Tony Glavin, St Louis Lions

“We are thrilled to have these six coaches actively involved in presenting the talented players at the USL Men’s Showcase,” said PDL Director of Operations Lee Cohen. “As PDL coaches, they will have a good working knowledge of many of the players’ best abilities and will be able to provide insight into how to present themselves on the field as well as accentuate their best attributes during the event. As USL PDL coaches, they spend every day working on creating an environment that will help develop players and send them to the next level, and the USL Men’s Showcase is an extension of those efforts.”

Returning from last year’s USL Men’s Showcase as coaches are Tony Glavin of the St Louis Lions and the Springfield Demize duo of Chris Hanlon and Armen Toniase.

“This year’s mix of coaches will be great for the event,” added Cohen. “Having three coaches familiar with the event will help everyone in their preparations, while having three fresh faces will provide new philosophies and ideas.”

There are 90 players included in the USL Showcase invitees, 10 of whom have played in the Heartland Conference for either Des Moines, Kansas City or St Louis.

The agreement pertains only to the 2010 season, and during the next year U.S. Soccer will continue to work with USL and NASL to build a long-term solution for the future. U.S. Soccer will also be developing new standards to govern Division 2 professional league applicants to ensure the long term viability and sustainability of the leagues and teams.

“We are extremely pleased that we were able to come to a solution that ensures we will have Division 2 professional soccer in the United States in 2010,” said U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati. “This agreement allows us to continue to develop the professional game in many important markets around the country, while at the same time working towards the long-term stability of Division 2 professional soccer. I’d like to thank the representatives from both the USL and NASL for the time spent during our negotiations, especially their efforts in the past seven days.”

The league will consist of two six-team conferences – the USL Conference and the NASL Conference. The USL Conference will include teams from Austin, Minnesota, Portland, Puerto Rico, Rochester and Tampa Bay. The NASL Conference will consist of teams from Baltimore, Carolina, Miami, Montreal, St. Louis and Vancouver.

In the near future, U.S. Soccer will announce details of the new league, including league rules, a match schedule, television rights and other important operational issues.

As part of the agreement, all pending claims between the USL and NASL will be dropped.

USL_at-a-crossroads

OWNERS OF PROFESSIONAL SOCCER TEAMS IN ATLANTA, CAROLINA, MIAMI, MINNESOTA, MONTREAL, ST. LOUIS AND VANCOUVER FORM NEW PRO SOCCER LEAGUE TO BEGIN PLAY IN 2010

Nov. 10, 2009 – The owners of the Atlanta Silverbacks, Carolina RailHawks, Miami FC, Minnesota Thunder, Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps, formerly of USL-1, together with St. Louis Soccer United today announced that they have formed a new professional soccer league to play in the United States and Canada beginning in April 2010.

The team owners yesterday submitted an application for sanctioning of the new league as a Division II Men’s Outdoor Professional League by the United States Soccer Federation. An application for sanctioning as a Division I League will be submitted to the Canadian Soccer Association shortly and applications to other sanctioning bodies in the region will be submitted as needed.

Click on the link for the full details and for a three part series by the Inside MN Soccer website on the issues that led to this decision.

The League includes St Louis, as noted above.

Jeff Cooper, the principal owner of St. Louis Soccer United and spokesperson for the new league, said team owners have commenced a search for a league commissioner and are actively finalizing other details, including a name for the league and its sales and marking plans. The league intends to launch an extensive marketing campaign in the coming months, Cooper said.

In addition, Cooper said the team owners are in active conversations with several teams and organizations throughout the world which have expressed interest in joining the new league.

“This will be a league that will offer the best of both worlds – outstanding experience and leadership at the ownership level combined with the promise and ability to chart our own course for success as a new league,” Cooper said. “It’s this structure that motivated me to bring St. Louis into the new league, and why I believe the new league will have a lot of success at launch next year and well into the future.”

Regarding the Wizards, this is a pretty strong message from a major supporter, Down The Byline

Since scoring 3 goals in the first half against New England back on June 13th, the Wizards have scored 1 goal in the next 13 halves of soccer.

Soccer by Ives has the Wizards at 13th in the 15 team league although they’ll probably fall to 14th after losing to current #14 San Jose Earthquakes

The team at the bottom of the pile is Red Bull NY. You know their manager just resigned right? There are also rumors that Barcelona might be interested, the best answers offered on what will happen in the future come from GM Erik Stover who did a recent Q&A with Soccer by Ives.

Looking at some positive news, one of my new favorite soccer sites is Pitch Invasion. They did a recent story on building a soccer culture in America, using Seattle and Portland as recent examples.

Closer to home, the St Louis Soccer United group has been surprisingly quiet this summer. Part of that can be attributed to their efforts with the Athletica squad that played in the WPS. The one interesting bit of news that came out was a group that is proposing a soccer complex in Richmond Heights. Jeff Cooper has been quoted that they are not part of his effort to lure an MLS team to the St Louis metropolitan area.

Looking at the bigger picture here is Don Garber’s recent State of the League comments as well as Yank’s Abroad’s recent editorial on their concerns related to MLS and the marketing approach being taken in a story titled A Troubling Disconnect

Like everyone who wants to see MLS do well because of its vital role in the development of the American game, I am still trying to avoid coming to the conclusion that the level of play in MLS is a total embarrassment, and I’m still not quite there. About half the time I tune in, I see what could be described as an entertaining match with decent tactics and play.

Finally, Pitch Invasion takes a look at the possibility of the United Soccer League, home of the PDL and teams that include the Springfield Demize, becoming a part of Major League Soccer. It’s not necessarily a positive thing.

OK, that’s it for my ride around the world of American soccer, time to concentrate on Liverpool vs Aston Villa on ESPN2. W00t!

Drury Panthers, Cody Reinberg

When Cody Reinberg arrived at preseason training camp in mid-March, he was no different than any of the other first-year players the Harrisburg City Islanders have thoroughly checked out during their tremendously efficient six-year run in the USL Second Division.

Reinberg wanted minutes.

And he wanted to crack the starting lineup immediately.

Once the 24-year-old defender started competing against some of the veterans and other rookies Bill Becher and Steve Widdowson were evaluating, Reinberg decided that just making the opening-night roster and earning a contract were significant achievements all by themselves.

Cody’s played in 15 games, starting 9. Harrisburg plays Richmond on August 22nd with the winner going to the Title game on August 29th.

Harrisburg City Islanders (USL-2) at D.C. United (MLS)
Maryland Soccerplex – Boyds, MD | 7:30 p.m.

This is the fourth time the third-year USL2 club will meet an MLS team in the U.S. Open Cup. In 2007, the City Islanders defeated D.C. United 1-0 in a shock third-round result, then took the Revolution to the limit in the quarterfinals before losing 2-1.

The City Islanders lead the USL Second Division with 23 points from 12 matches, three points ahead of the Wilmington Hammerheads, though they lost 3-2 to Wilmington on Saturday in their last league match. Chad Severs has scored seven goals to lead Harrisburg, tied for the USL Second Division lead.

The winner of the United-Harrisburg match will meet the winner of all-USL quarterfinal between Rochester Rhinos (USL1) and Wilmington Hammerheads (USL). Harrisburg will travel to Rochester if they win, while playing host to Wilmington.

Kansas City Wizards (MLS) at Seattle Sounders F.C. (MLS)
Starfire Sports Complex – Tukwila, WA | 10 p.m.

Jack Jewsbury and the KC Wizards have moved into the Quarterfinals of the US Open Cup and as Mike at Down The Byline notes – We Want Silverware

Personally I think it’s time to bring home some more silverware, and the Open Cup is the opportune chance to do it. Only 3 games separate the Wizards from winning the Dewar Cup. With almost 5 years having gone by since the Wizards brought home some silverware, it’s time the Wizards change that and actually win a trophy. Winning the Open Cup would likely mean sacrificing a game or two in league play. If it brings home the Open Cup, I don’t have a major problem with that fact.

Will our boys move on?

Geoff Bloes’ sitter with time winding down in the first overtime — off a David Schofield corner that fluttered off goalkeeper Brad Knighton’s fingers — lifted the Harrisburg City Islanders to a 2-1 victory over the New England Revolution in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup round-of-16 action Tuesday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium in New Britain, Conn.

Moffat Oduor also connected for the USL Second Division leaders, nodding in a Jason Pelletier restart that pulled Harrisburg even in the 67th minute. Jeff Larentowicz buried a 19-yard direct in the 38th minute, staking the Major League Soccer side to a 1-0 halftime lead.

It was a game with several twists and turns but wasn’t the only upset of the evening. The underdogs of the USL ruled the day in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Third Round on Tuesday night, taking four of the six matches, and assuring themselves of at least one team in the semifinals.

In a nutshell, the U.S. Open Cup is very similar to domestic cup competitions popular throughout Europe, South America and the rest of the world. Cup competitions, which usually run concurrent with a country’s league season, are open in the early stages to any club that can qualify, giving local amateur teams a chance to compete against the best teams a country has to offer. First round games are being played this evening, with the winners advancing to the second round next Tuesday. MLS squads who qualified will join the competition in the 3rd round.

This year, I’ve got two teams I’m watching. The first is the Harrisburg City Islanders who include Cody Reinberg (Drury 2008/Des Moines Menace/Springfield Demize) on their roster. The other is the St Louis Lions who will once again represent the PDL Heartland Conference.

Reading Rage (PDL) at Harrisburg City Islanders (USL2)

Harrisburg reached the quarterfinals in their Open Cup debut in 2007, defeating D.C. United in the third round.. Harrisburg comes into the match atop the USL-2, although their last match was a shocking 5-0 loss to Richmond on June 6.

Reading has steamrolled through their early PDL schedule, winning three of their six games by three goals or more, posting a 5-0-1 record. They should be well rested, having not played since May 31.

St. Louis Lions (PDL) at Cleveland City Stars (USL1)

The Lions finished 1st in PDL Heartland Division qualifying with a 3-0-1 record. After posting a 3-0-1 record to claim the Heartland Division Open Cup berth, the Lions have only won once in their last four matches (1-2-1). The Lions have faced the Springfield Demize once this year, a 5-0 win in the Demize home opener. They return to Springfield next Thursday, June 18th.

The Lions have made one previous cup appearance, a 4-1 loss to the Minnesota Thunder in last year’s tournament. While the Lions are the lone team from St. Louis to make a cup appearance in the Pro Era, St. Louis clubs have won 10 Open Cup championships, the most recent being Busch S.C. in 1988.

“Often times when young players get the opportunity to step in and contribute, they fail because the moment gets to them, put too much pressure on themselves, or perhaps they have a run of bad luck. Matt was able to make the most of his opportunity and run with it,” said Diego Gutierrez, a former teammate on the Fire. “When his moment came, he stepped up, played with confidence, made saves that were both routine and extraordinary, and made his teammates better. With the goalkeeper position, you want someone who projects confidence to your team, and Matt was able to that and more.”

Cody Reinberg (Drury 2007) has scored his first goal for the Harrisburg City Islanders. Reinberg is a defender but scored late in a losing effort.

City Islanders rookie Cody Reinberg nodded home his first professional goal in the closing moments. Reinberg’s score was set up by service from Anthony Peters, one of two players loaned to Harrisburg (1-1-1, 4 points) for the weekend journey by Major League Soccer’s D.C. United. Peters entered in the 88th minute for Nicki Paterson, while John DiRaimondo came on the 65th for Middletown’s Jason Pelletier.

DiRaimondo is a DC United signee who was on loan for the weekend USL-2 game. He’s also a St Louis boy, having played for the SLU Billikens (2006) as well as St Louis University HS.

A native of Missouri, Cody Reinberg joins the Islanders after a year with another elite PDL club the Des Moines Menace. Prior to joining the Menace, he was a four-year starter at Drury University in Springfield, MO and played for the Springfield Demize in 2007. During his time as a Panther, Reinberg was an All-Great Lakes Valley Conference Honorable Mention and All-Great Lakes Region Third team, and All-Conference First Team honors.

Cody’s not the only St Louis boy on the squad, he’s joined by Tim Velten who played for SIU-Edwardsville and Louisville before joining Harrisburg in 2007.

Another familiar face is Brandon Swartzendruber, formerly of the Thunder Bay Chill.

Though a rookie to the USL-2, Brandon Swartzendruber is a natural goal scorer. He proved his scoring ability during two impressive seasons with the USL’s PDL Thunder Bay Chill. During the 2007 season, he scored 16 goals and recorded 4 assists, finishing second in the PDL for both goals and points. He continued his scoring success in 2008, scoring 13 goals and adding 8 assists, leading the Chill to the PDL Championship. A five-time PDL team of the week selection over two seasons, Swartzendruber was selected to the PDL All-Central Conference team for the 2008 season

The Demize will be sending five players to the 2008 USL Men’s Player Showcase hosted by the Charleston Battery of the USL First Division. Nikola Katic (Western Illinois University), Daniel Foerster (University of Central Arkansas) Daniel Knop (University of Memphis), Patrick Gritz (Western Illinois University) and Eishun Yoshida (Illinois Central College) will be participating in this years combine where they will play a series of exhibition matches, showcasing there talents to USL 1, USL 2 and MLS coaches and scouts. The combine will be held December 14th thru the 16th in Charleston, South Carolina at Blackbaud Stadium.

Nikola Katic, a native of Croatia, is a two year starter and captain at Western Illinois University. Katic helped Chicago Fire Premiere PDL team in their playoff run for the cup in the 2007 PDL season and was a top defender for the Demize in 2008.

Daniel Foerster played 15 of 16 games for the Demize and was leading point getter for the team. Foerster also played four years of collegiate soccer at the University of Central Arkansas.

Daniel Knop, an Australian native, attended the University of Memphis before coming to the Demize. After the 2008 PDL season, Knop went to play in the Croatian Third Division where he has been starting every match and doing very well.

Patrick Gritz also attends Western Illinois University and has played in the PDL with the Palm Beach Pumas. Gritz played in the midfield for the Demize showing his presence with his pin point distribution and hard nosed tackles.

Eishun (ACE) Yoshida, a native of Japan, came to the Demize from Avila University where he was taking English Speaking Language (ESL) courses to become eligible for the 2009 season. Ace played well for the Demize at right back until he incurred an injury in a game against the KC Brass keeping him out for a majority of the season. Ace is now at Illinois Central College in Peoria, IL.

The USL Men’s Player Showcase is a three-day event and is comprised of multiple 70-minute matches for 90 elite prospects to display their abilities to a number of top clubs around the world. In 2007 USL Men’s Player Showcase drew more than 300 applicants from an elite pool of collegiate and international talent. With numerous players landing professional contracts in Major League Soccer, the USL First Division, the USL Second Division and with international clubs, the USL Men’s Player Showcase has become a critical component of the PDL and the player development structure within USL.

As with previous showcase events, the majority of selected players are drawn from USL’s Premier Development League. “As expected in 2007, the Charleston Battery displayed an overwhelming level of professionalism in hosting the USL Men’s Player Showcase,” said USL Executive Vice President and COO Tim Holt. “Through their run to the U.S. Open Cup Final this season, the Battery displayed their on-field ability. Off the field, Charleston possesses world class facilities and tremendous experience in hosting successful events.”

The 2008 USL Men’s Player Showcase presented by Umbro will bring in the top 90 players in North America that competed amongst the 67 PDL teams from the 2008 season. As the top amateur league in North America, the Premier Development League is committed to providing its players with every opportunity to excel at the professional level.

“Each year the Demize have the opportunity to send PDL players to the combine that we feel have the ability to play at the professional level and it is a great honor for the Demize to be sending five of our players to USL Combine, ” said General Manager, Chris Hanlon. “Omar Shoucair represented the Demize at the 2007 USL Men’s Player Showcase where he was recruited by the USL 1 Carolina Railhawks to compete for a roster spot. Eddie Conde, another member of the 2007 roster, participated in the Pittsburgh Riverhounds (USL 2) invitational combine.”

Also, attending the combine are the Head Coach of the Demize, Armen Tonianse, and General Manager Chris Hanlon. Tonianse and Hanlon will be representing the Demize and the USL as Staff coaches for this years combine. “Both Chris and I are excited to be attending this years event,” mentioned Tonianse. “We have been on the USL coaching staff and attending the USL combine since its inception in 2006 and each years talent pool gets better. I believe this years event will highlight why the PDL exists and the value it has to those players who aspire to play professionally.”

For more information about the 2008 USL Men’s Player Showcase presented by Umbro, please visit the USL Men’s Player Showcase information page at http://www.uslsoccer.com/Showcase/index_E.html

The KC Brass visit twice, the first time May 22nd, just two days after the Class 3 Sectional that is traditionally held at Lake Country Soccer as well. They return two weeks later on June 6th, also the start of the Toyota Cup, being hosted by Lake Country this year. The Rapids U23′s will visit on Saturday June 7th.That should guarantee large crowds!

The final home games in early July feature Heartland Conference rivals St Louis and Des Moines, which will probably feature Drury forward Marco Cherisma. The games are bracketed by a pair of long distance road trips (to Colorado and Ontario). It’s a fairly balanced schedule that offers the St Louis Lions and Des Moines Menace as the final home games.

Springfield Demize 2008 Schedule

There will be an open tryout/mini-camp on March 14th, 15th, 16th and March 21st, 22nd, 23rd. Contact the team for more information.