PDL Southwest Division & PSL Western Division Thread [R]

Well, Knave, I don't live in your area, but I support BYU out of principle. I'll never see them play a game, and I don't know anyone who even goes to the school, but I'll get behind your thread.

BYU lost their first game of the year to the San Diego Gauchos, which doesn't bode particularly well for the team, since the Gauchos went on to lose 5-1 to the Fresno Fuego (behind 2 goals and an assist from future Chivas USA player Orlando Ramirez). However, reports were that the team was greatly improved from last year.

You can find BYU's 2004 media guide here:

Media Guide

 

Around the league:

San Diego brought back Herculez Gomez, who was a developmental player for the Galaxy last year. MLS to PSL is a pretty huge gap, Herculez should be scoring by the boatload this year.

The Utah Blitzz just re-signed Fadi Afash, who scored a whole bunch (18?) for the Portland Timbers two years ago. If he's healthy, he should be very good for them.

The Fuego are bringing in Fabricio Codeiceira this year, Ramirez's teammate, a 26 year old from Brazil who was NAIA Player of the Year last year after recording 15 goals and 31 assists in 24 games. He recorded 3 more assists in his first game against the Gauchos, and should be big time.

Stephen Patterson played in Blue Star's game against the Wonders, scoring two goals. I don't know if he's playing for them all this year, but if he is, he should be quite the player - he's second all-time in A-league scoring. The Blue Star sent 5 players to MLS last year (though one didn't sign) - Matt Taylor, Leonard Griffin, Adolfo Gregorio, Michael Erush, and Ty Maurin; they also rostered a couple of great prospects - Robbie Rogers and Dwight Owens - and one of the most accomplished players currently living in America, Jurgen Klinsmann.

The Southern California Seahorses are definitely the best-named team in the division.

 

Like you guys I don't live out in that region, but I do follow the Seahorses. I know a couple of people on staff for them. Also, since I've had some involvement with the Chicago and Charlotte Eagles, there is a certain amount of intrest in how they do.

I would imagine that the Blue Star's will have a vastly different lineup in May. That's when the current college kids will be available. It would be nice if there could be another PDL team in California, maybe up north. This would help to break down some of the travel for teams.

 

Go Cougs! No idea who is good this year since I'm in Ohio. Took the local (Utah) papers a week to post that the Rugby team lost in the round of eight? and no news on the PDL team. So I don't know what to follow. But the whole PDL is interesting. Better get into it since nowhere I'm looking at for a long term move has MLS. Anyone follow this thread that actually lives in the region these teams play in?

 

Thanks for the report, Knave, on the Blue Star. I'd forgotten about them until now when I was wondering when their season started. They play another game at Carson High School before moving into HDC, most likely at a practice field. When time allows, I'll have to check them out.

 

I may try to hustle out to watch the Los Angeles County Blue Star play BYU, but more likely I'll be able to make the Fresno game (2:00 Pacific at the HDC...I think, my schedule was printed out a month ago. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.)

 

I would if I had any, Knave, but that list was entirely a product of the USL website, Google, and a substantial amount of boredom.

 

So, upon a little further review, it's my opinion that the PDL Southwest is from a "future of US Soccer" persepctive the most interesting division, if not in America, at least in the USL. Why?

The PDL Southwest representes five seriously different perspectives (regardless of whether or not the proprietors realize this) on where future US players should come from and what role the lower divisions of US Soccer should play in them.

BYU Cougars - PDL as NCAA replacement. I don't know if the reason was Title IX or lack of anyone to play, but the Cougars are the first and currently only university fielding a college team in the PDL. It's probably the most unique in that respect, and has the most potential for changing how 18-23 year old development takes place in the USA. At the very least, if they are able to compete better this year than last, they'll have provided a model for other college clubs that, for whatever reason, are not able or do not want to compete in the traditional NCAA circles.

Fresno Fuego - constructed on the mythical great Latin American soccer player. Of the 14 players the Fuego fielded in their most recent game, 12 of them had Hispanic-sounding names. Most of their players are local, either current or former players for NAIA powerhouse Fresno Pacific. And, they're currently dominating, at 3-0-0 with a +9 goal differential. They're certainly a very interesting team to watch.

Nevada Wonders - PDL as NASL. Admittedly, I'm just using Knave's description, but the Wonders seem to intend to construct their team by taking young local talent and supplementing it with youth players from England. It didn't work out last year, but imports like Ronnie O'brien and Matthew Delicate seem to be proving that the US can be a good second option for players who, for whatever reason, have not been successful in Europe.

Orange County Blue Star - PDL as destination for Youth National Teams. Despite the European name, the Blue Star are built on firmly on American roots - last year, they fielded a host of youth national teamers and MLS prospects - Robbie Rogers, Dwight Owens, Adolfo Gregorio, Leonard Griffin, Matt Taylor, Ty Maurin, and Michael Erush - and proved very successful. This year, Heath Pearce is already on the team, and presumably more will be added as college draws to a close - if every team looked like the Blue Star, PDL would be a significant step up from NCAA Division I, and probably an excellent development/talent identification structure.

Southern California Seahorses - PDL as social concern. The team is a subdivision of Missionary Athletes International, and is a (nonprofit?) soccer club which focuses on ministering the word of Christ. On the bio page, one finds a player's position, height, age, location, and favorite Bible verse. From an economic perspective, this is a very interesting tack to take for a sport that always has struggled to make money.

 

There's another message board, maybe 2 that Blitzz posters (and sometimes players, coaches and management) use.

 

As soon as the Blitzz have a home game, no doubt some Blitzz fans will become active over here.

In the meantime, you are welcome to our Fuego troll.

Besides, before the US-Ireland women's game, I posted a link on one of the Women's boards, to some messages on that other board about where we should sit during the game, where we would go afterwards, etc.

My message was deleted by a moderator & I got a nasty PM telling me not to post links to other message boards.

 

13 Jun 2003, 12:12 PM
buff415
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The Blue Star kills me.

I'm trying to get info on attending their games at the HDC so I go to their website.

There is no info on where the games will be played, nothing on ticket and parking prices, and the schedule for 2004 is apparently still "coming soon."

Does anyone go to these games?

So if there is anyone here who knows:

1.) I have found the schedule on the USL homepage, but does anyone know what they charge for tickets and parking?

2.) Just for curiosity's sake, what kind of crowds have they been getting this year? How does this compare with last year at the Santa Ana Bowl?

3.) Is this the correct team website: http://www.bluestarsoccer.com/teams.htm?

4.) What exactly is a "Fuego?"

Thanks!

 

Thanks Knave.

Oh, I'm confident that it does that. I'm not too big on a Christian (or denominational) soccer team, but what I think is interesting is that it's perfectly ok for this team to lose money because, like any form of outreach, making money isn't really the point. I can't think of any other examples right now, but I think it's possible that other, non-religious social groups might look into doing this kind of thing (although that may be a totally unrealistic expectation).

I didn't mean for that to be pejorative, I was just looking for a good image. I definitely enjoy seeing players from other countries come to the US and thrive. I think that is probably one of the greatest advantages of our clearly flawed college soccer system - while there's much to be said for competition for spots, I'm sure there are many players with potential to be solid pros who get overlooked because they're stuck behind some more promising or developed player. So while I doubt the Bury youth sides are going to provide the team with a lot of players who are even potential a-leaguers, I definitely think it's an interesting trend to watch.

 

I just stumbled on this thread.

As you can tell I support the Utah Blitzz.

We have a modest sized supporters club--the RAF--Radical Attitude Fans.

This thread will encourage me to check the USL area of BS more frequently.

Saturday is Utah's home opener.

 

I'm very intrigued to see if this kid can play at a higher level.

Certainly he's put up great numbers in the NAIA and PDL. Will those translate to MLS? That's the question but he's certainly one to watch.

And, yes, I think he is a player that Chivas USA will be interested in because of his herritage, but I also think that LA, which saw him last year in the Open Cup, and San Jose, the closest team to Fresno, will know a thing or two about him and might draft him.

 

I'd actually read through a good deal of that already (because you linked to it), and thought it was very interesting. However, referencing "Christopher Allen's 1st division" doesn't bring up much of an image in anybody's mind, while the NASL does. I was actually referencing teams like the Cleveland Stokers (link) who filled out their teams entirely with players from off-season European teams. Whether or not that's a good analogy, I have no idea, I wasn't around, but that's what I was trying to get across.

Can you watch out for Codeceira too? He's probably too old for MLS (26) but he's currently leading the PDL in assists in his first season.

 

Thanks Knave, please let us know if you find out anything.