Harrisburg, PA in PSL

Harrisburg fans unite!

Hey, we need to start a supporters club. How about some names? What about Beach Bums?

I live in Lancaster and plan to go to games. As far as if this can be a success, I think it can. Hershey was doomed because it was only a "revenue stream" for Hershey Corp. and the Heat had to pay through the nose for time at the Farm Show.

Just think, with teams in Reading and Hershey, if Lancaster can get around to a PDL team to share their new baseball stadium, the local rivalry would boom.

 

Reading Rage games are also great to watch, especially if you have kids, but the problem is that field is in Fleetwood, which is an extra 25 minutes from the turnpike, so you're looking at about an hour and 20 minute trip.

It would be great if York could get a PSL team as well, but I'd hate to have them draw fans away from the Isles.

I took a trip to Boyds, Maryland this summer to see DC United play Virginia Beach of the A-League in an Open Cup match. The Maryland Soccerplex is an impressive collection of public fields as well as a stadium with a capacity of about 4,000 (about 3,500 seated) and great sight lines. I think a PSL club could draw reasonably well there and would be within driving distance for road trips.

 

FWIW, I believe that Becher was also a player for the Heat (maybe Herhsey Impact).

 

Becher was a player for the Heat and the hershey Impact. As an asst. coach for Bob Lilly? I dont think so. I remember it was Longenecker and Corney were Lilly's assistants in Hershey. Becher though, might have been Polihan's or Chinapoo's player/asst for the Heat (Chinapoo did that for a while before becoming coach).

As for the field. I played 4 years worth of soccer on there (Bishop McDevitt plays their home games there) and while its nice for a HS field, I couldnt imagine it for any sort of professional game. Everything is subpar. baseball field on the field, the drainage will always suck (since its at water level or below) and the stands look like an erector set. However theyre going to get the field up to par, good luck. Id guess some serious money will have to be pumped into it. But knowing Reed....Im sure Pettis will get whatever money he asks for from the city.

BTW, count me in for a supporters club....when im not at school.

 

City Islanders, at least it's a decent name. Logo on the website stinks, but hopefully that changes. Anytime a new pro soccer team is born, it's a good thing. Good luck Harrisburg!

 

Can anyone give more detail on why the Wildcats bit the dust? It seems to me that it must have been something other than lack of interest. They always seemed to have a decent team, good crowds and media coverage too. Do you think that the City Islanders will have a better fate since they will be playing on City Island with better exposure to the city of Harrisburg? (lower operating costs too?) BTW...I think its a great name for the team but I also agree that the logo on the website is crappy. Has anyone else tried to sign up for the mailing list on their website...it didn't work for me?

 

Hershey biting the dust

Hey, I signed up and it worked for me. Maybe we overwhelmed their site Wouldn't be the first time for Big Soccer!

Here is my 2 cents on Hershey. The Wildcats drew well for A-League, but not for Hershey Corp. They are a prime example of why people who are only owning teams to make money should be run out of town. Not that they shouldn't be good businesspeople, but it seemed the Wildcats were no more than a revenue stream for Hershey Corp. When they didn't make a ton of money for them, they closed them down, even though they were successful on the field as well as attendance. To them, the team was just a way to use the stadium.

I still wonder about the fact the team was closed down right about the same time the new arena was built. Might be coincidence, but seems fishy!

 

Re: the Wildcats, I'm pretty sure monster's on the money. The Wildcats certainly had a decent fanbase and good attendance, but they just weren't a priority for HERCO.

The parking situation didn't help either -- I complain about the $10 at the Meadowlands; at Hersheypark Stadium it's ridiculous.

 

I wouldn't worry about a Wildcats redux situation. Everyone in the organization, owners on down, are all big soccer (though not bigsoccer) people. This isn't a way to put some dates at Skyline Stadium, this is to build a successful soccer franchise.

 

So what about the Supports Club

Any more ideas for getting a club going than my lame Beach Bums?

Who gets in touch with the ownership to start letting them know about tailgating, flags and other fun stuff. From experiences at other locations (RFK) I think we should start soon!

 

Wildcats food and parking prices were terrible, but the admission prices weren't that bad. $6 for fair General Admission tickets to an A-League game is reasonable. Plus large $2 programs is a good deal. If I remember correctly the Sunday early evening games drew best, other than the Hershey Park pass giveaways and the youth soccer tournament.

Of course the Wildcats could never compete with the AHL Bears in attendence, which is what they had to do late season and playoff time.

 

I know this is getting off-topic from the City Islanders, but this caught my attention and really puzzled me.

I'm curious why you think the Wildcats core crowd was people visiting the park?

Not only didn't I get the impression that the core crowd were park goers, I didn't even sense that many park goers came at all (except on the free Hersheypark pass giveaway night when the place almost sold-out!!!) I'm sure families who came to games sometimes planned a day at the park to coincide with a home game in the evening, but I wouldn't have thought there were many people coming to the park and then realizing their was soccer game in the evening decided to leave the park early to catch the game.

I was a season ticket holder for the final two years of the Wildcats and while 2,000+ fans is way too many for one person to recognize and remember, I know that I recognized a lot of the same people coming every game or at least very often and I got the feeling they were there for the soccer primarily, not the park with the soccer thrown in for good measure. Additionally, and perhaps more telling, often the parking lot by the stadium was reserved for people coming to the soccer games (IIRC this changed some in the final year), and the number of vehicles seemed to correspond roughly with the attendences and vitually everyone leavuing the stadium went to cars in that lot. If the core crowd were park goers, they'd have been parked in the other big lots when they came earlier in the day.

But that's neither here nor there at this point. Although, I guess it is relevant if you are thinking about who attended Wildcat games and can you get them to attend City Islanders games. So I'd love to hear what led to your perspective on the fan base. Maybe there's something I didn't realize or wasn't picking up on. Another thing that comes to mind is that IF the core crowd were park goers, does that mean that the new team must look for a new core fan base since they don't have the park? Of course, from my perspective, the question is largely mute, but I wonder what you think.

Furthermore, I thought Saturday night games were fine. I wonder when would have been better. What would your suggestion have been. Saturday afternoon is certainly out with with all the youth soccer going on. Families with kids playing, youth team coaches, and referees are a big portion of your fan base. Are you thinking Friday night or Sunday afternoons? Not week nights, I don't think. Sunday afternoons also have some youth soccer, but not as much. And with that as background, what do you suggest for the new team at the new location? Of course, a team doesn't have complete control over dates as the schedule must be worked out by the league to accomodate all teams and all those two-game weekend road trips.

 

Orlando2, there are Islands in Pa believe it or not. The Susquenhana River runs through Harrisburg and the river is littered with islands. One of those Islands that you might have heard about is "Three Mile Island", home to the infamous Nuclear Power plant that had everyone a little scared in the early 80's

 

Re: Re: Hershey biting the dust

Eric Pettis is a good buy from what I know. He was coaching McDevitt when I was playing for Middletown. His brother was also my baseball coach at Middletown. I think he'll do a good job, and I would imagine the Patriot will give decent coverage.

I wonder if he going to have nightmares about Olsen everytime he walks onto that field at City Island .

As for the team itself. I'm glad to see they have chosen to enter the PSL and not jump directly to the A-league. Eventually the burg could support an A-league team, but its really an AA city.

The location is also great. With all the soccer fans on the West Shore, this central location is perfect.

Hope the team is comprised of local players for the most part, as their has been some decent talent come through over the past couple of years.

 

I read on the boards that USL might restructure by renaming the A-League, etc. USL Division 1, Division 2, and Division 3. Where does the PSL fall, one or two below the A-League?

I know PDL stands for Premiere Development League, and I kept thinking PSL was an indoor league. Sorry to be so clueless. The wife and I are planning to move to FL in a couple of years, and I'll have to find a USL side the cheer and support down there.

 

So why didn't they name the team the Harrisburg Isotopes?

 

Because TMI is in Middletown.

 

I would say, like some already have, that HERCO was looking at park goers to be the majority of attendence after the regulars/season ticket holders. hershey was good location for people form Lebanon. bad location for anyone in Cumberland County, which is somehwhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of the Harrisburg Metro Area's population. In most big cities, 15 or 20 mins is nothing. In Harrisburg, 20-30 mins is kind of a hike. I know quite a few people who are reluctant to drive form the west shore into Hershey for much of anything (excluding kids going to the park and Bears games). I tihnk just the idea of parking and the distance scared em away. Imagine is the Senators were in hershey.....do you think theyd draw the same crowd night in and night out? Basically, City Island will be fun for everyone. The downtown bar scene is a short walk away, view of the skyline, and plenty of parking for tailgating. Its by far the best location for and sports team in Central PA IMO. Saturday night games would be the best, especially since the Senators play a lot of afternoons.

About a supporters club, where would we stand? Are they going to at elast add bleachers on the hill where the press box is located now? I always thought this would be a prime location for more seats. The bleachers really suck.

 

That's dead on as far as how the location is a huge improvement because it gets you the West Shore crowd at the minimal expense of losing the Lebanon County crowd. People can argue that a 20-30 min. drive shouldn't be an excuse for people not getting out to games, but the simple fact is that for many people that was too far to come regularly.

What specifically sucks about the bleachers? I don't know because I've never had reason to use them.

For me personally, bleachers are where a team can skimp. The standard aluminum bleachers are fine with me.

[dreaming] I've always thought that you can create a great atmosphere for soccer without a huge facility by surrounding the entire field (all four sides) with your basic aluminum bleachers with the key being to put them as close to the field as possible (and safe for the players). For exmaple, at Elizabethtown College you feel so close to the players and right on top of the action. And on City Island already the bleachers they have are tight to the field as well. Even if you only go with the 5-row bleachers, by surrounding the entire field you get a 3,200 theoretical capacity (18" per person) or 2,400 practical capacity (24" per person). That's enough for PDL teams at present. Heck that's enough for most A-League teams sadly enough. And that's just with those standard 5-row aluminum bleachers. If you go to 10-rows all around you double capacity to 6,400 theoretical or 4,800 practical. Now sure, you'd want a bigger grandstand, especially at midfield like people are used to, but my quick math is just to illustrate how quickly you can gain enough capacity without building any real structure. Just semi-portable aluminum bleachers. As a fan I think that would be much better for atmosphere and enjoyment of the action than some bigger stadium that you can't fill. I'd take 2,000 fans within 20 ft. of the field on all four sides over 2,000 fans scattered amongst a single huge grandstand on one side like at Hersheypark Stadium. But that's just my idea of how I would do it if I was rich enough to start my own team. [/dreaming]

 

The bleachers are fine. Standard aluminum. They go 8 up on the side of the field and I think 12 up in the end zone. It'll be great to see what kind of improvements they'll make to the place.