Philadelphia Falcons

So who are you and how did you get involved with Philly Falcons?

My name is Yunio Martinez (he/him), I'm originally from Guatemala so FOOTBALL is the main sport there. When I moved to PA, 8 years ago, I remember googling “Gay soccer Philadelphia” and from there it’s all history.

Can you share some about how the club came to exist?

The club has existed for 31 years - same as my age haha. Our founder Drew Adair started everything with a pickup or practice and now the Club has mens, womens, and coed teams playing in Philly Leagues, International Tournaments, and we also host our own Pickups and Leagues. But here is something of OUR STORY (in a more formal response):

Through his experience playing in local sports leagues, Drew Adair recognized the urgent need for an LGBT+ space for soccer players. To start this Philly movement, he first reached out to the NY Ramblers, President and Founder, Bob Whitmore. He collected ideas on how to organize, advertise and discover what other teams were out there. Drew contacted the Park Commission Office about available field space, got some free ad space in Au Courant & PGN, and prepared a press release for the gay-friendly show on the public radio station.

In early July, Drew posted flyers at all the usual hangouts, submitted press releases and scheduled practice. On a softball field down in South Philly, Drew held the first practice with about 7 or 8 other men. Within a couple of weeks, they secured a couple of hours once a week on a college field hockey pitch (mostly when the security guards were on break!). As things progressed, there were regular practices, more men joining, and the group was gaining some publicity. One of the biggest initial hurdles was working with schedules of other sports and retaining players when it came time to seriously join leagues, which meant entering the public, heteronormative sphere. This emergence into leagues and playing in out-of-state tournaments also meant picking a name for the group was imminent and a crucial decision. After several meetings solely for the purpose of naming, the group stood behind the Falcons because it was "Philly-ish" and had a lot of visual possibilities.

Our women's teams didn't start forming until 1998 when a Falcons team traveled to Dallas for a tournament with one woman player. Another team refused to play our team, which lit the fire to build up the women's side of the club. By 1999, we were able to send a team just full enough to cover the field to the IGLFA Championship Tournament.

Now we have had over 500 members and continue to be at the forefront of inclusivity within the soccer community. We have teams in many leagues across Philadelphia and still travel nationally to tournaments. 

What's the current mission of the club? What do you do on a day to day basis?

The Falcons are dedicated to bringing affordable and fun soccer to the Philadelphia community. Our members are primarily LGBTQ+, but we gladly welcome anyone who is interested in playing soccer!

On a regular basis before this Pandemic, we had pickups twice a week, and we also have teams playing in the different leagues in Philly. Some of our teams even travel around the United States and the world to participate in different LGBTQA tournaments.

Can you tell us about some people who have been involved with your organization over the years?

Our club is run by 10 volunteers who dedicate their time, called the Falcons Board. We vote and elect a new board every year. Besides the board, there are the captains of the different teams...

This is my second year as president, but before me, there have been so many great people who served as Board members, so I couldn't mention one because everyone put their time and effort to continue building a SAFE SPACE for everyone.

We're in love with your kits, can you talk a little about how they came to exist?

Our jerseys went crazy on Twitter! I do remember posting the link as Pre-Sale and then my phone was getting all the notifications, people from different countries were in LOVE. But the whole story starts here. In March we have to cancel all our soccer and social activities. For almost 4 months we tried to continue to stay in contact with the membership, but finally, in June we had our first in-person Board Meeting and, of course, June is PRIDE MONTH. So we were trying to decide what we should do for Pride Month. Every Pride Month, all the organizations come to us, we usually get emails of invitations to events and all that stuff.

In the past months, we have seen how the gay and lesbian part has been more accepted but our trans community is getting under-served. In a way to show our support (because we are not just a LGB soccer Team, we are a LGBTQA+ organization and together we are strong), we decided on changing our logo and raise funds for an organization that supports our siblings (Morris Home is the one we decided on, days later).

I was on my way home when the idea to make NEW JERSEYS come to my mind, so I texted Robert Smukler from ICARUS. I sent the NEW LOGO and the Trans Flag, told him some ideas, and he did the first design. I presented it to the Board and we switched some colors and then this beauty came to life. It was crazy, we never had people from all over the country, 40 different states and 5 other countries were buying them.

Does the club play in a league currently?

As of right now we aren't having any soccer activities, but we can't wait to come back to the pitch. I'm also co-captain with Isaiah Johnson of our 11v11 CASA team. So we are talking with their president Nolan Bair on having a tournament like the NWSL or MLS have, but for a good cause.  We probably will not have all the Sponsors that they do, but we are going to try to continue raising funds for our pride campaign (Fundraiser Campaign that goes all summer long).

If so can you talk about some players from the team?

We have great humans in our team, love everyone of them. We have people from all the backgrounds, all skill levels, all genders. WE LOVE ALL AND WE WELCOME ALL. SOCCER FOR ALL.

If someone wants to get involved, how would they do that?

If you love to play soccer, if you are LGBTQA+, and I'm including straight people (because our club has a lot of allies too) just reach out to us on our website.

As I said, we have practices and our leagues (which usually are all skills), but we also have competitive teams playing in different leagues around the Philadelphia area. If you like to travel, we go all over. Our last tournament was Sin City Classic Las Vegas. We’ve even been out of the country - we were in Mexico and Paris for the Gay Games and the next ones will be Hong Kong. But if things improve, our captains are planning on sending a team to Copenhagen next year for World Pride.

Anything else we should know about Philly Falcons?

We love to play soccer. We love to be accepted for who we are, not only for our sexual orientations. We will continue fighting on building a safe space for everyone.

St. Louis Lions (WPSL)

So who are you and how did you get involved with St Louis Lions?

My name is Geoff Lorimier and I am the Head Coach of the team and Director of Coaching for our youth club (TG Lions Academy).  Three years ago I and our General Manager, Kevin Hecht, approached our Club Director (Tony Glavin) about starting a WPSL team.  We have had a men’s team in USL2 since 2006 and we had always been looking to add a women’s team to the club.  We began to do some research on the league and the quality of the teams around us.  We wanted to know if this was something we could start up for our club.  After talking with other coaches in the league about how they operate, and our experience with our men’s team, we thought we had a great opportunity to do something in our area.

What's the history of the club?

Our club started in 1994 as a youth club (TG Lions Academy) to boys and girls from the ages of U8-U19.  One of the goals set forth by our Club Director, Tony Glavin, was to make sure we had a complete player pathway for those players who wanted to seek out a higher level of soccer at the older ages. In 2006 we formed the St. Louis Lions men’s’ team as a part of the PDL (now USL2).  This was a great opportunity for the boys in our club to strive to play at a higher level after the U19 season.  Then in 2018 we formed the St. Louis Lions women’s’ team as a part of the WPSL.  By doing so we were able to have a pathway for the boys and girls in our club.

Last season your club was competitive, but ended up third in a very challenging conference. What lessons did you learn?

We were really happy with our season.  Coming off of the 2018 season, which was our first in the league, we thought we had a better understanding of the competitiveness of the play.  We improved in many statistical categories from year 1 to year 2 and that was a tribute to the hard work of the players during training.  However, we were able to take away things from the season that will help us prepare for others to come.  The main thing that I learned was that the depth of the squad that we put out on the field is very important to the overall success of the team.  The league is set up where we play 8-10 games in about a month in a half.  This can be very challenging due to playing multiple games during a week while still learning the nuances of each player.  Getting the players to adapt to a style of play in that short time frame can be hard for everyone.  Therefore, the depth becomes an issue so that the players can have the rest needed in order to perform at the level that is required for success in the league.

Maddie Brewer plays the ball forward.

You scored a lot of goals, 26 in 10 matches. How would you describe your clubs style of play?

I want to see our players building out of the back, showing comfort and composure on the ball, possession with a purpose through midfield, and players showing creativity and having the ability to take players on in the attacking third of the field. We like to see the ball moving quick with 1-2 touch passes to keep the ball moving to create space for attacking opportunities.  We believe if we move the ball quick then we can take advantage of the space in behind our opponents and not let them organize defensively.

Defensively we like to press high up the field with numbers behind the ball and staying compact through the middle of the pitch. We don’t want to get have many gaps in our lines.  If we lose the ball we want immediate pressure.

These are things that we work on in all of our sessions as we want to try and implement our style of play in a very short time frame.  We have a lot of players coming from other schools who may play a different style and we want to bring them altogether very quickly.

Can you tell us about 1 or 2 of your players?

Hannah Larson – Hannah has played for us both years and would have been preparing for her third season this year had the season not been cancelled.  She just finished her senior year in high school and is committed to St. Louis University for the fall season.  We have seen her growth in the game in the short time she has been with us.  She is an attacking mid player for us, could probably benefit from using her speed to play out wide.  However, she is one of the most dynamic players on the ball in the league.  She scored 3 goals and assisted on 3 others to finish with 9 points in just 8 games.  Hannah is a tough player who doesn’t get knocked off the ball and can play high intensity for 90 minutes.

Maddie Bauer – Maddie had her first season with us last year.  She is a junior at Quincy University.  Maddie plays the #9 (forward) position for us but I have also used her out wide.  She is a strong player who can play with her back to the goal and come to receive the ball to allow for us to get numbers up, but she is also quick on the ball and can take players on.  She was tied for the lead in goals on our team with 6 (Hannah Friedrich also had 6) and she began to really take off and adjust to the league in the back half of the season.  I had spoken to a few other coaches that I wish we had about 4-5 more games because Maddie was really beginning to breakout and adjust.  We are excited to have her back.

These are just two of the players but we really have quality in all of our players.  It is hard to just mention two of them. I could mention Stacie Muehling (defender) who has played in the most games in our, short, franchise history (18). Cristina Rodriguez who came through our youth club all the way to the WPSL team and is our leading scorer in franchise history (7 goals, 5 assists, 19 points).  We have been very fortunate to have two outstanding goalkeepers in Olivia Silverman (who is now my assistant coach) and Mary Niehaus.  So I must say the quality of the players, and the quality of the league, is top notch.

With the extended offseason, how are you keeping in contact with your players and preparing for 2021?

It has been tough especially with restrictions on meeting and training.  I have tried to keep in contact via emails just to continue to check in and see how things are going.  I want to make sure they know that we are here for them beyond the 1-2 month season.  This includes giving them things that they can be working on their own with or just answering their questions that they may have about the game.

As far as preparations for 2021, we will first reach out to those players on the squad who we hope to have back for the season.  Once we have an idea on who is coming back then we can look at the areas that we may need to fill.  I have a pretty good relationship with a number of college coaches and we try to stay in contact with potential players who would benefit from this type of playing environment.  I also try to get out to as many high school and college games that I can to get a look at players who may fit in to our style of play.  This process takes a bit of time, but we really want to make sure that our club can be competitive in the league and represent the league in a positive manner.

Hannah Larson muscles past a defender.

St. Louis is known as a hotbed for soccer talent, what's your focus as a club? Is it talent development, winning the league, growing the brand, or something else entirely?

St. Louis is a very competitive market for the game.  Our roster is typically about 80% local players.  We have some very good players in the area who can play at this level.  That said from our youth club on up, we have always been about individual player development.  Don’t get me wrong, we want to win every time we step on the pitch, however, we don’t want to do it at the expense of the development of each.  Player development is so important to continue to allow each player to succeed in their goals of the game.  It doesn’t matter if it is a youth player just starting in the game or a collegiate player who may be looking to advance into the professional side.  Every player has got to continue to work on the technical side of the game.

I believe that if the player development continues for our team/club then winning the games will happen as well.  We went from winning 2 games (2 wins 2 losses 4 ties) in 2018 to winning 7 games (7 wins 2 losses 1 tie) in 2019.  As the players development within the league improves so will the quality of our results.

Who do you see as your biggest WPSL rivals?

Our biggest rival is the Fire and Ice.  They are about 40 minutes from us in Belleville, Illinois and a lot of our players know each other and have played with each other.  The Fire and Ice have a very competitive squad year after year and they elevate the quality of the play in the league.  They won the National Championship in 2017 and continue to be a tough opponent.  We have fared well with them in our matches as we tied both our matches in 2018 and we went 1-1 with them in 2019.  We were actually the first team to beat them on their home pitch in 7 years.  Before that they had never lost at home.  So that match really elevated our progress within the league.

We also have a decent rivalry with Elite Girls Academy out of Omaha, Nebraska.  They are a very competitive squad who were new to the league last year.  They won our conference and we lost to them at their place and tied them at home.  We enjoy playing them as they have been very competitive matches.

Anything else we should know about your club?

We just want to continue to give these players the opportunity to play/train in a competitive environment that will allow them to continue to focus on their goals in the game.  I think it is important to ensure that the roster maintains a level of high quality players so that each player can benefit from all during training.

That said, I think it is important for our youth players to see what they can do, and the level they have available to them, if they continue to work hard in the game.

SouthStar FC (WPSL)

So let's start off with you. Who are you and how did you get involved with Southstar FC?

My name is John Saeger and I live in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex. I’ve been involved in North Texas soccer for almost 20 years, first as a parent, now as an owner of a few “soccer related” businesses including SouthStar FC.

I experienced my first WPSL season a few years back when a number of players and young coaches played for FC Dallas’ WPSL team. I thought it was great that the women had another vehicle to continue playing (during their college career and beyond). What I also saw was an MLS club not putting in the same resources for the women players as they did for men. That pissed me off! I’m on the board of a local youth club and I reached out to the WPSL to see what it would take to start a WPSL team. I had a few conversations with Sean Jones. I thought about it. What I realized though is in order to get the top talent in the area, I needed to be Switzerland, not affiliated with any of the youth clubs here as they’re UBER competitive against each other. To a fault. I also wanted to have a club that treats their players with the same resources as men’s teams have. They deserve it!

I was still on the fence. I was at the United Soccer Coaches show in Chicago a few years back for my portable soccer field lighting company (SouthStar Systems), and I met with the WPSL folks. I decided then and there I’d start a team for the upcoming season. 2019 was our first year. 

Where are you based out of and how did you come up with the name Southstar?

We are based in Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas. We practice in Dallas and play our HOME games at TCU in Ft. Worth. SouthStar FC came from my business (SouthStar Systems) that sells portable lighting. Soccer clubs are one of my biggest customers for portable soccer field lighting. I have met and work with so many great people from great clubs from all over the world. I’ve learned so much (and continue to do so) from them. I absolutely love what I do! 

Messiah Bright in action for SouthStar FC.

How long have Southstar been playing and what level of talent have you produced?

2019 was our 1st year. I must give all the credit to the coaching staff, Susan (Bush) Quill, Lauren Alkek and Jay Fitzgerald. They had the relationships and were able to attract a lot of talented players. We have some amazing players who will be playing at the next level for sure.

 The club finished second in your conference last year, how do you plan to build on that success?

In 2019, we set a great tone and we’ll build upon that. We’ve heard from quite a few new players who want to come out. We keep in constant contact with the players from a social perspective, follow their collegiate games and try to keep the brand out in front year around. We want to be THE club that these great players from the area want to play for. 

Your conference lies in a very competitive area, that North Texas/Oklahoma border region, what's the level of competition in your conference?

No question, this area has produced some great women players. We play in the Red River Conference – North.  Tulsa and Oklahoma City are always tough. Quite a few of our players play in the Big 12 conference so they all know each other as teammates or the competition. There are no easy games! 

Tell us about a player or two.

Messiah Bright (Forward, TCU) is an absolutely explosive player and she’s only getting better. She was the Freshman of the Year in the Big 12. She can break away at any time and score so you have to pay attention. So fun to watch!

Courtney Sebazco (Midfield, SMU) is tough as nails. Never gives up on the ball, great vision, leads by example. Always impressed by her play. She has the honor of scoring the first goal ever for the club! 

Courtney Sebazco dribbles past a Tulsa opponent.

What are your goals for your club? Do you focus on matches, final record, trophies, player development, social impact, or something else entirely?

My goal(s) for the club are just giving these women an opportunity to play. We’ve added a few goals now as we learn. We want to help them play at the next level, either in the US or abroad. We want to help them transition to coaching or other aspects of the business of soccer if they want.

We are a Not for Profit (501(c)3 and all of our resources go to the players and coaches. They pay for nothing. 

North Texas has been hit pretty hard by the pandemic, how's the health and safety of your players?

We’re fortunate that to date, no player has contracted COVID-19. Health and safety are paramount so we’ve practiced as much caution as we possibly could. We’re helping them get ready for their respective collegiate season by holding small group fitness sessions.

Will the club be playing in 2020? 

No 2020 Season. It’s unfortunate that the 2020 WPSL Season is cancelled but we’ll be doing some things with the players later in the year and getting ready for the 2021 WPSL Season. 

Anything else we should know about the club?

Our long-term goals remain consistent and who knows what might happen. I’m hoping that we can eventually become a Women’s Professional Club, maybe part of the USL or some other league that allows more women the opportunity to play after college. Maybe a men’s side and a youth component.

I’m optimistic in the future of the game. I’m just so fortunate to be in the position I’m in, working with so many great people who all have a passion around this great game.

Amish Country United (NOSL)

So who are you and how did you get involved in soccer/Amish Country United?

I’m 21 years old and in the fall, I am going to be a senior at Mount Vernon Nazarene University, double-majoring in Business Administration and Sports Management. I have played soccer my whole life but really found my love of the game watching the 2014 World Cup. From that summer on, I couldn’t get enough of playing, watching, or following soccer. My sophomore year of high school, I started an indoor soccer team to play in a local league. This team eventually became Amish Country United and we’ve made the switch to outdoors.

So why the name Amish Country United?

We decided on the name Amish Country United because our area— Holmes County— is often referred to as Amish Country, as we have one of the largest Amish populations in the world. We added the “United” part because we came together as players from several schools within Amish Country to start the team.

How long has your club existed and where do you draw your talent from?

We started playing indoor in 2014 and began playing under the name Amish Country United in 2016. We made the move from indoor to outdoor in the summer of 2018, and this is when we started getting more competitive and began doing a lot more recruiting. A large number of our players have come from three successful area high school programs. These schools are Hiland High School (where I attended), Kidron Central Christian, and Mansfield Christian. We also get a lot of our players from Mount Vernon Nazarene University, where I attend college.

Can you tell us about 1 or 2 of your players?

We have thirty players on our men’s team but I will highlight two that have been very important to our history. The first is our club captain is Brandon Kozak. He played at Hiland High School and Denison University. He has lined up at center attacking midfielder, either wing, and even striker for us but is mostly used as a CAM or left winger. He’s a very technical player and is extremely vocal, leading by example. He’s also very good at taking younger players under his wing, making them feel accepted, and helping them grow. Sam Paul led us in goals and assists last year with 7 goals and 7 assists in just 7 games. He joined us after playing for Mansfield Christian, where he won an Ohio state championship. After graduating high school, he attended the University of Cincinnati where he played and helped lead their club soccer team. Sam plays on the right wing and possesses blazing speed and flashy foot skills. Sam assisted the first goal and scored the game-clinching goal in the 92’ in our 2-0 semifinal win over Inter Ohio. In addition to what he does on the field, Sam has a very bright future in the medical field.

You play in the NOSL, can you talk about the league?

We were the first team in the Northern Ohio Soccer League and started play last summer. The league is very competitive and there are many talented high school and college players from the surrounding counties who make up the league. The NOSL is also fairly balanced, where any team could beat any other team on any given day. For example, last year we lost 0-5 and 1-6 to Inter Ohio during the regular season, but we came away with a 2-0 victory in the NOSL semifinals. The teams are all constantly trying to improve and best each other. There is actually some stiff competition between teams going for the same players at times. There were five teams in the NOSL in 2019 but there are currently ten teams in the league. The league is gaining a lot of momentum and has got a lot of interest from the northern Ohio region. 

What club is your biggest rival?

Our biggest rival is probably FC Accipiter, whom we lost to in the NOSL final. Our games with them are usually pretty chippy and display some high emotions. We’re also located only 20 minutes away from them, making them one of the closer teams to us geographically. We also are pretty evenly matched with Stark County United and our games are also very competitive. ACU, Accipiter, and Stark are the three remaining teams from the original five so we will probably always have some good rivalry matchups.

What's the plan for 2020?

With the NOSL being postponed for 2020, we are hoping to play a few friendlies throughout the remainder of the summer. We have already confirmed games with two teams, we’re just waiting for clearance to play. We also hope to play at least one friendly this fall at our new home field, as Hiland High School is in the process of completing their new turf soccer field. 

Anything else we should know about the club?

Amish Country United would not be able to compete without the financial support of our sponsors— Pioneer Trails, AloNovus Corp. and Der Dutchman. We have recently announced the formation of an ACU women’s team and have big plans to start up a competitive youth development program. You can check us out at www.amishcountryunited.com, where you can see all new updates, stories, schedules, and other information on Amish Country United and purchase our new home and away jerseys from Icarus FC on the team store.

Space United FC

So who are you and how did you get involved in Space United FC?

My name is Camilo Tobacia, I am the Founder & CEO of Space United. I am a former youth soccer player from professional club Millonarios FC (Bogota, Colombia), former SpaceX (Elon Musk) engineer and a current engineer at Blue Origin (Jeff Bezos). Shortly after graduating as an Aerospace Engineer from Texas A&M University, I received a job offer at SpaceX, the leading rocket company run by Elon Musk. My unique experiences within soccer and the space industry inspired me to create Space United in 2014 (originally dubbed SpaceX FC). Space United became the culmination of soccer and space in my life.  Useful links:

• Team behind the Team 

• Historical Timeline

• Space United Origins

Interesting name, who is "united" under the club?

In 2014, the team was founded as SpaceX FC, and was 100% made up of SpaceX colleagues. As we competed and got better, we started to get notoriety and exposure in the Los Angeles soccer scene which led to our participation in many soccer events and tournaments in the city. As the team's social exposure grew, so did the requests to join the squad from other space companies and space & soccer enthusiasts. In 2019 we opened the roster to allow players from these groups and thus formed Space United. 

We currently run 2 teams. 1in Los Angeles and 1 in Seattle. 

Our Los Angeles roster makeup is about 75% mix of SpaceX, Relativity Space, Northrop Grumman and Oracle. The remaining 25% are space/soccer enthusiasts and athletes. 

Our Seattle roster makeup is mainly Blue Origin members. 

What league is the club in and where does the club play matches?

Our Los Angeles team competes in the SouthBay Sports League and our Seattle team competes in the Starfire Soccer Complex.

Our next mission objective is to establish a professional soccer team that can compete at the level of NISA/NPSL league. 

Do you feel like the unique nature of your club's players' backgrounds change the way you play the game?

I think it is very interesting to have such a diverse mix of players who come from different athletic and educational backgrounds. It definitely adds value to our overall camaraderie and how we play and communicate on the field. There have been a few games that coincide with rocket launch schedules, so you will find our players discussing launch parameters and broadcasting live rocket landings on the pitch --definitely a unique perspective that set our own kickoff. Having that connection beyond the pitch keeps us together at a different level.

Can you tell us about your club's players? Any we should know about specifically?

We have a very unique makeup of players, all of whom are experts in their own fields. In addition we are the only team in the league with women on our competing roster in the 11v11 Men's league. Some players highlights are:

• Drew Hess, Head of Mission Management at Relativity Space

• Sebastian Torres, Entrepreneur and Technical Project Lead at SpaceX

• Sebastian Tobacia, Smart Automation Engineer at Northrop Grumman 

• Alejandro Arambula & Alex Teuffer, Engineers at SpaceX and MIT Alumni

• Hayley Gonzales, Model and Sports Coach

• Everyone adds their unique soccer and educational expertise. 

• Roster Bios for more reference

In some ways, your club reminds me of the way soccer clubs formed in the beginning, out of trade unions and specific crafts. Do you see this connection as well?

I recently watched the movie "The English Game" and got a better idea of what you are mentioning here. I think you are correct in connecting that characteristic which I think is so cool to see that the origins of the game began in a much similar way as we are going about our club. It definitely makes it feel like family to be playing alongside co-workers.

Anything else we should know about your club?

We are excited for what the future holds for our club, especially as we work toward establishing a professional team that can compete at higher levels. We want to be part of the engine that gets soccer growing in America. We are launching our website by the end of this month along with our New 2020 kit and our club shop as well. 

Stegman's Soccer Club: MASL & MRSL

Soccer in Minneapolis is a big, big deal… and one of the biggest organizations, which is the literal embodiment of a soccer club, is Stegman’s SC. For those from outside of the “Mini Apple,” you may be more familiar with their soccer love-child MPLS City, but if you’re a regular down at the National Sports Center or Lincoln Ground down on Penn Ave., you are very familiar with The Blues. To get more information about Stegman’s we reached out to Dan Warner, who said to just call him Warner to avoid confusion with the other Dan richly involved in the club, Dan Hoedeman.   Warner tells us he moved to Minneapolis in 2011 and was fortunate to discover Stegman’s Old Boys right away – he’s been affiliated with the club ever since. In 2018 he took the reigns of the entire Stegman’s operation so that Hoedeman and Jon Bisswurm could focus on developing MPLS City. While each affiliate Stegman’s team has its own manager, Warner oversees the whole club and still pulls all the strings for Stegman’s Old Boys. Insofar as we can determine, we hit paydirt and found the right guy to answer our questions about a good club doing great things in the beautiful “Mill City.”

Stegman's Soccer Club; Stegman's 1977, Stegman's Old Boys, Stegman's Athletic, Stegman's Blues, and Stegman's United... Stegman seems to be the common thread - which club came first and how has so many teams been born from one club?

The Old Boys are the flagship team starting in 2010. The things we did outside of game-day made us what we are and other people started taking notice. In 2011 we needed a couple of players to fill out our roster but there was so much interest we decided to form a second team under the Stegman’s Old Boys umbrella. We eventually grew to four teams across two leagues, the Minnesota Amateur Soccer League and the Minnesota Recreational Soccer League, both men’s summer amateur leagues. And of course, we played indoor and small-sided fall leagues as well. 

In 2015, FC Internationals, a storied amateur club in the MASL that had been affiliated with us, ran into some financial and organizational difficulties. We were already affiliated with them so it made sense for us to help out. We did, the two clubs merged, and the Internationals rebranded as Stegman’s 1977 won the MASL Division 1 championship in 2016 and 2017.

Challenging for the ball down at the Lincoln Ground (photo: Stegman’s SC Facebook)

Tell us a little bit about the MASL - is there a pro/rel model in place and can multiple Stegman-based clubs compete in the same division?

The MASL is a 4-division league with proper 2 up 2 down pro/rel. It also allows teams in different divisions to affiliate and share players with a few simple restrictions. We have 3 teams in the MASL (Athletic in D3, Old Boys in D2 and 1977s in D1.) We do our best to keep our teams in different divisions to utilize the affiliations but there have been a few epic battles with Old Boys and Athletic in D3 over the last 5 years. 

Stegman’s actually got started in the other Twin Cities league - the MRSL and have retained a presence with one or two teams in that league ever since. The MRSL has a similar setup - 6 divisions on Sunday nights and 6 on Monday nights with promotion/relegation but they’re a little more lax on who must go up and who must go down, nor do they have the affiliation or player-sharing system. Blues are currently in Sunday D5 (after winning D6 going undefeated in 2019) and United in Monday D3.

Founded just 4 years ago, MPLS City seems to have become a well-known sibling of the Stegman's teams - how did that come about and why wasn't it given the Stegman's surname?

Stegman’s has always been anti-.......lots of things, which is part of our, shall we say, charm. That charm works at the local, and even quasi-regional level, but not necessarily at the national level. With MPLS City joining the national soccer pyramid we took the opportunity to have a refresh and create MPLS City in the Stegman’s image but take it to another level with broader appeal. The first name when we joined the PLA was technically SSC Minneapolis City to make the connection to Stegman’s but we quickly dropped the SSC because it’s more than a mouthful and didn’t allow us quite the separation from Stegman’s we were looking for. 

Who knows if it was the right or wrong decision, but it is hard enough to make things work in the lower divisions. We were worried an esoteric, if awesome, name like Stegman’s Old Boys might be a barrier.

With so many squads in competition, do players ever move in-between the squads? Do players perceive the NPSL side as something to aspire to?

NS - Since Stegman’s is the recreational arm of the club as a whole there’s always going to be roster shake-ups; people stop playing, move for family/work, etc. The goal is to make sure everyone is playing at the best level for themselves and the club and having 5 different teams within the club makes that much easier for us. Especially when players come along but the higher-level squads don’t have any room - we are able to offer a spot within the club with potential to move up. We then see what they’re like both on and off the field and understand how the club operates - e.g. squads are built on both skill and chemistry, our ‘no assholes rule’, amongst other things. Typically, we try to get these new players folded into the club / squads during a fall or winter small-sided league to work through these things during our off-season.

Some of the players who get involved with Stegman’s 1977 & Old Boys (our D1 & D2 MASL squad) do have aspirations to play with the NPSL side and we’re more than happy to provide them with those opportunities. More often than not, players on the MPLS City and MPLS City 2 come down to the Stegman’s levels to get some additional reps and game time.

Slicing through Fargo FC at the National Sports Center (photo: Stegman’s SC Facebook)

There are various ways that clubs can set up; LLC, S-Corp, non-profit with a board and even 100% supporter owned; how is Stegman's built, what informed that decision, what are the strengths and what are the weaknesses?

We are an LLC, owned by our own players. It’s a tax nightmare, to be honest, and we’ve had to slightly adjust the structure over time, but the intent is to build a club with staying power. Part of that is the financial piece. This gives us a broad base of guys who literally feel ownership in the success of the club. The other part is player engagement and guys willing to put in the time to organize and make things happen. We’ve been lucky in that respect, and are already well into the second generation of leaders and still going strong.

Aside from providing a ton of opportunity for players of any level to participate in soccer - Stegman's is well-known for contributing to charitable causes; what has made that a part of the mission of the club and what are some of your favorite causes? 

We originally started out as a rec team that would do things the best way, the right way, and not be the boners who show up with mismatched shorts & socks…. though Club Legend, The Gray Wolf, never showed up to a game wearing the proper shorts. Anyways, the first Stegman’s squad wanted to be more than just 20 guys that show up to play on Sundays so we did some training during the week to build our chemistry. 

As we moved into year 2 and year 3 of the club we started looking into other ways to live up to that mantra of ‘being more than guys that just show up on game day’ and this naturally led us towards giving back and some outreach to those less fortunate than we are. Two of the three founders are good friends with the founder of The Free Beer Movement so we decided it would be really cool to bring some of that energy to a men’s recreational soccer match. We got some items to raffle off, a bunch of beer, and invited friends & family for the first annual Stegman’s Free Beer Night, played against an unsuspecting MRSL squad. As the years went on we decided to do some new things with it, expanding our reach and philanthropy by playing a squad from The Sanneh Foundation at MN United’s training field. As the club grew bigger, and field availability in the Twin Cities became a bigger issue, it became harder to get this scheduled so it’s been on hiatus for the last couple of years but we’re always looking to bring it back as well as new ways to give back through soccer.

Stegman’s SC is more than just a team, it’s a family (photo: Stegman’s SC Facebook)

With such dynamic soccer-minds at the helm of Stegman's, what's the next evolution? What should we be looking forward to when soccer comes back to normal?

I think the most important thing for us is to double-down on what made Stegman’s the kind of rec club that has attracted over hundreds of guys over the years - our traditions, camaraderie, beer, etc. Oh, and to keep winning and adding more championship ‘staches above our club crest. 

To Find out more about the club: http://stegmanssc.com/

Muskegon Risers (NPSL & UWS)

A little over a year ago we introduced you to Matt Schmitt and his club, Muskegon Risers READ HERE and we thought there was no time like the present to catch up with them; see what they’ve been up to and what we might have missed the first time round.  

For some of our brand-new readers, can you take a second to explain the origins of Muskegon Risers?

The Muskegon Risers organization was established in January of 2014 to help facilitate positive social and economic change along the Muskegon Lakeshore through the game of soccer. A Riser is someone who understands our community’s potential and who pushes themselves and others to realize that potential. Our ‘Risers’ name was inspired by the ‘Muskegon, Together Rising’ sculpture that stands in the heart of downtown Muskegon. Risers are not limited to an era, industry or ethnicity. The Muskegon Risers to represent the spirit of our area’s people in past, present and future tense.

MKG fields a men’s outdoor team (National Premier Soccer League), men’s arena team (Major Arena Soccer League II), women’s outdoor team (United Women’s Soccer), women’s arena team (Independent) and eSports team (eNPSL/VPG). The Risers play all home outdoor games at historic Monsignor Kehren Stadium, and all arena games in downtown Muskegon’s Mercy Health Arena.

It looks like you've updated your badge since last we spoke; can you walk us through it? What are the elements and what do they mean?

“Muskegon” originates from the word “mashkig” of the area’s indigenous Ojibwe tribe, and our arrow-shaped crest recognizes this history. Geographically, the City is positioned on Lake Michigan and has the only deep-water port, Muskegon Lake, on Michigan’s west coast. As a Port City, shipping, boating and beach-going help shape Muskegon’s modern industry and culture. The crest’s blue and green colors are a reflection of Muskegon’s natural beauty as a lakeside community, particularly during the spring, summer and fall seasons. During the Muskegon Risers winter arena season, our crest colors change to black and white as Muskegon Lake freezes and lake effect snow blankets the community. The unique symbol located at the crest’s top – layered over iconic sun and waves – is derived from the sculpture at the heart of Downtown Muskegon named “Muskegon, Together Rising”.

Indoors, Outdoors... and even on ice. It looks like your club is willing to play soccer anywhere; why is that and do the players from the NPSL and UWS players participate in all levels of competition or do you have recreation and co-ed squads?

Our purpose is centered around creating a positive impact on the Muskegon Lakeshore through soccer. As such, we're able to adapt with different variations in which the game is played and will compete if we feel confident in our ability to deliver a quality experience for everyone involved. We focus on elite performance and do not delve into the realm of recreational soccer through the Risers brand.

As mentioned, you have teams in both a men's and women's league, why is it important to provide a similar opportunity to the women of your community? Do they have a totally separate set of coaches? Budget?

Every decision we make is derived from our core mission of creating a positive impact on the Muskegon Lakeshore through soccer, and the addition of a women's team effectively doubles the force with which we are able to serve that purpose. The women's outdoor team does operate within its own business model, as does our women's arena team. Our relentless commitment to a clear organizational purpose has allowed us to create opportunities for men's and women's outdoor and indoor players, and most recently eSports players.

With the NPSL cancelling the season, are you still holding out hope for local competitions and regional cups or have you decided to just put the whole men's team on hold for 2020? What about the UWS and the women's squad - what's the word?

In late March, the NPSL cancelled its season on a national level and we completely understood the decision. Locally, we continued to evaluate our landscape until early April when it was clear that moving forward with a men's and women's outdoor season in 2020 was not in the organization's best interest. We've embraced the mantra "The Obstacle is the Way" and are using this opportunity to build an eSports program, which just started its inaugural eNPSL season last week https://virtualprogaming.com/league/enpsl

What do we have to look forward to in the Fall / Winter? Rec leagues? More indoor? What do you have up your sleeve?

Assuming the public health data and local policies are favorable, we plan to re-activate our men's and women's arena teams who would start competition in January of 2021. The question for all of our teams is when, not if, they will return to full competition which is a position we are very grateful to be in.

To keep up with Muskegon Risers: https://muskegonrisers.com/

Crescent City FC (GCPL)

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. 

Savannah Spirit (WPSL)

While we were gearing up for a massive WPSL season preview, we reached out to several clubs, ongoing and brand new, to get a feel for the direction the 2020 season was going to go. Chris Davidovicz head coach of Savannah Spirit, was happy to respond at the first time of asking and provided a few answers for the piece. Unfortunately, a lot has changed since that first contact. However, Chris was kind enough to answer a few more questions when we decided to just make the whole piece a good old-fashioned Spotlight – so now we shed the light on the apparitions and ghosts of the WPSL’s South Regions, Carolina’s Conference, South Division.

Why did you choose to join the WPSL - has your club existed at a lower level or is this the organization's debut into the soccer world?

This is a brand-new club.  The WPSL team is our debut into the soccer world.  There were several elements that influenced the team's entry into the WPSL.  Both owners (DJ Spisso & Josh McIntosh) have children that play youth soccer. DJ has 3 daughters, one of which plays at a pretty good level in our area.  Josh has run a club (Savannah SC) in the area for a couple of years.  They have a passion for youth soccer and love the city of Savannah.  Their vision is to bring a first-class sports organization to Savannah that can engage the community.  They want the team to be a pathway to help young women turn into positive influential leaders.  With DJ having a daughter he wanted to provide an option for her down the road to continue playing the game if she has that as one of her goals.  There was a huge gap in the market in our area when it comes to women's soccer and we want to fill that. 

After doing the research it was evident that the WPSL was the perfect league to join.  The leadership has a great vision for the league and they have shown over the last 3 years their commitment to putting together a first-class league and grow the women's game.  With a strong presence in the south it allows us to create rivalries while helping to keep travel costs low.  

Are there any teams in particular that you're looking forward to playing this season?

Our south division of the Carolinas conference is filled with a great group of teams.  For sure playing last year's division winner, the Charlotte Eagles, is a team we are excited to play.  They set the standard last year and we want to find out how we stack up so we know where we need to go to reach our goals.  Of course, the local derbies with Beaufort FC are going to be matches that we have marked on the calendar.  We are only 30 minutes apart and we have several players that come from the Hilton Head, Bluffton and Beaufort area.

Newcomers Savannah Spirit are looking forward to taking on conference powerhouse Charlotte Eagles (photo: Charlotte Eagles Facebook)

What will success look like in 2020? (Now 2021)

We will measure success several different ways.  Top priority for us is that our players have a great experience, that our team chemistry and culture is strong, and that our players feel prepared for their fall seasons.  We want to be a positive influence in Savannah through multiple community engagement projects.  We want to get to July and have amazing stories about the people that felt loved, cared for and encouraged via their interactions with our club.  Our fan experience and how connected they feel to our group will be something we will pay a lot of attention to. 

We want to give Savannah a team they can be proud of.  Another goal of ours will be to assist our players with moving onto the professional level.  We have several players that have aspirations of taking their career to the NWSL or leagues in Europe.  We want to provide these players with the training and environment to help them grow into a player that a pro team wants.  

For sure we have aspirations of winning.  For us the main talking point with the players will be how we approach each day.  We want to be a unified group, compete to the maximum and do the necessary work every day in training.  We will have ideas of how we want to play.  As a coaching staff we will definitely measure ourselves against our vision and the tactics that we believe will put the team in the best position to win each game.  

All across the lower leagues in the US, for women and men, clubs often either have their own youth organization or are affiliated with one; is this also the case for you? Do you have any plans on working with a youth club to create the adult end of a development funnel?

Right now, we do not have our own youth club or a direct affiliation.  One of our owners (Josh McIntosh) has a small club (Savannah SC - formerly Chatham SC).  Our other owner (David Speeso) has a daughter that plays for Tormenta FC.  I work with the pre-Academy for Tormenta on Hilton Head. 

As we have moved forward with putting the WPSL team together we have gained some momentum and interest from players and parents about starting a new club.  I think this whole virus mess has actually opened the door even more for this.  I don't see how clubs can keep operating on the same model of charging people crazy amounts of money to play soccer.  So, we are looking at how we create a new model and deliver more value to everyone.  I think the starting point for us will be to create a 04 girls’ team and possibly a 07 girls’ team.  Making sure both teams are run extremely well then look to grow from there.  As we develop this, I will keep you updated and will be happy to go on the record to share the vision and what we are doing.  

Supporters help the world go 'round - has anybody in your community fallen in love with what you're putting together and started any sort of fanbase? Some clubs don't even have bleachers or stands for fans to show up and sit in - what's your stadium situation; is there room for fans if they want to show up? 

We are pretty fortunate with our venue set up.  We have an agreement to play at Memorial Stadium in Savannah. www.savannahsportscouncil.com/facilities/memorial-stadium/ Fantastic venue for our fans.  In one of the end zones there is a hospitality room where we plan to host a VIP area.  

We don't have an official fan base yet.  I have connected with one individual thru Twitter that has taken a huge interest in us.  He is keen on being part of our "Ultra" group.  One of the names I have kicked around for our supporters’ group is "Ghost Protocol."  A play on the Spirit name and the ghost stuff in Savannah.  

Before all of the quarantines we had a group of players playing in a 6v6 league in Savannah on Sundays.  The complex hosts a variety of adult leagues all day.  Easily a 1,000+ soccer people out there each Sunday.  Our plan was to tap into this group and work on generating interest among these people that already have a passion for the game. Once the quarantines are lifted, we will be back playing in the league.  We also plan to use the summer 6v6 league for our reserve players to develop the younger players for the future.  

Certainly, the coronavirus has had a deep impact on everybody's schedule - if the WPSL season is scrapped for the health and safety of everyone, will you be able to survive? Will you be back for 2021? Do you have a webstore where people can help out the club? 

If the league is scrapped, we will still get our team together to train and help the girls get ready for their fall seasons.  We are also going to work on reaching out to other WPSL teams as well as NWSL teams to set up exhibition games.  We want to help our players stay active.  We also want to try to develop some brand recognition in our market as we give people a chance to watch a live sporting event and feel normal again.  

For sure we will be forging ahead to be even stronger in 2021. 

We haven't set up any type of fundraising account yet.  We have talked about that idea but have not added that to our program yet.  Fortunately, our owners have done a great job with fundraising for us.  We have a couple of sponsors that got on board early.  

Steel FC (GPSL)

Steel FC recently caught our attention with a stunning new logo and kit designed by Icarus FC. While we were aware of Steel FC, we had failed to reach out thus far; a failure no longer! We wanted to know about the making of Steel FC and their upgrade from Bessemer to being the Linz-Donowintz of soccer in the Greater Pittsburgh Soccer League. Brian Luchini was happy to walk us through the history of the club and the transformation to its modern design – as well as the charitable cause from which sales of their newest kits are donated to.

Let's start at the start - When was Steel FC founded and what gave you the inspiration?

Steel FC was founded in 2015. At the time, our team had been playing year-round in different summer leagues as well as indoor winter leagues. While those leagues offered some quality competition, the majority of the time our players found themselves being hacked, fouled hard, kicked, stomped on, etc. from teams that were not up to the same quality as us. They would take their frustrations out to the point of causing injuries. The game started to become unhealthy for us. Therefore, we decided to join the Greater Pittsburgh Soccer League as a new team in the 2nd lowest division, the Miners Division (Division III). Having known players who already participated in that league, I was assured that our opponents were quality enough to play the game as it should be played and that gritty, unnecessary fouls would become minimal.

Tell us a little bit about the Greater Pittsburgh Soccer League; how many teams operate in that system and what is it like to gain promotion? Is there any greater motivation for a team than to know their success will be rewarded that way?

At the time we joined the GPSL there was 32 teams spread out between 4 divisions. The Keystone Division was known as Division IV and was the bottom division. Players in this division might've played in high school or on intramural teams. They play the game for fun, exercise, and camaraderie more than to win and get promoted. The next division, the Miner's Division, known as Division III, was the entry point for new teams joining the GPSL and is where teams started to play more competitively. Typically, players in this division played in high school and competed in a youth, club, or travel team. They know the game well from a mental standpoint but might not have the skill or fitness level to really compete at a higher level. The Championship Division, known as DII, is really where competitive teams take the games seriously as based on their standings, they can be promoted to the Premier Division or relegated to the Miners Division. Players in this division definitely played organized, competitive soccer in high school and college. The technical and physical ability starts to really show and team managers take the game seriously in that they decide who to recruit and cut mid-season and post season in order to make their team better. The Premier Division, known as Division I and the division Steel FC plays in, is the best adult amateur soccer division in Pittsburgh. Players in this division compete for the title each year and some teams, like ours, go on to participate in regional and national tournaments. Players in this division are top amateur quality. We have guys play in this league that have played D1 in college, at a high level overseas, are former USL players, and an ex MLS player or two. The motivation for each team to move up is knowing the fierce competition ahead of you and seeing how your team stacks up. My team started in the Miners Division in 2015, won that and moved up to the Championship Division in 2016. We competed in this division from 2016-2017 before winning it and moving up to the Premier Division in 2018. Since 2018 we have been competing in the Premier Division and look to capture the title each year. In 2019 in all local, regional, and national competitions we held a combined record of 14-3-3 and look to improve upon that during our 2020 campaign.

Steel FC has competed in both the USASA Amateur Cup as well as the US Open Cup - how deep have you run in those competitions and has funding ever felt like a prohibiting factor for a deeper run?

Yes, Steel FC has competed in the USASA Amateur Cup and the Open Cup. We have only done this once though as entering both these competitions in 2019 was our first time. In the 2019 USASA Amateur Cup, we exceeded expectations for our first go at it. Being a small team from Pittsburgh with barely a following, no one really gave us a shot or knew who we were. However, in our first game in the 2019 USASA Amateur Cup, we traveled down to Christos FC and came away with a 1-0 victory against the former National Amateur Cup Champions. We then hosted NPSL team, Philadelphia Lonestar, and was again victorious with a 4-1 win. This win put us in the USASA Region One Final. We traveled to Philadelphia last June for it and ended up being runner-up to eventual USASA Amateur Cup Champion, Newtown Pride FC. In the Open Cup this past year we hosted the 1st round of qualifying and faced Maryland side Germantown City FC. We won that match by a score of 3-1. We also hosted the 2nd round of qualifying as two Pittsburgh teams were pitted against each other. Our opponent for this match was Tartan Devils FC. This game took us to overtime where we again came out victorious by a 3-1 score line. In the 3rd round of qualifying we traveled to a familiar opponent, Christos FC. This was a great game with Christos having most of the possession and us dangerous on the counter-attack. However, an incorrect goal allowed (confirmed by the Open Cup committee from video evidence) was the difference in this one and we fell to them 3-2. Seeing as this is the only time we participated in the Open Cup, this is as far as we have ever gone. Again, though I believe we exceeded expectations as not many gave us a chance. I am happy for what my team accomplished and while the USASA Amateur Cup has been cancelled this year, we look forward to competing in the 2020-21 Open Cup if it happens. As far as how funding has affected my team goes, the only real issue we would have run into is if we would've beaten Christos FC in the 3rd round of qualifying. Had we won that game we would've been in the tournament proper. Had we been chosen to host, the costs to host the first-round proper would've been between $8,000-$10,000 due to ticket sales, EMS, advanced police security, referee fees, field rental fees, etc. etc. Us being a small club that pays for everything out of our own pocket, (we are not sponsored at all), it definitely would have been a struggle for us to come up with that amount of money in order to play just one game. We are actively looking for a sponsor but have had no real luck yet, especially with COVID-19 going on.

Tell us about your 2020 Midnight Steel FC kits; what inspired the jerseys and what has the club decided to do with the proceeds? 

Our new 2020 Midnight Steel FC kits are really the exceptional work of icarusfc.com. I reached out to Robert and was looking for a new home jersey now that we have the time do to the shutdown. He came back to me and wanted to update our logo. I agreed and he came up with the triangle shape, black and gold banner, star, and white and blue checkered pattern. The triangle's 3 points represent the 3 rivers and an area where Pittsburghers gather called "The Point". The Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers meet at "The Point" and become the bigger, Ohio river. The black and gold colors are a representation of Pittsburgh sports teams, the star is a nod from our old logo, and the white and checkered pattern in the logo are taken from the City of Pittsburgh's flag. Altogether, the logo turned out great and from the logo, Icarus FC designed our new jersey which blew us out of the park. We cannot wait for them to come in and for us to finally be able to wear them (hopefully) this season. Right now, we have a few pre-orders in but would love to sell more. We are accepting the first batch of pre-orders through Monday, May 3rd. Feel free to check out our online store at steelfcsoccer.com/merchandise. Whatever proceeds we make will go towards 2020 GPSL expenses and Open Cup expenses. Additionally, some of the proceeds from our jersey sales will go towards fighting COVID-19 in the Pittsburgh area. Whatever we can give we will give. Any amount, no matter how small or large, makes a difference. 

If you don't play this season... how are you doing? Will we see Steel FC in 2021 and beyond - what does the future look like for your club?

If we end up not playing this season it will definitely hurt from an emotional standpoint but the team will not fold. We have an eager squad looking to play any chance they get. If there is no season, we will enter winter seasons (if possible) and stay engaged in the soccer universe. Or if the season is cancelled but we get the all clear to play, I plan to host friendlies against quality teams any chance we can along with organizing and hosting a Corona Cup tournament. Regardless of what happens during the rest of 2020, we will be back in 2021 and plan to hit the ground running.

To Follow Steel FC: https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Sports-Club/Steel-FC-256648575090131/

To Pick Up a Kit: https://www.steelfcsoccer.com/merchandise

New Amsterdam FC

So tell us who you are and how you came to New Amsterdam FC?   

My name is Maximilian Mansfield and I am the sporting director at New Amsterdam. The club's founder, Laurence Girard and I connected a few years back in the local New York soccer scene and stayed in touch ever since. He was working on his latest tech venture and I was in the beginning phases of opening up my sports consulting group, The Fussball Project. We had actually previously played together at Met Oval academy in Brooklyn in our teens but only made that connection recently. My involvement in helping overlooked US players gain opportunities to break into the professional game along with his passion for soccer provided the opportunity to invest resources into a club that we wanted to grow and expand with the emphasis and getting players opportunities. We tried this concept in England through a club that Laurence sponsored but were quickly met with resistance from the clubs infrastructure. I had worked with a player through The Fussball Project who was playing at the LA Force who introduced us to the league. The rest was history. 

Why the name?

We are both native New Yorkers and I think we wanted to honor New York's rich history of welcoming people from all backgrounds and walks of life and I think that will really come through in the buildout of our roster and fanbase. In a sense, we were somewhat ostracized from the English game and sought new opportunities when coming to America. 

The logo has gotten rave reviews, can you talk about the process of creating it and the designer you worked with?

We were back and forth on ideas for the logos but definitely wanted to keep it classic and touch on the Dutch settlers. We didn't really get beyond that until we reached out to Chris Payne. We had seen some of his prior work and after a series of long conversations we just let him run with it. He absolutely smashed it and we are grateful for his work. 

Will there be kit releases anytime soon?

We are actually working on the kit branding right now and are hoping to launch the kit when we do our first big media push to our emerging fan base! 

NY is a big place, where is the club planning on playing matches?

We are planning to play at Fordham University. Unfortunately Covid 19 has put our planning on hold a bit but we hope to secure Fordham for a variety of reasons. Being a 20 minute train ride from midtown Manhattan allows for easy commuting and the facilities are first class at Fordham. Carlo Acquista has been absolutely class in helping us progress with this partnership. 

N•A•F•C 🖤Club of the People, coming soon #MiaSanMia @nisasoccer pic.twitter.com/4WE25i1fTs

— New Amsterdam FC (@NAFCNY) April 22, 2020

On that same note, how does the club plan to connect with a potential massive audience? Anything specific?

We want to make this a peoples club. We want our youth players to help in game day operations. We want the famous Arepa lady in Queens to host a food truck at our games, we want our roster to be heavily reliant on NYC talent! We want to get the people involved in our club. 

NYC has been hard hit by the pandemic, is that making preparations for the fall difficult? How are you managing?

Preparations have certainly been difficult but we are making it work. We understand what we can control and what we cannot. We are slowly building out our roster and trying to plan as best we can. 

Having two clubs in the NYC area should be fun for NISA fans, do you see a potential rivalry with the Cosmos?

I think there will always be an instant rivalry in New York given the close proximity. With that said we are in very different places in terms of club development but nevertheless, we expect there to be an extra intensity in the air for that game

Any merch yet? (a black tshirt with that logo would be a GREAT idea, hint hint)

Merch will be out in a few weeks.

Providence City FC

We’ve brought on Providence City FC before to check out their amazing design, but we wanted to revisit the Rogues of the soccer twitterverse to get more insight into where they came from and what they’re up to going forward. With a diverse roster and an expanding community of support, propelled by engaging social media and graphic design, we asked a little about their plan and visionary Jason Rego took time away from the pitch to answer our request for parley.

When was the club founded and how was the name chosen? Were there any other options on the table?

In 2015 as Providence City FC. Prior East Providence Sports in LUSA (previous Rhode Island Amateur League). Tristan wanted to follow the European naming conventions of naming a club with the area in mind.

The Bay State Soccer League is a great competition - but is that where you started?

The BSSL is a great amateur league that gives every semi-pro league a run for their money. No, not technically. This is debatable. We started in the Rhode Island league in 2015, joined the BSSL in 2016 missing out on promotion by 1 pt, and in 2017 we split (Tristan - AFC and us - FC). Where we climbed the ranks each season to win D1 in 2019.

We've covered your aesthetic and kits in a previous article, but your club does an amazing job at marketing itself. What led you in that direction when so many clubs at your level miss out on that aspect. What's your favorite part; design, production, marketing or just seeing other people rock it?

This is a passion project; the journey is fun. From getting a sponsor to creating a design on paper to bring it to life into Rogues' hands. At the end of the day seeing others spread the good word is a great feeling. It's great to see a satisfied Rogue supporting our club. It has helped grow us to where we are today. We are infinitely grateful for everyone that supports us in any manner.

Speaking of people rocking your kits and scarves, what's the supporter scene like? Do you have fans show up yet? Do you stream matches for interested people to watch from Texas or Oregon or wherever?

Both in terms of supporter’s scene, depending on location and kickoff time. We have family, friends, and supporters that have heard about us from social media show up at matches. It was much easier to get people to games when we played at Brown University (Providence, RI) and midafternoon. This past season we played 15-20 minutes out from Providence and at 9am which made it tougher to get more than 50 people at a match.

Have you had any players move onto NISA, MLS or even internationally? Any players or coaches of note?

Internationally we had Justin Freitas (Spain) and Pepe (Portugal). We did not develop either of them but they both had stints at our club. One our players Pat Ouckama is a NE Revolution Academy coach.

What's next? In addition to winning your league, what other silverware are you looking for? USOC? USASA National Amateur Cup? NISA... someday?

In a perfect world we have a "pro" team, BSSL team, and Rhode Island team. 

Pro = A (NISA, Community club)

BSSL = B (Competitive, either fighting for a first team spot or cannot make that type of commitment)

RI = C (Sunday League, Recreation)

Youth Academy

For more information about Providence City FC: http://providencecityfc.com/

For more information about the Bay State Soccer League: https://www.bssl.com/

Fire and Ice Academy (WPSL)

The 2020 Women’s Professional Soccer League season is on hold for the time being, but we thought we could take a look back at previous winners to see where they came from and to gauge who’s on track to once again challenge for that top spot. For this week’s Spotlight article, we reached out to 2017 WPSL Champions, Fire & Ice Soccer Academy and their WPSL Head Coach and Academy Club Director, Lindsay Eversmeyer was kind enough answer our questions.

The League was founded over two decades ago - but when was Fire & Ice SC founded and have you been in the WPSL since then?

Fire & Ice was founded in 2013 and we have been in the league ever since.  We have a WPSL all-time record of 53-16-7, 185 Goals For, 65 Against, and 33 Shutouts.  We have won 1 National Championship, 2 Final Four Appearances, 2 Central Region Championships and 3 Conference Championships.  

There are five levels in your development pathway, so clearly fielding a WPSL club is not your primary objective; what is the mission of the organization and has that changed over time?
  

Actually, our academy just started in 2019.  So, the primary mission started as providing college players with a high-level playing environment during their off seasons and for players out of college to continue playing to possibly reach the professional level.  Now that we have expanded to have a youth academy underneath, our mission is to guide and empower young women through soccer while providing a complete pathway.  

They’ve changed their badge since then, but nothing will change the fact that they won it all in 2017.

Having multiple tiers within the club, the younger players have a built-in and clear-cut development funnel; how important is that to young girls - to see that they can have a future in soccer if they want to and that they get to see examples of what their grit and determination gets them?

It is VERY important.  It is the main reason that I started the academy to begin with.  Having myself, alongside former USWNT Captain Lori Chalupny, provides these young girls and women with realistic role models as well as a great sounding board for how to reach the highest level of the game.  

In the league's twenty-plus years there have been a handful of teams who have won multiple titles, and if they weren't winning, they ended up as runners-up; after winning in 2017 do you have what it takes to push for another title?

This league's competitive level continues to grow each year, which is amazing!  With that being said, I think that every year our team has what it takes. We always have talented players.  Sometimes the ball falls our way, and sometimes it doesn't.  That's what makes soccer such a beautiful game.  In 2017, we played teams that on paper looked like they could smash us, and I'm sure those teams felt that way when they saw our roster.  But as the saying goes, "Hard work outdoes talent, when talent doesn't work hard."  So, it really depends on our mentality going into the season, making sure everyone stays healthy, playing with the most heart and making the fewest mistakes on the field! 

WPSL has done an amazing job of preparing student-athletes for their jump to the professional ranks - do you have any players or coaches of note who have been drafted into the NWSL or made it to the next-level internationally?

YES!  We have two players that played for us that went on to play in the NWSL, Tessa Gavilsky (now Florio) played for the Houston Dash, and Rachel Tejada was drafted to the Chicago Red Stars.  We've currently had 6 others go on to play overseas.  Should be a couple more added to that soon, however, they haven't made an announcement yet, so I can't confirm. I've attached the link if you want more information on each of them. 

https://www.fireandicesoccer.com/page/show/4736740-wpsl-to-the-professional-league

One of the most enjoyable parts of soccer is fan support and rivalries, does Fire & Ice have a derby? What about supporters - is there a core group of fans who make an atmosphere of note?

Yes, we have a derby against a team from Missouri called the St. Louis Lions. They came into the league a couple years ago.  We have THE BEST group of soccer fans in St. Louis.  One is called the St. Louligans and the others are the American Outlaws STL Chapter.  They both eat, sleep, and breathe soccer and have done an amazing job of promoting our team since the beginning.  They show up to our games, make noise, and completely support us.  We are very fortunate to have them in our corner.

For more information about Fire & Ice Academy Soccer: https://www.fireandicesoccer.com/home

For more information about the WPSL: https://www.wpslsoccer.com/

Lancaster Inferno FC

Can you tell us who you are and your role with Lancaster Inferno?

My name is Francisco Cleaves and I am the president of Inferno Soccer Corp. I have also been the head coach since we acquired the team in 2014. We are a 501 (c) 3 organization with a mission to provide our fans and players with the highest level of amateur women’s soccer in Central PA.

 From where do you draw your players? Do you tend to stay local?

We attract players from Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania (Lancaster, Philadelphia, Reading, Harrisburg) . Some players commute two hours to our practices held in the Lancaster area. We are growing our local recruit pool with our second team that plays in UWS League Two.

 Tell us about a few of the players from the team that we should know about for the upcoming season. 

This will be a transition year for us as players have gone pro such as two-time UWS East Goalkeeper of the Year Kelly O’Brien, competing in the topflight in Hungary. We do have our captain and former professional with Ottawa Fury Teresa Rook, who earned All-UWS First Team honors last season. Also returning are defenders Marissa DiGenova (Temple University), Adalee Broadbent (Maryland University) and midfielders Ryelle Shuey (Lehigh University), Jackie Richards (Xavier University), and former professional Kendra Jones (FC Bulleen Lions and Bayside United FC of the Women’s National Premier League in Australia).

Which clubs do you consider to be your biggest rivalry games?

We have always had a big rivalry with the New England Mutiny but feel we also have good rivalry with all the teams that are closer to us like NJ Copa FC and Long Island Rough Riders.

Having switched from WPSL and UWS in 2016, how would you compare the two leagues? What ultimately was the reason for changing leagues?

We had started the process of applying for a W-League franchise because we saw the need for better standards and organization. After that league folded we were contacted by some former W-League teams to see if we wanted to be part of a new league that was forming (UWS). UWS maintains the professional standards in respect to rules, facilities, and organization. Our belief was that we wanted to play in a league that would eventually prepare us to field a professional team.

In 2018 your team joined Rush Soccer but decided not to continue that relationship after a year. Is being independent an important part of your club?

Our main purpose for that alliance was to tap into their player pipeline. Also, when they were involved with the local USL team (Penn FC),  there were synergies that we could have taken advantage of, such as sharing facilities and playing venues. Once Rush Soccer’s relationship with Penn FC ended, it no longer made sense for us to continue that relationship. We continue to look for other organizations that share our commitment to growing and supporting women’s soccer.

What are the biggest challenges to operating an independent women's soccer club? 

There are two: one is ensuring you have a player pipeline, and the other is ensuring that you have enough financial support to operate the team. Each year we try to improve on those two fronts. This year we are attacking these by having a reserve team that will play in UWS League Two, which gives the younger players an opportunity to experience a higher level of play. And we’re also connecting with local coaches in addition to our college recruiting.

We’ve been fortunate to have acquired some excellent corporate sponsors and some faithful individuals that have supported us and our mission from the outset. But looking at other ways for us to raise funds is something we continue to work on. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention our good friend Roger Sandt (supporter and sponsor of the Inferno since 2014). We have many small local businesses that support us and last year added another multiyear uniform sponsor (Listrak). This year we will be holding more summer camps/clinics and are working to maintain a year-round presence in the community.

Talk about the support the club receives from the local community.

We’ve received great support from youth clubs and have worked to develop a loyal following through our social media effort, youth soccer camps and providing and focusing on the game day experience for the fans. The local newspaper (LNP) has always provided great coverage and we are working to get more consistent coverage from the local TV stations. It’s a challenge because we have a short season (10 games plus play-offs). Last year we had a USWNT watch party at one of our sponsors (Mad Chef Craft Brewing) and it was packed, so we will continue to have events in addition to youth soccer camps. We also have a long-term agreement with Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health Sports Medicine that provides physicals, trainer services and educational programs to our players.

There has been talk about someday having a Women's Open Cup in this country. If this came to fruition, do you see your club participating?

That would be awesome, and we would participate if given the opportunity. At the coaches’ convention, our league’s team owners had the opportunity to bring it up to Carlos Cordeiro. We have also had discussions with John Motta (USASA) regarding this. I believe they are supportive, but we need to get some traction to make it happen.

Where do you see your club going in the future? Is going professional something you envision?

We are exploring ways to grow and believe that we’ve built a great platform that’s focused exclusively on women’s soccer. I think as lower pro-divisions are formed, we would be interested but need the financial backing from local supporters willing to invest in that venture, which I think would be great for our area.

Vereinigung Erzgebirge

If you’re like MOST American soccer fans, when the USOC draw was announced, you didn’t know who the heck Vereinigung Erzgebirge was. That isn’t because they haven’t been around a long time or because they haven’t been generating polished soccer talent. The real reason is that, in the fractured map of American soccer, what happens in a small area in southeastern Pennsylvania simply doesn’t get national coverage. Well today, we make an effort to right that wrong with a Spotlight on the endearing and long-time successful Vereinigung Erzgebirge (and yeah, we copied and pasted that name. Not the easiest to spell).

So tell us about your club, where and who are you?

Thalheim /Erzgebirgecrest

VE is located in beautiful Bucks county PA, This is Suburban Philadelphia.  The club was started by German immigrants in 1931.   (We have a lot of info on VEclub.org and vesoccer.org.)  The logo of the club, three pine trees on three little hills with the letters V.E. in white under the trees, was taken from the logo of the town of Thalheim /Erzgebirge.  (see below).  In 1992 I was a member of a VE youth team, one of the first to visit Thalheim after the Berlin Wall came down and Germany was reunited.  We have been sending youth teams back to Germany and Europe for 50 years now and have two more teams going over this summer. 

The founders of the club wanted a place to build their social club and wanted it to look like home.  Erzgebirge is a wooded mountain range, a beautiful region of Germany.  The site was selected  because of that and we are set on 68 acres of woods.  The club house, swim club and soccer fields have been cut out into those woods but the rest remains forest.  The Qtr mile entrance is a driveway lined with 3 trees on each side.  It’s common to pull in and drive past deer grazing. In the early days the members worked and lived in Philadelphia (many in Germantown that goes back to the days of Independence) and came out and spent their weekends at the club.  Our club house has a banquet facility that hosts parties, weddings etc.  We have full bar, The Ratskeller down stairs that hosts most of our  teams post-game celebrations. Our Beer Garden, (Picnic grove 500 picnic tables) hosts our Oktoberfest each fall.  We had over 5000 people on site this year to kick off our season.  It’s always the first Saturday after Labor day 

They started playing soccer at the club in the 30’s.  The men’s teams played other area clubs and later youth teams were added.  In 1959 the German clubs got together and founded the United Soccer League of Pennsylvania where the Adult teams still play to this day.  This year is the 60th year of the league.  The League has been one of the top amateur Leagues in the county.  It now hosts more than just German Clubs and is a true melting pot.  USL hosts some historic clubs like the Ukrainian Nationals, Lighthouse S.C. , UGH United German Hungarians, Phoenix S.C. and new local power house clubs like West Chester and Colonial S.C.

So where does the name Vereinigung Erzgebirge come from?

VE translates loosely to Home among those woods or home among that region of Erzgebirge.  Vereinigung means association or Union so the formal translation would mean Association of Erzgebirge.  Set in a garden in front of our clubhouse is the largest piece of the Berlin Wall in North America.  People come from all over to take their picture in front of it.  It has come to represent freedom and I have personally witnessed people break down in tears while viewing it.  On a lighter note,   In other interviews I have told people if you pick up a nutcracker during the holidays, flip it over.  If it says Made in Erzgebirge then it’s worth something. 

For those unfamiliar with your club a. how do you pronounce your name? b. what should they expect in round one c. How would you describe your club tactically?

Vereinigung Erzgebirge – Ver-un-in-gung /  Erz-ge-birge – Not easy to say and not sure if anyone gets it right without speaking German.  So don’t worry if you get it wrong.  VE is widely accepted. Of course, we are excited to be in but disappointed to draw the same club again.  The big prize will be a trip to Pittsburgh if we advance.  We know the NPSL club are without college players so they have had to scramble to bring in additional players.  Not sure who that helps but we are mostly unchanged.  Our strength is we don’t sign players for a season we sign them for life.  Our model depends on former players coming back to coach and bringing their kids to the club to have the same great experience they had.  We will have 5 players on our roster that grew up playing at VE.  I think that is pretty cool.  C. We are strong defensively and dynamic in attack.  We are very good on the ball and very dangerous from set pieces.  We think that gives us a good chance in these early rounds. 

So you drew West Chester in your USOC draw, what approach will you take against this club?

We played West Chester 3 times this fall (1-0 League win, 2-1 to Qualify for Lamar and 2-0 in the State EPSA Open Cup Final) and will open with them on 3/8 in the state amateur cup Semi-final. Waiting for us if we win on 3/15 is their reserves who have already advanced.  So we are very familiar with West Chester and will be seeing much more of them.  We have been runners up to WC the past two USL seasons. Blasé is a friend and we see the value for both our clubs in having such good local competition.  Of course I want to beat them again.

Do you modify your style of play in the USOC or stick with what you're good at?

No, We know what works for us and keep it pretty simple.  We defend very well and limit our opponents to a handful of chances and on the other end, we just need to finish what we create. 

What priority does your club place on the USOC?

Every year our goals are 1. Win the League 2. Get into the state finals (EPSA Open and Amateur Cup) 3. Qualify for Lamar.  We last qualified in 2002.  It was a much different qualification system.  We had to win the Region I championship to qualify that year.  Since the new qualification (4 years) we have actually been a little unlucky.  We got it right this year and It’s a big deal for us.  We are getting a lot of national attention. 

How could USOC support smaller clubs like VE?

We know the more we win the more it’s going to cost.  For now we are equipped to handle the cost of our travel because of our set up.   We have the support of our club and sports program.  Sports is made up of 23 youth teams Boys and girls U-8 to U19, 185 Might Mites 4-7 year old’s that play on Friday nights in the fall.  Our Adult program is Majors, Reserves, Over 30, Over 40, Under 23 and Senior Women.  We have about 1200 families that are members.  We run a week of summer soccer camp that funds most of our adult program but additional travel will force us to fundraise or appeal to our membership for help. 

Anything else people should know about VE?

When I describe the club I describe it as a family club first and then we play soccer.  This is my 20th season in charge of the Majors.  I was a young player coach the last time we qualified.  So much has changed since then but we continue to have great success and attract some of the area’s best talent.  In the last few years I’ve been appointed Director of Coaching at the club.  I tell everyone the only coach being judged on wins and losses at the club is me as coach of the majors.  Everyone else is here to develop our players and have fun playing soccer.  My son is now a 5 year old in his second season at the club. Our set up makes us very unique but one thing we do better than anyone else in the country is tie our adult program to our youth program.  When the Majors play the kids can watch the same guys coming out to help at practice.  The youth players know them by name and my players know those kids by name.  They are all available and approachable.  We want them to be role models to the youth of the club.  The bulk of my team is guys just out of college.  We boast having 9 former Division I captains on our squad.  We are a great home for guys like that who use soccer to get a great education, land a great job and still want to play soccer and be apart of something like what I offer at VE.  These guys are chemical engineers, finance guys, consultants, bankers, lawyers, sales guys, A pharmacist, a civil engineer, college coaches, a landscaper, grad students etc.  Guys with real jobs during the week.  Our teams have a great reputation for always showing up giving opponents a good game and we come to rival clubs with great numbers.  After games everyone comes back inside home or away.  They can stay for one beer or one water, It’s ok if they have to leave but they have to come in just in case one of the older members wants to tell them they played great or they played like shit.  Most of the time even the latter is followed with a beer. 

Tormenta FC

In an effort to extend our knowledge of all of the leagues who are a part of the beautiful tapestry of lower league soccer, we reached out to Tormenta FC in Statesboro Georgia. Bernadette O’Donnell, Director of Communications and PR took our questions to the appropriate people involved in the various aspects of the club and came back with insightful answers to help us learn more about the club from South Georgia with big ambitions.

Tormenta FC was founded in 2015 and began play in 2016 - why were you founded, what is your mission... and tell us about your amazing bird badge! 
“I was involved with the International Baseball Federation from 1989 – 2010, and during that time I was fortunate enough to be in three Olympics, two World Cups, four Continental Championships, and two World Baseball Classics. I traveled to over 40 countries during this time. So, while the IBAF is a smaller international federation when compared to FIFA, their missions are the same: use the power and global language of sport to build bridges among the people of the world through such competitions. That experience helped me understand that sport is more than just entertainment.  And when you couple that experience with what I was witnessing in terms of the growth of soccer in the United States, I knew we could do something big.  The USL’s League Two was an ideal place to begin.” Tormenta FC Owner Darin Van Tassell

As for our crest and story, “tormenta” is the Spanish word for storm.  In the club’s crest, there is an ibis with cloudy skies and waves underneath.  Where the story gets interesting is the meaning of the ibis. On the surface, the ibis is not one that strikes fear.  But when you do a little research, you’ll come to find out that this bird is as fierce as they come. The ibis is the last bird to flee when a storm is about to hit.  Once the storm has passed, it is the first bird to return back to the area it fled. 

Not only is our background story unique, but it embodies what our organization is all about. At our club, we have hard-working people from top to bottom. This includes our owners, front office staff, players, and even fan base. We do not shy away from challenges. We actually invite them. Leadership and paving the way, the Tormenta way, is our identity. We’re committed to showing the rest of the country that our way of building a club is the best way.

In 2019, your first team bumped up to USL League One as the leagues shuffled, then your organization introduced Tormenta 2 in the division you had just vacated - had this always been a part of the plan, or did the league realignment provide a new opportunity?

With the addition of our professional team, it was always the plan to keep our USL League Two team running because it serves as the connecting piece between our Academy and pro team.

This allows us to not only give Statesboro professional soccer but to continue promoting our elite amateur players.  It was very important for us to keep our USL League Two team as this provides our region with a clear pathway to the professional game.

Learn More: https://www.tormentafc.com/news_article/show/987720

https://www.tormentafc.com/news_article/show/1019320

https://www.tormentafc.com/news_article/show/1076615

While your League One side finished mid-table, a few solid players stood out; Marco Micaletto, Alex Morrell, and Pablo Jara. Can we expect them back in 2020 and will first team opportunities for guys like Kobe Perez, Daniel Strachen, Luca Mayr or JJ Donnelly, who led your League Two side to the top of the table, be available? Does USL allow you to move players from roster to roster during the season or all moves supposed to happen during the offseason?

“We have 11 returning members from the 2019 team, including Pablo Jara, and Marco Micaletto.  We have signed Luca Mayr to the League One squad and believe he will be a huge addition. JJ is continuing with Greenville Triumph, who signed him in August. Daniel Strachan, along with so many of the other League Two guys, have so much potential and will surely land somewhere when their opportunity comes.  We’ll be signing players from Tormenta FC Academy to train with the first team and could make the odd appearance off the bench or in an Open Cup game.” VP of Soccer Operations, Mike Panter

Tell us about the Ibis Foundation - what is its relationship to your club and what has been its largest success so far?

The Ibis Foundation’s main goal is to grow youth soccer across the board.  While developing elite players is always the goal of the Academy, the Ibis Foundation looks at ways to help get new players involved, reduce barriers to get quality training out to different areas of South Georgia and the Low Country.  Whether it’s programming where we provide the coaching aspect for a low cost, that’s helping the mission of the foundation.  Soccer has seen a huge rise in participation from a grassroots level.  There are so many different levels of competitiveness and there is a place for anyone at any skill level.

You can read about the Ibis Foundation’s biggest success here: https://www.tormentafc.com/news_article/show/1013970

Currently Tormenta is listed as playing on Eagle Field at Erik Russell Athletic Park, but I read that the club is pursuing a new location. What will your new home look like and when can we expect to see you move into it?

Beginning in 2021, we will move into our new 5,300 seat stadium. Once our stadium is built, we will also house the Men’s and Women’s soccer teams for Georgia Southern University. The stadium plans accommodate big events like concerts and more beyond just soccer season.

“We’re planning and designing the stadium that will be great for us and for the city over the next 25 and 30 years from now. And that takes a minute because you want to get it right. But I can tell you from the developer’s side, it’s all moving 100 percent as fast as it can,” Darin Van Tassell.

https://www.wtoc.com/2019/10/24/tormenta-fc-owners-give-update-new-stadium-retail-shops/

To try to keep up with Tormenta FC, check out their club website: https://www.tormentafc.com/

Agema FC

Recently, Protagonist Soccer ran a series of twitter polls to determine who had the best lower league soccer badge in the United States for 2019. While there were the obvious entries, one nomination came as a surprise and we need a little explaining. Noah Hughes, founder of Agema FC, who are based in Indiana and will be joining the OVPL gave us some insight and a history lesson too. 

When and why were you founded? What does your club's name and badge mean?

The Agema name was founded back in 2016 originally as a small E-sport Organization. My love of E-sports and soccer have always been existent and when I was 17, I created the Agema brand for fun to try to learn more about the world of E-sports. Along the way I have fallen in love with the name and I hopefully have it as a part of my life forever. Our recent tweet describes what an Agema is but to anyone that does not follow our Twitter:  An Agema is a term to describe a military detachment, used for a special cause, such as guarding high valued targets. Due to its nature the Agema most probably comprised elite troops. Our logo is a mix of a Greek soldiers and Thor's helmet to give it an updated stylized look.

Some clubs change leagues as they grow - what league are you currently in and do you have any aspirations to move "up" to a higher level? 

We plan on one day joining the newly founded OVPL. However, I do play indoor soccer with a group of friends and I (somehow) convinced them to use the name in our next indoor session. After that the sky is the limit of course, NPSL, USL League 2, and up are always a part of a club’s hopes and dreams.

What first started as an e-sports organization, will now take on physical form and compete in the realm of the living.

Some clubs are connected to a youth program which helps cover costs, while other clubs are out there slinging scarves and stickers to get by - how does your club sustain itself?

We plan on releasing Merch in the future. I also am very close with the board of the club I played travel with and I’ve been in contact with them to hopefully create a partnership with that club in the central Indiana region. I also sell items of old board games, trading card games, and more that I would do to self-fund the E-sports aspect.

Pulling together a consistent squad can sometimes prove difficult at the lower levels of soccer - where do you draw your players from and how often do you have to go looking for new players?

Indiana is a gold mine of lost talent that has been skipped on for years. Personally, I have played with and against talent that have more than enough potential. One of the best players from my team who was a Freshman my Junior year of High School ended his HS career with 77 Goals and 38 Assists. The kid is insane and it would be a disgrace that he never gets a shot for higher level soccer. Especially pro. There are many kids just like him from the Indy area and out the outskirts that have more than enough talent to make it. Hopefully one day we will display those players. 

What does success look like in 2020? What goals have you set?

Success for me is to keep doing what I’m doing. If I can sell one Kit to a guy that I’ll never meet that is more successful than I can ever dream of. Our online presence with all my E-sport contacts are supporting me along the way. The sky's the limit, am I optimistic as a young 20-year-old? Is it possible for me to fail? Look how many clubs die every year in lower tier soccer. The one thing I’ve learned though, is if you believe you can achieve, it's just how you deal with problems that come in your way are where your real colors show.

Newcomers Agema FC, named for a special ops Greek Soldiers outfit, will take the battle to the Ohio Valley Premier League in 2020.

Mankato United SC

WPSL seems to be adding new teams every time we blink, we wanted to go back to one of 2019’s addition and play catch up. Mankato, Minnesota, a city of around 40,000 residents, is about two hours south by southwest of Minneapolis and the Soccer Club itself was founded in 1986 to serve the community. Protagonist contacted Mankato United during the WPSL annual conference and they were gracious enough to reply with in-depth answers and a few great photos. Thank you to Rustin Luedtke, MUSC WPSL General Manager for taking the time to reply at such a busy time for the league, and for the club.

Judging by the WPSL website, it looks like 2019 was your first year in the league - was it the first year for your women's squad, or had it played at another level prior? Why was the team founded and how does that fit into the mission of the entire Mankato United Soccer Club mission?

2019 was our first year in the WPSL.  We did not play in another league, and the WPSL was our first entrance into this level of play.  We entered into the WPSL for several reasons.  First, as our club has grown, we wanted to provide an opportunity for our college players to have a place to play and train when they came home on summer break.  Second, having a team at this level gives our younger players a visual representation of what they can aspire towards in the future.  Third, Mankato has really grown as a soccer community and our early suspicions about how the community would embrace us absolutely turned out to be true.  Our WPSL team is 100% an extension of our mission and has greatly rounded out our development continuum.  A next future step for us as a club will be to consider adding a men's team in the upcoming years.

What a season it was too, Mankato Utd. finished top of the Central Region / Northern Conference, having only lost one match only gave up 8 goals all season. Is it just me, or did you miss out on the playoffs despite having beat Salvo 2-1 in your final game of the year?  

It was a great season!  We didn't start out the way that we wanted, but ended up winning 5 games in a row to round out the season.  We expected to be competitive in our first year, but it was really our players that took us to the next level throughout the season.  They had a ton of GRIT and just loved to compete.

Jennifer Vetter had 3 goals and 2 assists, Dakota Wendell had 3 goals and 3 assists, and Annie Williams also bagged 3 goals. Are you expecting you scoring leaders back in 2020? Will we see any changes in formation or philosophy to add more goals to the total?

We will have several of our top scorers back, as well as look to attract additional scoring talent.  Jenny Vetter was an All American this fall season for MSU Mankato and will look to lead our attack, but don't be surprised if you see several other players challenging Jenny for that top scorer position this summer.  In general, we play an attacking style of soccer.  We missed a ton of opportunities last year that I would expect us to put in the back of the net this summer.

Maggie Smither was solid as a rock - had 13 saves, 1.00 GAA, and maybe 4 clean sheets? It looks like she entered the NWSL draft too! Although it doesn't seem like she was taken in the draft, she may be on the radar of an NWSL team. How proud is your organization to have a player in the draft? If she were to go, who do you have waiting to fill in between the posts? 

Maggie is a special player and person.  She helped inspire and lead our team last summer.  We are very hopeful that Maggie is able to continue her dream of playing professionally, whether that is being a developmental player for an NWSL team, or playing internationally.  She will be a positive contributor to any team that she plays on, regardless of where that might be.  To have a player in the NWSL draft has been amazing.  As a first-year program, to be able to attract talent like Maggie Smither or Annie Williams was truly special for us....it is something that we absolutely want to build on!

What are you most looking forward to in 2020? What defines success this Year?  

The summer of 2020 is shaping up to be fantastic.  We have roughly half of our roster at this point, and will be recruiting pretty heavily from now until May.  The thing that I personally am most looking forward to most is the fun that our team has.  It is a special group and we look to do a lot more than play and train during the summer.  We are active in the community, we hang out and visit our sponsors often, and in a very short period of time become a family.  Success will be defined by the players that we continue to attract, the product that we put on the pitch, and the positive experience that we provide for the young ladies that are part of our program for the Summer.  Our soccer goal is obviously to be competitive and win the conference every year, but the Mankato WPSL team is about more than just soccer.  We help our players to find internships, home-stays, lead sessions on mental toughness, and more.  Success for us is the whole package.

For more information about Mankato United SC: https://www.mankatounited.org/

For more information about the WPSL: https://www.wpslsoccer.com/

Rush Wisconsin West - Ducks UPSL

Where does it all begin for Rush Wisconsin West and what led the organization to set up the UPSL Ducks?

Rush Wisconsin West began in 2015 with 90 youth players and has sense grown to over 500. The club attracts players from a 60-mile radius which includes residents from three states; Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa. The idea of adding a higher tier team to our club was built on the concept of wanting to bring next level soccer to our community. 

Some clubs draw players right up through a youth funnel, some clubs attract local student-athletes; where does your UPSL side get its players from?  

The Ducks intend to attract players from all different avenues - local alumni, Rush alumni from across the country, college players of all levels, etc. We will provide housing and job opportunities for our players. We want to draw from everywhere and we do not want any barriers to entry. 

Rush Wisconsin West has a flourishing youth program, from which they may be able to recruit into their Adult UPSL side, once they’ve developed through the funnel.

The US Open Cup recently updated its calendar to begin rounds in early March. Would you be able to participate if you qualified? Any interest in pursuing Cup qualification?

Of course, there is interest, but we need to stay focused on creating our foundation first. We want to focus on creating a culture that players are dying to be a part of. If we can do that, the sky is the limit for the Ducks. That being said, if the majority of our roster is made up of NCAA players, our hands will be tied on participating based on the current Cup calendar. 

The Ducks represents an extended opportunity for men to play soccer - has any thought been given to establishing a women’s side in WPSL or UWS?

Great question. Yes, if the Men’s side goes well, we will be looking to add a Women’s side in the future. With the current format and available competition, the WPSL could be a good fit for us. Whenever we add programming, we want to make sure we are concentrating on quality. Adding the teams one at a time will help ensure we are setting each team up properly for success. We want to be able to give each team the individual attention it deserves and needs. 

Rush’s UPSL squad, the Ducks, are developing swag to help fund club operations. We’re in for one of these scarves!

Some clubs are just fantastic at branding & marketing, while others aren’t playing that game - does Rush need to draw fans and sell swag, or are you focused on other aspects of sustainability?

We will be looking at all avenues to help us create sustainability. However, we believe sustainability starts with having a good product. We want to create a team and culture that the community feels passionate about supporting. While ticket sales, concessions, and swag will help us - we will be focusing the majority of our sustainability efforts on gaining sponsorships and investors.

Looking to support the Ducks? Check out our sweet gear here. One of our new partners will be Capelli Sport. Capelli Sport has been awesome to work with and will keep our fans and players looking sharp!

What should we expect from the Ducks in 2019 - what are the club’s goals?

1.    Create a player centered environment 

2.    Create a culture that the community feels passionate about supporting 

3.    Build relationships that will create sustainability 

The UPSL Ducks are looking to above and beyond at their level of play – potentially providing housing and pay!

To learn more about the Ducks.