Four players from the University of South Florida have been named as part of a 23-player roster for the Canadian Under-20 team’s final training camp for the Under-20 World Cup CONCACAF qualifying competition that begins on Jan. 20 in Guatemala.
Defender Bahar Sansar and midfielders Taylor Patterson, Rehana Murani and Gina Pacheco were all named to the squad by Coach Carolina Morace. The final squad will be made up of 20 players, who will be named at the completion of the camp, to begin on Monday at the University of South Florida.
Canada has qualified for all four prior under-20 World Cups, reaching the final when it hosted the inaugural event in 2002. The 2010 finals will be held in Germany beginning in July.
All four Bulls were called into the last Canadian camp, held in Fort Lauderdale last month. Sansar and Pacheco have also had experience with the full Canadian National team, being called into the squad last summer for a pair of friendlies against the United States.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Preps: Buccaneers make statement in win against Terrapins
TAMPA – Have Berkeley Prep’s boys re-found their identity?
Another couple of performances like the 4-1 victory against Tampa Prep would confirm it, but the Buccaneers win on Saturday would lead you to think it was very close to being so.
The Buccaneers struck early and late in the first half, taking the lead in the second minute as Andrew Harvey scored at the far post after a cross from the right by Jordan Tannenbaum.
Both sides exchanged chances following that, Alex Cardoso having a side-footed volley saved and Aaron Burrell shooting over for the Terrapins and Jake Felman having his free kick towards the right corner saved for the Buccaneers, but as the half wore on the work being done by Felman and Tanner Bailey in the Buccaneers midfield allowed their side to take control. Having to replace former Bucs standouts Joey Rosati and Eri Jacobs has been a big task for the Buccaneers midfield as a whole, but Felman said he thought the side was getting close to where it needed to be.
“It’s tough replacing players like Joey and Eri,” Felman said. “For us to come in and take over, it’s taken some getting used to, but I think that at this time of the season we’re going to find that. We started it today, and hopefully we’ll be able to continue that for the rest of the year.”
T.J. Roehn almost took advantage of his midfield’s play just before halftime, a good through ball opening up the Terrapins defense, only for Roehn’s wicked shot to be turned over the crossbar. From the ensuing corner, though, Auston Chen rose at the right side of the penalty area and headed back across goal, finding Chris Murphy, who headed into the top-right corner of the net.
Conceding a second goal just before the break appeared to deflate the Terrapins, who were without both center back Travis Simmons and midfielder Anthony Bauman. Terrapins coach Doug Smith said he thought his side didn’t play well inside either penalty area.
“That’s something we need to clean up defensively,” Smith said. “Overall, we played fairly well, we just had some lapses in front of their net and in front of our net, and that was the difference in the game.”
As evidenced by his earlier chance, Roehn had already been dangerous in the first half, but with the Terrapins pushing forward to try and get back in the game after the break, it opened up space for him to roam. He almost got on the score sheet early in the second half, his run from the left cutting into the penalty area resulting in a right-footed shot that just whistled past the right post, but in the 56th minute he capitalized on a Terrapins defensive error, flicking his finish into the net with the outside of his left foot.
Five minute later, Wes Sever pulled a goal back for the Terrapins as he scored on the rebound after Berkeley’s goalkeeper saved, but then lost, his initial shot. Roehn restored the three-goal cushion a minute later, though, tapping in from close range after the Terrapins goalkeeper had mishandled a cross from the right.
The Buccaneers came from two goals down on Friday night to tie North Broward Prep 3-3, and close out their district schedule on Tuesday night against St. Petersburg Catholic before a road-trip to Jacksonville next weekend to face Episcopal, and a rematch of last season’s Class 3A state final against Bolles. Coach Tim Cooper will certainly hope his side can maintain its momentum as the playoffs beckon in a little over two weeks.
“For us to come out and put in a good solid performance, especially coming back against a very good team last night, … I think it will help their confidence as we push forward towards the postseason,” Cooper said.
Earlier in the afternoon, Berkeley’s girls scored a convincing 3-0 victory as Taylor Richardson, Megan Williams and Sam Newhaller all found the net.
Richardson gave the Buccaneers the lead in the ninth minute, and the Buccaneers doubled their lead seven minutes later through Williams.
Richardson, Newhaller and Amber Famiglietti were excellent for the Buccaneers, as was Danielle Manning, who created Newhaller’s goal on the hour-mark. Manning made a strong run down the right and cut her cross back to Newhaller, who recovered the rebound after her initial shot was blocked, and she fired home low for a 3-0 lead.
Richardson said that defeating the Terrapins was a good feeling, especially for the Buccaneers’ seniors.
“It’s the senior's last (Headmaster’s Challenge), it’s the last time we'll play Tampa Prep as a team, so it was definitely a game we wanted to win,” Richardson said. “Our team usually works where once we score one, we are able to get into a rhythm and score some more.”
Terrapins coach Cindy Schofield was disappointed with her side’s lack of composure, as the Terrapins gave away possession cheaply, giving forward Colby Maffei little opportunity in the attacking third.
“We just panicked the entire game,” Schofield said. “We weren’t composed. I kept telling them, ‘just calm down,’ I don’t know if it was the nerves because it’s the Headmaster’s playing a very good Berkeley team, we just weren’t us today.”
Another couple of performances like the 4-1 victory against Tampa Prep would confirm it, but the Buccaneers win on Saturday would lead you to think it was very close to being so.
The Buccaneers struck early and late in the first half, taking the lead in the second minute as Andrew Harvey scored at the far post after a cross from the right by Jordan Tannenbaum.
Both sides exchanged chances following that, Alex Cardoso having a side-footed volley saved and Aaron Burrell shooting over for the Terrapins and Jake Felman having his free kick towards the right corner saved for the Buccaneers, but as the half wore on the work being done by Felman and Tanner Bailey in the Buccaneers midfield allowed their side to take control. Having to replace former Bucs standouts Joey Rosati and Eri Jacobs has been a big task for the Buccaneers midfield as a whole, but Felman said he thought the side was getting close to where it needed to be.
“It’s tough replacing players like Joey and Eri,” Felman said. “For us to come in and take over, it’s taken some getting used to, but I think that at this time of the season we’re going to find that. We started it today, and hopefully we’ll be able to continue that for the rest of the year.”
T.J. Roehn almost took advantage of his midfield’s play just before halftime, a good through ball opening up the Terrapins defense, only for Roehn’s wicked shot to be turned over the crossbar. From the ensuing corner, though, Auston Chen rose at the right side of the penalty area and headed back across goal, finding Chris Murphy, who headed into the top-right corner of the net.
Conceding a second goal just before the break appeared to deflate the Terrapins, who were without both center back Travis Simmons and midfielder Anthony Bauman. Terrapins coach Doug Smith said he thought his side didn’t play well inside either penalty area.
“That’s something we need to clean up defensively,” Smith said. “Overall, we played fairly well, we just had some lapses in front of their net and in front of our net, and that was the difference in the game.”
As evidenced by his earlier chance, Roehn had already been dangerous in the first half, but with the Terrapins pushing forward to try and get back in the game after the break, it opened up space for him to roam. He almost got on the score sheet early in the second half, his run from the left cutting into the penalty area resulting in a right-footed shot that just whistled past the right post, but in the 56th minute he capitalized on a Terrapins defensive error, flicking his finish into the net with the outside of his left foot.
Five minute later, Wes Sever pulled a goal back for the Terrapins as he scored on the rebound after Berkeley’s goalkeeper saved, but then lost, his initial shot. Roehn restored the three-goal cushion a minute later, though, tapping in from close range after the Terrapins goalkeeper had mishandled a cross from the right.
The Buccaneers came from two goals down on Friday night to tie North Broward Prep 3-3, and close out their district schedule on Tuesday night against St. Petersburg Catholic before a road-trip to Jacksonville next weekend to face Episcopal, and a rematch of last season’s Class 3A state final against Bolles. Coach Tim Cooper will certainly hope his side can maintain its momentum as the playoffs beckon in a little over two weeks.
“For us to come out and put in a good solid performance, especially coming back against a very good team last night, … I think it will help their confidence as we push forward towards the postseason,” Cooper said.
Earlier in the afternoon, Berkeley’s girls scored a convincing 3-0 victory as Taylor Richardson, Megan Williams and Sam Newhaller all found the net.
Richardson gave the Buccaneers the lead in the ninth minute, and the Buccaneers doubled their lead seven minutes later through Williams.
Richardson, Newhaller and Amber Famiglietti were excellent for the Buccaneers, as was Danielle Manning, who created Newhaller’s goal on the hour-mark. Manning made a strong run down the right and cut her cross back to Newhaller, who recovered the rebound after her initial shot was blocked, and she fired home low for a 3-0 lead.
Richardson said that defeating the Terrapins was a good feeling, especially for the Buccaneers’ seniors.
“It’s the senior's last (Headmaster’s Challenge), it’s the last time we'll play Tampa Prep as a team, so it was definitely a game we wanted to win,” Richardson said. “Our team usually works where once we score one, we are able to get into a rhythm and score some more.”
Terrapins coach Cindy Schofield was disappointed with her side’s lack of composure, as the Terrapins gave away possession cheaply, giving forward Colby Maffei little opportunity in the attacking third.
“We just panicked the entire game,” Schofield said. “We weren’t composed. I kept telling them, ‘just calm down,’ I don’t know if it was the nerves because it’s the Headmaster’s playing a very good Berkeley team, we just weren’t us today.”
Preps: Plant City seals No.1 seed, Berkeley vs. Tampa Prep today
While Steinbrenner’s victory against Jesuit was probably the most eye-opening result from Friday night, another pair of teams sealed the No.1 seeds for the district tournaments.
Plant City remained undefeated with a 3-0 win against Durant to give the Raiders the No.1 seed in Class 5A-District 8, with Newsome’s 8-0 win against Tampa Bay Tech putting the Wolves in the No.2 slot. The St. Petersburg Times’ Brandon Wright was at the game, and filed this report.
http://bit.ly/4Ass3u
Plant also took the No.1 seed in Class 6A-District 8 with a 5-1 win against Alonso. According to Ravens coach Alan Turnquist, his side was without its starting goalkeeper, but he added that the outcome of the game would still likely have gone the Panthers way as they put together a performance coach Chris Carbon was very pleased with.
Elsewhere, Sickles completed a perfect run through its Class 5A-District 9 with a 1-0 win against King, Tyler Deming scoring the only goal, while Bloomingdale earned a 3-1 victory against Brandon in Class 5A-8.
On the girls side, Freedom recorded a good win against Gaither in Class 5A-District 9, Jenna Stiling picking up a goal and an assist for the Patriots as they rallied from a goal down to win. The Tampa Tribune’s Jarrett Guthrie was at the game, and filed this report.
http://bit.ly/7cSaOu
Today’s schedule sees Berkeley Prep and Tampa Prep face off at the Headmaster’s Challenge, with the girls game scheduled for noon and the boys for 1:45 p.m. The TBSB will be at both games, and will be providing live updates on the TBSB twitter feed – twitter.com/tbsoccerblog -- if you’re not able to get out to the games.
Plant City remained undefeated with a 3-0 win against Durant to give the Raiders the No.1 seed in Class 5A-District 8, with Newsome’s 8-0 win against Tampa Bay Tech putting the Wolves in the No.2 slot. The St. Petersburg Times’ Brandon Wright was at the game, and filed this report.
http://bit.ly/4Ass3u
Plant also took the No.1 seed in Class 6A-District 8 with a 5-1 win against Alonso. According to Ravens coach Alan Turnquist, his side was without its starting goalkeeper, but he added that the outcome of the game would still likely have gone the Panthers way as they put together a performance coach Chris Carbon was very pleased with.
Elsewhere, Sickles completed a perfect run through its Class 5A-District 9 with a 1-0 win against King, Tyler Deming scoring the only goal, while Bloomingdale earned a 3-1 victory against Brandon in Class 5A-8.
On the girls side, Freedom recorded a good win against Gaither in Class 5A-District 9, Jenna Stiling picking up a goal and an assist for the Patriots as they rallied from a goal down to win. The Tampa Tribune’s Jarrett Guthrie was at the game, and filed this report.
http://bit.ly/7cSaOu
Today’s schedule sees Berkeley Prep and Tampa Prep face off at the Headmaster’s Challenge, with the girls game scheduled for noon and the boys for 1:45 p.m. The TBSB will be at both games, and will be providing live updates on the TBSB twitter feed – twitter.com/tbsoccerblog -- if you’re not able to get out to the games.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Preps: Ortiz, Steinbrenner stun Jesuit, earn No.1 seed
LUTZ – Steinbrenner boys soccer coach Chad Ebright was expecting his side’s game against Jesuit to be a measuring stick as to where his side was in its first season.
After the opening minute, the Warriors weren’t measuring up well, going behind to a goal by the Tigers’ Michael Cadavid.
“I’m thinking that the wheels can come off the cart very easily,” Ebright said of the start to the game.
But while the Tigers continued to press forward, the Warriors held strong defensively and a pair of goals by freshman Oli Ortiz, his second coming with eight minutes to go, gave Steinbrenner a 2-1 victory and the No.1 seed for the Class 4A-District 9 tournament.
Gaining confidence as the second half went on, Ortiz picked up a pass down the right from Logan Siben 40 yards out, and attacked his defender one-on-one. Ortiz then feinted to go left before cutting onto his right foot and curling a beautiful shot into the net from 20 yards out for his ninth of the season.
“My dad taught me that,” Ortiz said. “Make him go (left), then cutting him back and taking a shot.”
Ortiz produced just as good a finish in the 13th minute to get the Warriors back on even terms, running onto a pass from Philip Jorge before chipping his shot over the advancing goalkeeper into the vacant net.
Jesuit almost retook the lead a minute later, but the Warriors were able to clear the ball to safety after a scramble in their penalty area. Tiger midfielder Stephen Gathman then went close, his flicked header going just wide off a corner, and Brett Durrance saw his deflected shot go just wide as the Tigers had the better of the play in the first half.
That didn’t prevent the Warriors from carving out chances of their own, though, and Davi Martins had his shot well saved after he controlled a header by Ortiz in the penalty area before weaving past a pair of defenders to create an opening.
The Tigers then missed a pair of golden opportunities to take the lead, one coming either side of halftime. Six minutes before the break a low cross from the left was spooned over the crossbar by Chris Conlon from close-range, and then two minutes into the second half Tyler Hartlage shot high from eight yards out with the goal at his mercy after an excellent low cross by Durrance. Jesuit coach Bob Bauman was disappointed with the lack of finishing and with the effort from his side.
“I think the biggest thing was that we didn’t show up,” Bauman said. “We scored a goal and we let up and we never got back in the game. Once they scored, it got their confidence up and we missed our chances early in the second half and they took their chance late in the second half. You’ve got to hand it to them, they were two terrific goals, two stunning goals, but they came from mistakes we made.”
As disappointed as the Tigers were, the Warriors were elated, the entire bench rushing onto the field at the final whistle to celebrate completing a perfect 8-0-0 run through their district schedule. Ebright said getting the No.1 seed for the district tournament was an important step, as it should provide an easier path to a district title, and the region tournament.
“Our goal at the beginning of the season was to become the No.1 seed in the district, that was our early goal,” Ebright said. “I’m proud of the boys, I’m proud of the way we played, and we came out here to do a job, and that’s what we did. We say it every day in practice, we’re here to do a job, and that’s what we got done tonight. We came out here against a very talented team, and we played very well.”
After the opening minute, the Warriors weren’t measuring up well, going behind to a goal by the Tigers’ Michael Cadavid.
“I’m thinking that the wheels can come off the cart very easily,” Ebright said of the start to the game.
But while the Tigers continued to press forward, the Warriors held strong defensively and a pair of goals by freshman Oli Ortiz, his second coming with eight minutes to go, gave Steinbrenner a 2-1 victory and the No.1 seed for the Class 4A-District 9 tournament.
Gaining confidence as the second half went on, Ortiz picked up a pass down the right from Logan Siben 40 yards out, and attacked his defender one-on-one. Ortiz then feinted to go left before cutting onto his right foot and curling a beautiful shot into the net from 20 yards out for his ninth of the season.
“My dad taught me that,” Ortiz said. “Make him go (left), then cutting him back and taking a shot.”
Ortiz produced just as good a finish in the 13th minute to get the Warriors back on even terms, running onto a pass from Philip Jorge before chipping his shot over the advancing goalkeeper into the vacant net.
Jesuit almost retook the lead a minute later, but the Warriors were able to clear the ball to safety after a scramble in their penalty area. Tiger midfielder Stephen Gathman then went close, his flicked header going just wide off a corner, and Brett Durrance saw his deflected shot go just wide as the Tigers had the better of the play in the first half.
That didn’t prevent the Warriors from carving out chances of their own, though, and Davi Martins had his shot well saved after he controlled a header by Ortiz in the penalty area before weaving past a pair of defenders to create an opening.
The Tigers then missed a pair of golden opportunities to take the lead, one coming either side of halftime. Six minutes before the break a low cross from the left was spooned over the crossbar by Chris Conlon from close-range, and then two minutes into the second half Tyler Hartlage shot high from eight yards out with the goal at his mercy after an excellent low cross by Durrance. Jesuit coach Bob Bauman was disappointed with the lack of finishing and with the effort from his side.
“I think the biggest thing was that we didn’t show up,” Bauman said. “We scored a goal and we let up and we never got back in the game. Once they scored, it got their confidence up and we missed our chances early in the second half and they took their chance late in the second half. You’ve got to hand it to them, they were two terrific goals, two stunning goals, but they came from mistakes we made.”
As disappointed as the Tigers were, the Warriors were elated, the entire bench rushing onto the field at the final whistle to celebrate completing a perfect 8-0-0 run through their district schedule. Ebright said getting the No.1 seed for the district tournament was an important step, as it should provide an easier path to a district title, and the region tournament.
“Our goal at the beginning of the season was to become the No.1 seed in the district, that was our early goal,” Ebright said. “I’m proud of the boys, I’m proud of the way we played, and we came out here to do a job, and that’s what we did. We say it every day in practice, we’re here to do a job, and that’s what we got done tonight. We came out here against a very talented team, and we played very well.”
Youth: Cote ousted from RSL Florida
Jim Cote is no longer the Girls Directors of Coaching for RSL Florida Soccer Club after being asked to resign by the club’s Board of Directors earlier this week.Cote, whose girls under-18 side went 4-0 in the Predator division of the Disney Soccer Showcase last week, said he was shocked when the board asked for his resignation. Cote became the DOC when current University of Tampa head coach Adrian Bush resigned his position with the club in August 2008.
“When I took over for (Bush), the club had started to falter a little bit,” Cote said. “They asked me to step in, I stepped in, there were still major concerns at the club, and I did what I was asked to do. I hired seven new age-group coaches on the boy’s side, I put in coordinators to make the training under the proper structure. You’re going to ruffle some feathers along the way because it’s part of the job. People aren’t going to want to just change, but you have to change in order to be able to develop.”
RSL Florida Club Administrator Ellen LaVielle said via e-mail that RSL President David Laxer was travelling, and unavailable to comment until Monday. The board is holding a meeting on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. at the Bern’s Steakhouse business offices, neat Bern’s in South Tampa, and Cote said he will be allowed to make a statement at that meeting. Cote also said he has received great support from the parents and players since the decision was made, and hopes that the club’s season won’t be derailed with the FYSA State Cup beginning in late March.
Cote said that no matter what comes out of Sunday’s meeting, he will remain committed to the remainder of the season with the team’s he is involved with coaching.
“I made a commitment to those kids, and I won’t let them down, I’ll stay and coach the teams,” Cote said. “There was just no pre-warning, no forewarning. I was in Miami two weeks ago for the Orange Classic, I didn’t even have a team down there, I just went down to help because we had five teams down there, and the president never said a word to me about it the whole time. And they won’t give me a reason, I said ‘just give me a reason, that way I know what I’ve done wrong, and for future endeavors I can fix it,’ but there’s been no reason given. They’re just going in another direction.”
Preps: Steinbrenner to get to mark progress against Jesuit
Steinbrenner High’s boys coach Chad Ebright didn’t know exactly what he should expect from his side when it began its inaugural season.
Tonight, though, the Warriors have a chance to see how far they’ve come as they face perennial power Jesuit with the No.1 seed in Class 4A-District 9 at stake. Steinbrenner can earn the No.1 seed with just a draw, but a win against the most storied program in Hillsborough County would certainly make a statement for the program.
“Our goal is to get our program mentioned with the top teams in the county,” Ebright said “The only way we can do that is to play the top teams in the county.”
The Warriors have played a limited schedule this season, with the bulk of their games coming against weak district opposition. The Warriors also lost 5-2 to Alonso, and drew with Freedom 2-2 in what where the two big non-district tests of the season, with a 2-0 win against Robinson in their last game before the holiday break putting them in position to earn the No.1 district seed.
Jesuit tied Robinson 2-2 earlier in the season, leaving it behind Steinbrenner in the 4A-9 standings, doing everything by find a game-winner in the second half of the contest. The Tigers now appear to be back to their regular form, the only loss since a 4-3 defeat to Tampa Prep on Nov.18 coming against ESPN Rise No.4 New Orleans Jesuit in the High School Classic.
As intimidating as Jesuit can be, Ebright believes the most important thing for his players to realize before the game is that they aren’t playing the Tigers’ history.
“My job is to make sure the boys realize we’re not playing the history of Jesuit, we’re playing the 2009-10 team only,” Ebright said. “We need to step onto the field understanding that that’s who we’re playing against, we’re not playing against their history. As far as the play on the field goes, we need to do the best job we can to control the pace of the game, and hopefully get Jesuit to play our game and not vice-versa.”
Tonight, though, the Warriors have a chance to see how far they’ve come as they face perennial power Jesuit with the No.1 seed in Class 4A-District 9 at stake. Steinbrenner can earn the No.1 seed with just a draw, but a win against the most storied program in Hillsborough County would certainly make a statement for the program.
“Our goal is to get our program mentioned with the top teams in the county,” Ebright said “The only way we can do that is to play the top teams in the county.”
The Warriors have played a limited schedule this season, with the bulk of their games coming against weak district opposition. The Warriors also lost 5-2 to Alonso, and drew with Freedom 2-2 in what where the two big non-district tests of the season, with a 2-0 win against Robinson in their last game before the holiday break putting them in position to earn the No.1 district seed.
Jesuit tied Robinson 2-2 earlier in the season, leaving it behind Steinbrenner in the 4A-9 standings, doing everything by find a game-winner in the second half of the contest. The Tigers now appear to be back to their regular form, the only loss since a 4-3 defeat to Tampa Prep on Nov.18 coming against ESPN Rise No.4 New Orleans Jesuit in the High School Classic.
As intimidating as Jesuit can be, Ebright believes the most important thing for his players to realize before the game is that they aren’t playing the Tigers’ history.
“My job is to make sure the boys realize we’re not playing the history of Jesuit, we’re playing the 2009-10 team only,” Ebright said. “We need to step onto the field understanding that that’s who we’re playing against, we’re not playing against their history. As far as the play on the field goes, we need to do the best job we can to control the pace of the game, and hopefully get Jesuit to play our game and not vice-versa.”
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Rowdies: NASL/USL reach deal, now come details on the Rowdies?
Here's the slightly longer online version of the story I wrote earlier this evening for the Tampa Tribune.
With the league's status being up in the air to this point, the rest of the franchise's plans have been stuck in neutral. I was told earlier today, though, that the Rowdies were going to be making plans for a big press conference by the end of the month, at which point everything should become clear.
In my mind, it is going to be crucial for that to happen. For a while now, announcements have been meant to be just around the corner. When Paul Dalglish was installed as manager, it was said that stadium plans were going to be coming soon. As it stands, they still are.
As much as this was being stressed as a long-term project during today's conference call, it feels as though getting off on the right foot in their opening season is going to be critical for the Rowdies to succeed. Other franchises in the USSF Second Division, or whatever its official name will end up being, like Rochester, Puerto Rico, Portland to name three in the Rowdies division, were already established as USL franchises. One of those franchises, Portland, will move up to MLS in 2011 in part because of the following the Timbers have in the Pacific Northwest, averaging over 9,000 fans per game in the USL last season.
The Rowdies don't have that luxury yet, and if they are to earn it and reach those kinds of attendence figures it is imperitive they get plans out in the open, and give local fans confidence this can be a success.
With the league's status being up in the air to this point, the rest of the franchise's plans have been stuck in neutral. I was told earlier today, though, that the Rowdies were going to be making plans for a big press conference by the end of the month, at which point everything should become clear.
In my mind, it is going to be crucial for that to happen. For a while now, announcements have been meant to be just around the corner. When Paul Dalglish was installed as manager, it was said that stadium plans were going to be coming soon. As it stands, they still are.
As much as this was being stressed as a long-term project during today's conference call, it feels as though getting off on the right foot in their opening season is going to be critical for the Rowdies to succeed. Other franchises in the USSF Second Division, or whatever its official name will end up being, like Rochester, Puerto Rico, Portland to name three in the Rowdies division, were already established as USL franchises. One of those franchises, Portland, will move up to MLS in 2011 in part because of the following the Timbers have in the Pacific Northwest, averaging over 9,000 fans per game in the USL last season.
The Rowdies don't have that luxury yet, and if they are to earn it and reach those kinds of attendence figures it is imperitive they get plans out in the open, and give local fans confidence this can be a success.
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