Hey everyone. I just saw the Indiana Blast have plummeted from the A-League down to the PDL (I guess finishing on the foot of the table will do that). While I am disappointed to not be able to attend any A-League matches in 04, could ppl give me some information on the level of competition in the PDL?
Besides the amount of PDL players that are drafted in MLS's Superdraft, its kind of hard to answer your question. Any specifics?
The PDL is for essentially college-age players to play in the summer. No more than it think 6 or 8 from the same school can play on a team. It is an non-pro team. The games are about the same as good college soccer games. The biggest challenge is that many of the players need to work in jobs during the summer so availibity for games and practices is often difficult.
I've only really seen teams in the midwest, but overall the level of play is good. I would say that it's at least the level of top D1 programs if not better. Also I think the limit of players per school is 4. I would assume that the ticket prices will be cheaper then A-League and would encourage you to still get tickets. You should see some pretty good teams and you will have in state rivals from Ft Wayne and Invaders. The Invaders made the playoffs last season and have a pretty solid organization. Also you'll be in the same division with the Chicago Fire Reserves and Boulder Rapids Reserves. Both teams have produced players in the MLS. So those are a couple of more good games.
Thanks for the update. I didn't know too much of the level of play. It might be worth it to go up for some of the games, I am not sure yet. It is an hour plus each way, but we'll see.
I would go to the first few games and give it a cance. You may be suprised by the quality of play. Plus onw of the players could be the big player in MLS and you could then post things like "I saw him play with ... of the PDL and I knew he would be great." Enjoy them.
Some of the best PDL soccer is played in the Blast division. The Mid Michigan Bucks, Kalamazoo Kingdom, Indiana (Mishawaka) Invaders and West Michigan Edge are all usually top shelf teams. Go a little to the west, and you have the Fire Reserves (yes I'm biased). The value for the cost of the ticket is defenitely there.