http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=37.776414,-122.453377&spn=0.007429,0.014591&t=h&z=16&om=1 That should be it right in the middle of the page if I'm not mistaken.
The Seals are actually planning to play a couple of regular season matches (and possibly an exhibition match) in the East Bay in 2008. There's definitely a lot of potential in the East Bay. The problem for the Seals though is that we have a difficult time promoting ourselves ($$$ and man power) in San Francisco never mind other parts of the Bay Area (so working with local soccer clubs makes a lot of sense). GO SEALS!!!
This is simple. Take a game(s) to the new Mustang Complex near Blackhawk. No Brainer. About 10,000 soccer playing kids in the tri valley area. Market to the 10 local clubs. 2,000 people will show up. Now that BART runs into Pleasanton/Dublin this seems like a hot bed for games. There are conservatively 50,000 people who play soccer on the 580/680 corridor. Hmmm... Maybe somebody should look into this area as an expansion zone?
Besides the Frogs, Seals, and the NPSL clubs, the Bay Area could definitely support a few more clubs especially in the East Bay (not much representation out there at this point).
Realist, you are definitely keeping it real. We at the Seals have looked into this and discussed it a number of times. Mustang would be a great spot, although it is far removed from public transportation. In general, I have very little doubt that the Tri-Valley/680 corridor could provide tremendous support for a PDL franchise. The Seals two most well attended matches in 2007 were both held in the East Bay. We drew over 1,200 for our exhibition in Hayward against the Fiji National Team. As a result of that success, we are now exploring opportunities to develop ties with the large local communities from the Oceania region. The second-best attended match was a fund-raiser for the Mt. Diablo Soccer League out in Concord which drew over 400 fans. The attendance figure is even more impressive considering it was held on the same day and at the same time as the Chelsea v. Club America game in Palo Alto. The match was a success for both the Seals and Mt. Diablo Soccer. So your idea has already received much attention and action from the Seals organization. However, as Wellington points out, we are a low-budget, low-manpower, all-volunteer outfit. And we're always open to bringing on more takers who are crazy enough to want to build a grassroots soccer organization in the Bay Area!
Maybe a tournament between some of the local PDL or PDL and NPSL teams could be held in the east bay. Get the Seals, Frogs, RSJ, and a few others together. Might benefit all of the outfits.
Soccer by the people for the people. Most if not all of what we do is going to be grassroots soocer. Just to let people know, Wellington lives in South Carolina and is finishing school. He does our game day programmes and sends us the file which we print out. In his very spare time, he works at finding corporate sponsors for the Seals. The rest of us do what we can around our work schedules. As Benfequista says, we are an all volunteer organization unlike many of the PDL clubs who have paid staff and dedicated resources for their teams. For those who came to our games in 2007, its people like Sully who was kind enough to donate his time and hard work to manning the bbq that make a difference, even going out of his way to feed the opposing team players after the games. For better or worst, one of the most common feedback from our division rivals and fans is that we seem less like a traditional, structured organization and more like a bunch of friends getting together who seem to have a great time at what we do. We hope that by personalizing the Seals games and trying our best to make everyone feel welcome that we will win new fans who will come to support us in 2008. We've been working hard during the offseason hoping that we can build upon the teams first two seasons back in the USL after a five year hiatus. They may be baby steps, but we're confident that it will eventually pay off. If people have any ideas that they would like to share or maybe even think about helping out, I encourage you to contact myself, Benfequista, or Wellington ...