So who are you and how did you get involved with Crescent CIty?

I'm Jonathan Rednour and I created Crescent City Football Club back in 2014 in hopes to bring a club that showcased both New Orleans and our local players on the same stage. We are a non profit so I am on the BOD and have been appointed the General Manager title for year one.

Can you talk about the name and the crest?

Crescent City is one of New Orleans many nicknames, being that the city was built on a sharp bend in the Mississippi River, forming a crescent. There were a few names that I went through, but Crescent City FC just fit with what I had in mind. The original crest was sort of a play on the original water meter covers in New Orleans.

I chose to rebrand the crests in 2017 to better represent our club. The New Orleans flag was used as a concept for colors and being that the city is known for its nightlife, and it is a color in the New Orleans flag, I wanted to use navy as the main color. Gold fleur de lis were needed, as gold is a color that represents our city, thanks to the Saints. I did opt out to put in red and used more of a light blue to represent the chill nature of us New Orleanians. The stars represent field players and our crescent represents our keeper. You can sort of see we're playing in a 3-4-3. Our home kits will represent the New Orleans flag and feature navy, white and red.

You're an expansion side in the GCPL, why did you choose this league?

The concept of the GCPL was built around allowing a club like Crescent City FC to grow from the bottom up. The investment being made by our BOD is to show that a club like CCFC is needed and wanted in the city of New Orleans, and at the moment, the GCPL is the best league that allows us to do that from scratch. We will always assess our growth and plan accordingly to what best fits our club.

How far along is the club in preparation for the season?

We would have been playing our first game today, but we're still moving forward and preparing for an exhibition season. A lot of things have shifted due to the current situation we're all in, but we're on the right track to have a successful summer 2020.

There's some talk of friendlies in the summer, any news yet?

We will be announcing our summer schedule soon. We're sort of in a wait and see period with the state of Louisiana and city of New Orleans.

How is the GCPL supporting their clubs through the pandemic?

The GCPL tried to find a way to make it work for everyone, but in the end they listened to their clubs and did what was right. Crescent City FC was on the fence about playing a shortened, behind closed doors season, as we were relying on getting fans out to our games. Would have been tough, but we were going to make it work if we could. GCPL made the right call.

How are you keeping in contact with your players?

On What'sApp and texting. I think we've done a great job of keeping them in the loop. They're itching to get something in this summer.

Tell us about a player or two we should know about?

Anthony Peters, from Baton Rouge, sort of had a journeyman career, being drafted by DC United back in 2009 and then went on to play USL and League One before coming back to Louisiana. Anthony's a veteran who's been around the pro game and is a great person to have giving it all for the crest. He's a good leader. Helps that he's a 6'6 physical specimen and a great centerback.

Ethan Garvey is a local New Orleans boy who just finished his first year at the University of Evansville where he earned All-Freshman conference honors. He's also a 6'6 centerback and is a pretty versatile player. Has a lot of potential for the pro game, which we're hoping to assist him on achieving.

Anything else about the club we should know?

We are still schedule to play Chattanooga FC on August 1st in Chattanooga. Should be a fun one.

So who are you and what's your personal background in soccer?

My name is Robbie McCray and I am the owner/general manager of Northshore United. I started playing soccer at U8 when some friends from my school basketball team invited me to play club. I've been involved with soccer in some form for the last 30 years.

How did you get involved with Northshore United?

I created United with the idea of having friends to stay fit over the summer between club/school seasons. The secondary reason was that no outlet existed for players who wanted to continue playing competitive soccer within our area after their youth club career concluded. I heard about it all the time from players and parents so I decided to do something about it.

Last season your club finished runner up, losing narrowly in the final, can you talk about the success last year?

We saw more success from year 2 to year 3 and most of the success came from better organization. Mostly on my part of controlling what I could control and also getting the right people in the right positions to manage the team better.

How can the club go further next year?

We have a lot of options in front of us at the moment to bring about changes to our club. My goal is to not make any negative steps. We hope that any moves, even laterally, will be positive. The club will evolve naturally move forward either way.

Two of your players made the Best 11 for the league last season, can you talk about these players and what makes them special?

Mason Robicheaux and Zac Breaux come to mind first. Maybe it's because both made the GCPL Top XI, but that's something we saw every day and it was no surprise they received league recognition. Mason had growth in both mind and body following his first year at Appalachian State. He came back a completely different player, but was still just a great, openly honest player. I felt he made the difference in several games. The coaching staff felt he listened and responded to everything they suggested to him.

Zac Breaux was the first player that I called to invite him to play without ever meeting him or seeing him play. After a good conversation over the phone I knew he would fit right in with the other guys. Zac gave us many game-winning goals and always energized at practice and games. He, like Mason, are the beating heart of the team. The team is better with when both guys are involved.

What about Covington generates this type of talent?

I don't think it's any one thing. I think it's probably a mixture of good family environments and quality youth club coaching that sets the Northshore apart. We had several players willing to travel two plus hours three times a week for training and games because they wanted to be apart of what we're doing.

Can you talk about the history of the club?

We're still a young club so there's not much history to share. We have made progress in our short existence in the in making playoffs and the GCLP final as well as the creation over our United Academy program. The idea of United Academy was that we would integrate younger players into first team sessions. You may see a match up of a high school sophomore against a college sophomore. The experience for the younger player is valuable to his growth.

I recently heard a story from one of our UA parents telling me about his sons first training session with our Academy team. The player was a high school sophomore goalkeeper at the time and there was a play in the box which seemed routine for him so he jogged over to scoop up the ball. He was then bested by striker who he didn't think could cover the ground. The striker took the ball from him and finished with a simple open net goal. The more experienced striker give the young keeper a pat on the back and told him to get used to the speed. During the next water break, the two spoke again and the striker continued to offer encouragement to the younger player to always be aware and keep his head in the game. An experience for the young guy that he'll never forget which was due to our choice to challenge young players. One of many opportunities for growth that may not have occurred if not for our club.

How would you describe the GCPL to those not familiar with your league? Who are your biggest rivals?

The GCPL is a hyperlocal/regional league which focuses on young, talented players. The better talent seen in the GCPL is equal to if not better than the supposed more elite national leagues. No rivals yet. I've heard some teams dislike playing us. Take-a-number I guess.

Anything else we should know about Northshore United?

We want to continue to grow and find success in what we're doing regardless of the league we're playing in. We will continue to focus of training and push for growth in knowledge of the game. That will always be our number one goal.