they usually play their first games on the road and then finish with a big run at the end. We played Ft. Wayne and dispatched them in the playoffs. It's the only time we've played them; this season we'll see. We have never played Toledo or Cleveland.
For the Invaders I don't think it's a business model that makes them a success, it's their overall organization. They have youth teams and other adult teams. It's more of a traditional club set up. Also, more importantly they don't try to live beyond their means. They are back every year and have built a solid competitive team.
And in various GLC news: Fort Wayne to broadcast three games over the Internet or your phone?? Kingdom sign u-20 player Interesting Bucks facts If perchance you come across the Toledo Slayers website (Congratualtions on the fun with Flash animation, Toledo) make sure the volume on your speakers is turned DOWN. Geez, my left arm is tingling after that one. Thats about it. The Edge have re-signed (Can't be the right word, but...) Kevin VanDenBerg. You Battery fams make want to check out this Coastal Carolina product
Hi , all you Great Lakers. I will attempt to be the voice of the Fever here. The Fever have a very dedicated staff and ownership group. They want to do it right and from what I can see they pretty much do. They are a club in the true sense of the word. they have youth teams at all age levels boys and girls and do camps and additional training. I play on a not as competive local club that is a rival of theirs, and we have a very good repoir (sp). We understand each others goals and priorities and dont step on each others toes too much. The Fever have been a breath of fresh air around here. instilling the 'if your good enough you play' mentallity Our attendance last year was pretty good , Idont have any figures, but the typical fans are soccer moms and dads and their kids. that's OK. Coach- Bobby Poursdanidis Stadium - Hefner Fields @ IPFW University. Really a class facility. 2 lit beatiful stadium fields surrounded by 14+ other fields and 2 indoor fields. Host to maybe THE best college preseason tourney in the country. Last Year we had - St.Johns, IU, Mich.St, kentucky, ND & more. I spoke to an assistant last night and they are REAL excited about who they have coming in, as well as our local HS / College kids whop see some pretty good minutes. Keeper
I interviewed Bob Poursdanidis on the SFRS for our PDL Preview Show...and this was when they were just starting out, and I remember being very impressed with what they were doing down there. And not to mention that they put together some solid results... I also noticed that they might be broadcasting some of their games this year...that's pretty cool. Organizing webcasts are fairly cheap, but the problem with doing it with PDL teams is that you need an internet connection in the press box...however, not every team has a press box....or an internet connection. I look forward to catching a game or two if they can get that movin'.
The GLC season starts this Friday May 13 at 8:15 pm (EST) when the ichigan Bucks plays at the West Michigan Edge Kingdom announce some signings More Kingdom signings Fever announce some signings Edge Roster?? Considering the season starts in a week or less for most teams, the GLC teams are doing a pretty pitiful job of informing the interested public. I guess we'll wait for the games to be played.
http://pdl.uslsoccer.com/home/98904.html Pre-game report courtesy of USLsoccer.com regarding tomorrow's GLC opener. Includes roster info with some suprising names including former MLSer Stephen Armstrong playing for the Bucks