http://uslsoccer.com/home/86653.html New teams in Springfield, MO Westchester, NY (from PSL) Ottowa, ON Laredo, TX (previoously provisional) Bakersfield, CA San Diego, CA (from PSL) Modesto, CA (from PSL) Teams not returning: Chesapeake Dragons Indiana Blast Jersey Falcons New Jersey Stallions Wisconsin Rebels Lafayette Swamp Cats 16 games in the regular season, down from 18. 20 minute non-golden goal extra time in the regular season.
From the above website: Central Conference Heartland Division: Colorado Springs Blizzard, Des Moines Menace, Kansas City Brass, Sioux Falls SpitFire, Thunder Bay Chill and a new team in Springfield, Missouri. Great Lakes Division: Chicago Fire Reserves, Cleveland Internationals, Fort Wayne Fever, Indiana Invaders, Kalamazoo Kingdom, Michigan Bucks, Toledo Slayers and West Michigan Edge. Eastern Conference Northeast Division: Westchester Flames, Ottawa Fury, Albany Blackwatch Highlanders, Brooklyn Knights, Reading Rage, Rhode Island Stingrays, South Jersey Barons, Vermont Voltage and Cape Cod Crusaders. Mid Atlantic Division: Carolina Dynamo, Raleigh CASL Elite, Richmond Kickers Future, West Virginia Chaos and Williamsburg Legacy. Southern Conference Mid South Division: Laredo Heat, Austin Lightning, DFW Tornados, El Paso Patriots, Memphis Express, Nashville Metros and New Orleans Shell Shockers. The Southeast Division: Ajax Orlando Prospects, Bradenton Academics, Cocoa Expos, Palm Beach Pumas and Central Florida Kraze. Western Conference Southwest Divisio: Bakersfield, California, BYU Cougars, California Gold, Fresno Fuego, Nevada Wonders, Orange County Blue Star, San Diego Gauchos, Southern California Seahorses and Bakersfield. Northwest Division: Abbotsford Rangers, Cascade Surge, Spokane Shadow and Yakima Reds.
The Great Lakes Division will be packed, led by the Fire Reserves and the Michigan Bucks, but there will be several other good teams. Last season, the fight for both of the playoff spots went down to the last matchday. This year, there could be two good teams from this division left out of the knockouts. (Can any other division claim to be the "group of death?") It makes me wish the conference playoffs were the two division winners and two wildcards, instead of two from each division. Man, EVERY game will mean something. Is the schedule coming soon? At least in the Central conference, I expect a home-and-home for each team (12 games for the Heartland teams, and 14 for the Great Lakes teams) with a few crossover games to complete the slate. Also, another question on the scheduling front: will there still be crossover games between the PDL and the "USL Second Division" (or is it the D3 Pro League? or Pro SELECT league? or Pro SOCCER League?)?
Being the menace maniac fan that I am, I am very glad to see Chicago leave our division. They will always be one of the best teams in the PDL, so I am glad to see them go. We only played them 1 time last year though, which did not make much sense. We played Thunder Bay 4 times, and Chicago once. Not much sense.
Division 4, actually. It's an amateur league, so that college players can play in it without screwing up their NCAA eligibility.
It's a development league, but D 3 would not be that off. "Rosters USL rosters may consist of a maximum of 26 players, with 18 designated for each game. Each team is permitted a maximum of five (5) foreign players on its active game-day roster and a maximum of seven (7) foreign players on its master roster. In the PDL and W-League, at least three players in a full 26-player roster must be under 19, in accordance with guidelines set by the USASA and USSF. In the PDL, a maximum of eight (8) players may be over the age of 23." http://www.uslsoccer.com/aboutusl/rules/index_E.html The reason they allow so many seniors is to ostensibly allow the developing players to have more experience with more experienced players (this is a big source of debate in a lot of American forums). The league is amateur in that the players are only allowed to be paid expenses, but professionals are allowed as long as they don't get paid for their appearances in PDL matches. The other rule not stated above is that only five students per college are alloowed on any one team. PDL Mission Statement: "PREMIER DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE The soccer stars of tomorrow live in the only national development league for men's soccer, the Premier Development League. The PDL provides top US and Canadian players under 23 years of age with the opportunity to perform in a professionalized setting during the summer months while maintaining their collegiate eligibility." http://www.uslsoccer.com/aboutusl/index_E.html
Well, since BYU doesn't have men's soccer, the BYU PDL team has exactly 0 players from the same college team. It means same 5 players on the same university team, not same university. 324 times out of 325, that means the same thing, but not for BYU.
It is also a rule that is for NCAA Division 1 teams, established by the NCAA and enforced byt he NCAA. It is not a PDL or USL rule. If PDL teams want college players they will see that it is observed when it comes to players from NCAA Div. 1 schools. BYU soccer is not an NCAA affiliated. Before joining the PDL they played Club soccer. They are not bound by NCAA rules when it comes to soccer.
I did note while trying to compute the tie-breakers last year, that the Heartland division had some strange scheduling. Thunder Bay is a problem in that if you go out there, it makes the most sense to play two matches. It's a strange geography with most of the Great Plains, an Ontario team, and a Colorado team. Maybe the scheduling will be simplified with the new 16-game format; it makes sense to move Indy and Chi into the GL division.