The Aztexan

If you felt that the 2009 Aztex roster needed a serious shakeup for the team to be a contender next year, you were in good company. At least, management would seem to agree with you. In addition to several international scouting trips, the team just announced that it would not pick up the option on 14 current players.

The announcement made it clear that the team's poor inaugural season performance was the reason for the extensive player cuts.

"Our expectations as a club were to make the playoffs," said head coach Adrian Heath. "We didn’t achieve that and we know that things have to change for next season. Everyone we have let go today has given their all for us and in some cases the decision to release them was very difficult indeed. But we must move on."

Here's the list of guys who won't be returning in red & white next season:

David Sias Gareth Evans Gifton Noel-Williams Jarius Holmes Lyle Adams

Ryan Caugherty Ryan McMahen Sam Reynolds Wes Allen Zack Pope

A.J. Godbolt Josh Alcala Kyle Brown Michael Dello-Russo

A few of those were surprises to me. Gifton Noel-Williams, though out due to injury for much of the season, was originally hailed as the club's marquee player, and was thought to have been a mature, steadying influence on the young Austin squad. On the other hand, he never did quite make the kind of impact on the field that we all hoped for.

The release of Michael Dello-Russo, though the newest Aztex player on the list, was also a surprise. His arrival after being released by FC Dallas had some amount of fanfare, with a reported contract through 2011. So much for that.

It's also sad, as a fan of the club since the first, PDL-only season in 2008, to bid farewell to some players who date from that era: A.J. Godbolt, Zack Pope, Wes Allen & Josh Alcala.

Best of luck to all these fellows.

With these cuts, here's who's left from 2009: Miguel Gallardo, Kieron Bernard, Sullivan Silva, Eddie Johnson, Yordany Alvarez, Michael Callahan, Kevin Sakuda, Nick Noble and Salif Diao-Jimenez.

There's been no word on other players who made guest appearances last season, such as Jeff Harwell, Jean Alexandre and Jamie Watson.

So this squad was already on the small side, and now they've cut more than half the players. There had already been reports that the Aztex would be scouting abroad this off-season, but now we see how much recruiting work there is to do. Here's what coach Heath has to say about their focus:

"We need to add more bite and experience to the squad and more productive in front of goal. Phil and I have talked at length and we know we will need to add a few experienced pros into the mix for next year."

Austin will be scouting soccer talent in Colombia next week, and in Mexico after Thanksgiving. Rawlins, along with director Gary Mellor, has already taken a scouting trip to Senegal:

Accompanied by two national youth coaches from Senegal, in one of the few stadiums in Dakar designed for 15,000 people, they watched five scrimmages between kids ages 15-16 from Dakar, St. Louis and Kedegou.

"The standard of play was very impressive and there were some really talented kids there," Rawlins said after the first day.

And coach Heath made a scouting trip to Haiti:

There is certainly a talent base there. For a country of 10 million and with the athleticism on display, there certainly should be lots of players around the world but I think there are only about 35 at the moment, of which about 20 are in Europe. I can see that changing now because the players who have gone to the U.S. and to Europe have done really well and I’m sure there will be other coaches and scouts going to Haiti just like I did.

Stay tuned for more news from what is sure to be a busy, rebuilding off-season.

Labels: internacional, players, USL-1

Just a quick reminder: the Aztex are in England for the next week or so.

"This is a fantastic opportunity for the Aztex players and for many of them this is the trip of a lifetime," said Rawlins. "Many of them have never even been to England, let alone been exposed to the English game which they have seen and heard so much about. They will be able to experience football in a different environment, play against some top Premier League players and also have the opportunity to benefit from their training methods."

He added: "We hope in the long run that this will be the first of regular visits to England which will certainly boost the development of the squad and raise the profile of the Aztex. It will also be good from Stoke City's point of view to take a look at how things are developing with Aztex as we look to develop that relationship for the long term future."

This marks the first time a USL-1 team has toured England. They'll be training at sister club Stoke City FC's facilities, attending the Stoke vs. West Ham match at the weekend and have three friendlies lined up:

• Wednesday, 10/14 — Stoke City (at Nantwich Town's Weaver Stadium)


• Thursday, 10/15 — League Two's Accrington Stanley (at Crown Ground; benefits Save Our Stanley)


• Tuesday, 10/20 — The Championship's Sheffield Wednesday (at Hillsborough Stadium)

The 18-player roster for the trip includes mostly familiar faces, plus a few new ones: Miguel Gallardo, Nick Noble, Kevin Sakuda, Kieron Bernard, Salif Diao-Jimenez, Ednerson Raymond and Vaniel Sirin (Haitian internationals), Sullivan Silva, Mike Callahan, Ryan McMahen, Tynan Diaz (Victoria Highlanders), Jarius Holmes, Nicholas Patterson (Harrisburg City Islanders), Michael Dello-Russo, Jamie Watson, Jean Alexandre, Eddie Johnson and Gareth Evans.

Kickoff for Wednesday's Aztex - Stoke City match is 1:00 PM CT; you can listen to live match audio, courtesy of StokeCityFC.com. The best way to follow the rest of the team's trip will be via the official Aztex blog, which Kay Rawlins plans to keep updated.

Labels: exhibition, internacional, players, Stoke City, USL-1

The drama continues. Following on the first installment, here's a quick update. This post doesn't present any new or breaking news, it's just a summary of events to date. Most links are to Brian Quarstad's estimable Inside Minnesota Soccer blog, which in more pleasant times focuses on the Minnesota Thunder, but which has been all over this whole story from the start, like white on rice.

• Friday, 10/2 — USL "released" all players from 3 Team Owner Association (TOA) teams (Minnesota Thunder, Carolina Railhawks & Miami FC) from their contracts (link). Also, the league removed the logos and links of those teams from its website (link).


• Sunday, 10/4 — Carolina RailHawks co-owner and TOA spokesman Brian Wellman assures players and the press that the contract release doesn't count (link).


• Monday, 10/5 — In an illuminating interview with David Fellerath, of North Carolina's indyweek.com (which covers the RailHawks), Wellman calls the league's action "unfortunate and unnecessary". (link) (If you click through and read just one of these links, this is the one.)


• Tuesday, 10/6 — Sunil Gulati, president of the United States Soccer Federation (USSF), summoned league officials and team owners to New York to try to settle the whole dispute (link). Also on Tuesday, Quarstad posted the full text of the contract-release email the league sent on Friday (link).


• Wednesday, 10/7 — Gulati jetted off to London for the "Leaders In Football" conference, with no resolution announced in the USL/TOA situation (link). Blogger Kartik Krishnaiyer considered possible advantages that a breakaway league might have with respect to TV rights (link). Lastly, Quarstad also got hold of a copy of "the standard United Soccer League (USL) Players Contract", which doesn't look like something the league has the authority to terminate (link).

So there you have it. More drama; continued limbo. I'll just add a few observations.

I don't buy the assurances that this whole dust-up is a minor distraction. Three whole teams' players — with two more sure to follow immediately after the league finals — were fired last week, and had their teams disassociated from the league. Subsequent analysis, and possibly a future lawsuit for good measure, find that that firing was probably out of order. But in any case, it's the thought that counts, as they say.

Don't forget that these are people's livelihoods at stake here. And not just the Minnesota, Carolina and Miami players, either. If this league falls apart, it will affect every player on every team, not to mention other team staff. Even if their clubs made money hand over fist this year (show of hands? anyone?), you can't pay much of a wage bill if you don't play any games.

Another aspect is the chilling effect this must have on planning, scouting and recruiting for next year. For one example, consider the fate of Jamie Watson. (For the record, I have not spoken with him, and have not the slightest bit of inside info on his career.)

Though he had a good season for the Aztex U23s in 2008, Watson didn't wind up on Austin's USL-1 roster in 2009. Instead, he played for the Wilmington Hammerheads in USL-2. He had a great season there, ultimately being named the 2009 USL-2 MVP. He came back to Austin to finish the season with the Aztex USL-1 squad, was still with them in Wednesday's friendly against Monterrey, and will presumably travel to England with the Aztex.

So I was asked this week, in the wake of the news that the Hammerheads lost their franchise, whether Watson would stay with Austin. I personally hope so, but I don't know, and replied as much. But it got me thinking.

If I were a promising young pro soccer player, would I want to hitch my wagon to a league going through this kind of turmoil? Watson has previously played for Real Salt Lake and FC Dallas. Even if the pay and chances for playing time were both lower in MLS, which league looks like a better bet right now?

Lastly, let me double down on my previous threat. If these shenanigans inhibit me in the slightest from being able to go down to House Park next summer to watch the Red & White play, I'll not only key the car of everyone involved, I'll also track down all their email addresses and sign them up for every free Viagra spam I can find.

And I can find a lot.

Labels: players, The League, USL-1

Regular season USL-1 play has now concluded for 2009. The playoffs start tomorrow (Thursday). Sure it would have been nice to see Austin there; but I guess it just wasn't meant to be. We might as well get a head start on looking back.

Both of the league's expansion teams, the Austin Aztex and the Cleveland City Stars, fared poorly in their inaugural seasons, winding up at the bottom of the final standings:

P	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Portland Timbers	30	16	10	4	45	19	+26	58
2	Carolina RailHawks FC	30	16	7	7	43	19	+24	55
3	Puerto Rico Islanders	30	15	8	7	44	31	+13	53
4	Charleston Battery	30	14	11	5	33	21	+12	53
5	Montreal Impact	30	12	7	11	32	31	+1	43
6	Rochester Rhinos	30	11	10	9	34	32	+2	43
7	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	30	11	9	10	42	36	+6	42
8	Minnesota Thunder	30	7	10	13	39	44	-5	31
9	Miami FC	30	8	5	17	26	52	-26	29
10	Austin Aztex FC	30	5	8	17	28	51	-23	21*
11	Cleveland City Stars	30	4	19	7	22	52	-30	19

As you can see, the Aztex escaped the very last spot, if barely. That 2-point deduction they earned from the league in July (for playing Callahan despite his 5 yellows) didn't wind up making any real difference.

I noted a couple of weeks ago that Austin and Cleveland were both in danger of posting one of the worst seasons in modern USL-1 history. Both squads escaped that fate by picking up 3 points since then (amazingly enough, both wins at the expense of the regular-season champion Portland Timbers).

These standings don't tell the whole story of the Aztex's 2009 season, however. Note that their goal differential is better than Miami FC's, despite the Aztex being 8 points lower in the standings. A few of Austin's losses were big ones, with a margin of 3 or 4, but most were much closer: 8 losses by one goal, and 5 losses by two.

And how about all those hits to the roster, due to injuries, travel issues, etc.? It seemed like the group of guys taking the field in red & white was never the same from week to week. Some key player or other was always missing, and some new loaner player was trying to fill the gap.

For example, take a look at the number of games & minutes played for these selected players, some of the team's key difference-makers.

Player	Games   (30 max)	Minutes (2,700 max)
Yordany Alvarez	14	1,229
Eddie Johnson	22	1,873
Sullivan Silva	24	1,654
Gifton Noel-Williams	16	1,024
Miguel Gallardo	14	1,215

Three of them were only able to play in half the games, and though the other 2 had more appearances, their minutes were still less than 70% of the maximum possible. It's a crude measure, and of course the team is more than these five guys, but this clearly shows a squad that was not at full strength.

That's a glimpse at the on-field performance; how about a peak at other measures? One significant feather in the organization's cap is the Community Relations award they were awarded by the Austin Chamber of Commerce.

The Aztex received the award based on its numerous contributions to the community this past year including the AISD Fitness Program where Aztex players worked to improve the cardiovascular fitness of 6th grade students at each of AISD's 18 middle schools. Results from the program alone were impressive as AISD reported an 11 percent increase in fitness across the schools compared with only two percent last year.

In addition to working with organizations like Any Baby Can, Austin CAN! Academy, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and Lift Up America, the Aztex raised more than $10,000 in donations throughout the year.

Another landmark this year was the first annual Copa Aztex, which showcased top-level Mexican soccer in Austin and helped promote the team and the local game to Mexican fans. (Don't forget a similar opportunity is coming up on Oct. 7, when the Aztex will host Monterrey's Rayados at the Round Rock ISD stadium in North Austin.) There was some dispute with the Copa Aztex attendance numbers reported by the University of Texas. Officially announced at just over 7,000, many felt that the crowd numbered closer to 10,000.

Speaking of attendance, here's how the numbers looked for the regular season games. We didn't see the 10K-plus that established — and MLS-bound — teams like Portland and Montreal had, but getting an average just shy of 3,000 seems like a pretty solid start to me. (kenn.com has 2009 attendance numbers for the whole league).

04/18/09	Minnesota Thunder	4,891
04/21/09	Vancouver Whitecaps	1,549
04/25/09	Cleveland City Stars	3,248
05/08/09	Puerto Rico Islanders	5,216
05/24/09	Carolina Railhawks	2,388
05/29/09	Puerto Rico Islanders	2,019
06/05/09	Charleston Battery	2,246
06/07/09	Charleston Battery	2,891
06/19/09	Carolina Railhawks	2,629
06/21/09	Rochester Rhinos	3,114
07/11/09	Portland Timbers	3,114
07/25/09	Montreal Impact	2,786
08/16/09	Minnesota Thunder	3,470
08/29/09	Miami FC Blues	2,611
09/07/09	Portland Timbers	2,439
average:		2,974

Labels: community, players, USL-1

The Aztex USL-1 squad is on the road this weekend, taking the game to Minneapolis to face the Minnesota Thunder.

The Aztex faced the Thunder here at home in the very first game of the season. That game resulted in a 1-1 draw, the first of many the Red & White have gotten this season. Minnesota's 11 points (a 2-8-5 record) makes them one of only 2 teams below the Aztex in the league standings, though they do have two games in hand over Austin.

The Thunder are coming off a 3-0 upset over the Montreal Impact (match report / box score). Though given some of Montreal's craziness lately, from Impact players choking each other during that game to the head coach getting ejected the following week in Rochester, perhaps beating them doesn't prove all that much.

Austin's roster will be bolstered by another new face this week: defender Kevin Sakuda. As opposed to some of the shorter-term loaners we've seen in Aztex kit, Sakuda's contract extends to the end of the season. Per the team website:

Austin scouted Sakuda in the preseason after he was released from Seattle when the team transitioned to the MLS. Sakuda slipped through and decided to sign with Montreal.

...“From my point of view, he’s a perfect fit for us,” Heath said. “He can play defense, he can play in midfield . . . and he’s experienced at this level.”

There is also a short Q&A with Sakuda on the team site.

It is a younger group here, obviously a first-year team. This’ll be my seventh year in the league so I think I can bring a bit of experience. I was part of some successful teams in Seattle. So, I think I’ve been through it. Hopefully I can add [to the team] in whatever way.

In other roster news, goalkeeper Nick Noble is coming in on a short-term contract (till Aug. 10), and MLS loaners Erik Ustruck (Houston Dynamo) and Yohance Marshall (LA Galaxy) have returned to their teams.

The pressure on the Aztex to get this expansion season turned around continues to build. Striker & captain Noel-Williams made his return last week, and Sakuda should help to shore up the young, mistake-prone Austin defense. Though they're on the road, Minnesota is arguably the weakest team in the league so far this season. Let's hope Austin comes out strong and starts to show that they can be contenders.

The game kicks off tonight at 7:05 CT, and will be broadcast for free on USLLive.com (the video production quality of Thunder home games is usually a cut above average). If you're at Copa Aztex watching Tigres vs Cruz Azul tonight, you can watch the archived video there, too.

After this game, the Aztex will be back in town next Saturday, July 25, to host the Montreal Impact.

Labels: gameday, players, USL-1

Not good results from the weekend's road games. Not good at all: the Red & White lost 2 games and 1 goalkeeper.

On Friday night, after a long and difficult trip to the Caribbean, they lost to the Puerto Rico Islanders, 4-1 (box score).

• Aztex fall in Puerto Rico — Austin American-Statesman
  

  The Aztex came out a different team in the second half — Gallardo was replaced by Sam Reynolds, and offensive attackers Sullivan Silva and Kyle Brown came in. But the changes didn't provide an offensive spark, and Arrieta scored again on a second penalty kick following a handball in the box by Austin's A.J. Godbolt.

• Aztex suffer 4-1 loss in Puerto Rico — AustinAztex.com
  

  Deep into stoppage time, Austin midfielder Jean Alexandre, who is on his second loan from Real Salt Lake in the last couple weeks, made a highlight reel goal when he collected a pass just past the center circle, settled the ball then fired from 35 yards out. The ball sailed past several Puerto Rico defenders and goalkeeper Bill Gaudette into the top right of the net and gave the Aztex a much-needed boost heading into the half.

• Aztex keeper Miguel Gallardo seriously injures leg, out indefinitely — AustinAztex.com
  

  Gallardo suffered the injury in the 13th minute of the contest Friday night when he challenged a charging Islanders attacker on the edge of the 18-yard box. Because of his precarious position on the field, when Gallardo attempted to kick the ball away he collided violently with the Puerto Rico player.

Then on Sunday, back in the mainland U.S., they were handily beaten by Miami FC, 2-0 (box score).

• Miami FC shuts out Aztex — Austin American-Statesman
  

  The Austin Aztex continued their road troubles Sunday night, falling behind early against the Miami FC Blues in a 2-0 loss. The Aztex are winless away from home in three tries and have scored only one goal.

• Aztex continue road struggles and fall 2-0 to Miami FC — AustinAztex.com
  

  The Aztex offense failed to threaten the Miami back line throughout most of the game. Austin’s first shot on goal came deep in the second half when clever footwork from Jean Alexandre, with the Aztex on a short-term loan from Real Salt Lake, broke down the Miami defense. But an outstretched Patrick Hannigan stopped the chance and all but sealed the Blues’ home win.

The Aztex are back in Austin for three more games this week. Tuesday night at 7:30 they'll host the PDL's El Paso Patriots in the 2nd round of the U.S. Open Cup. Then it's another busy weekend: the Carolina Railhawks on Friday, for the second time this season (Austin lost 1-0 the first time), and the Rochester Rhinos for the first meeting of the season, on Sunday.

And hopefully, some positive results out of those matches.

Labels: players, postgame, USL-1

The next match is upon us already: tonight (Friday) at 7:30 at Nelson Field the Aztex will once again host the Puerto Rico Islanders. This will be the Islanders' third visit to Austin, after a pre-season exhibition and one regular season game. Both of those previous matches ended in draws: 0-0 and 1-1, respectively.

The Islanders are currently in the middle of the standings, 3 points above the Aztex, but with one more game under their belts. They come into this game after a Friday/Sunday "double header" at home against the Portland Timbers, in which they drew one, 1-1 (match report / box score) and lost one, 2-1 (match report / box score). Some Puerto Rico fans are starting to have concerns about the team's performance so far this season:

The Islanders haven’t won a USL-1 game since May 2nd, the team has 2 losses and 2 ties in the last 4 games and their only win this month was in over-time against Haitian side Tempete FC in the Caribbean Champions Cup semi-final. This weekend we had a couple of players out playing with their national squads in a Haiti-Jamaica friendly, but that’s the beauty of not having to depend on just one or two players to win – the team still should have come out with at least 4 points against Portland.

So finally, what’s wrong with the Islanders? Well, my opinion: it’s all a case of some bad mojo.

Meanwhile the Aztex are trying to get their own mojo back. Still missing Noel-Williams, Johnson & Evans, and with Sullivan Silva "doubtful" for Friday due to a bad ankle, the Aztex are bringing in a loaner from Real Salt Lake: Jean Alexandre.

Heath found help in the form of Jean Alexandre, a 5-foot-11, 190-pound midfielder who while he might be new to Austin fans, is quite familiar to Heath and the Aztex organization. That’s because Heath had his sights set on Alexandre before the season with the hopes of signing the Division II player out of Lynn University.

"We identified Jean very early. We thought he was under the [MLS’s] radar; people weren't really talking about him," Heath said. "We were disappointed because we thought we unearthed one." Real Salt Lake selected Alexandre in the first round of this year's MLS SuperDraft in February.

And although some key players are missing, there's still lots of talent on the team. Defender Lyle Adams was just named to the USL-1 Team of the Week for the second time this season, for example.

The game is Military Appreciation Night: all military personnel and their families can purchase tickets for just $5 with military ID. Also, if you bring a canned food item to donate to the Capital Area Food Bank, you'll get a $5 coupon for the June 21st game, Father’s Day, against the Rochester Rhinos.

For another cheap way to get into the game, come to the supporters' pre-match gathering at Nomad Bar starting at 5:00. Chantico's Army will hold a drawing for 2 sets of 3 tickets to the game.

Next weekend Austin will have their own Friday/Sunday double header, their first meetings with the tough Charleston Battery. For that Friday game (June 5), all fans will be seated on the far side of the field, in the east bleachers, to accommodate the Fox Soccer Channel broadcast.

Tonight's should be a good game; you won't want to miss it. The weather looks much better than last weekend, for one thing. And it will be interesting to see how well our borrowed firepower from RSL will be able to work, on such short notice. See you in the stands!

Labels: gameday, players, USL-1

• Aztex adjusting roster because of injuries, travel issues — AustinAztex.com
  

  In the last week, the Aztex have been without the services of forward Gifton Noel-Williams who pulled a hamstring and backup goalkeeper Sam Reynolds who suffered a hip injury.
  
  Now the team is without England natives Eddie Johnson and Gareth Evans, who are both home while they wait for work permits to be approved, which could take as long as four weeks as their paperwork makes it through the English system.
  
  With so many regulars absent, Aztex Head Coach Adrian Heath has turned to the Aztex U23 squad.

• Weekly radio show starring Coach Heath
  

  I can't find a good story to link to on this, but AM 1300 "The Zone" has started a new weekly show starring Aztex head coach Adrian Heath. The call-in format show is hosted by Ahmad Brooks, who's been doing commentary for the Aztex home games. The half-hour show is on Wednesdays at 6:30 PM CT. If you have as hard a time finding an AM radio as I did, you can stream it live from their website.

• Follow Up on "The Soccer Project" — Inside Minnesota Soccer
  

  Late in March I ran a story on "The Soccer Project", a documentary in progress called "Footplay". If you’ve not seen the trailer, please go to that story and watch the video I have embedded there. You won’t be disappointed as Footjoy is not about professional, youth, or college soccer. It’s about the pure joy of futbol through pick-up games played around the world.
  
  ...Yesterday I received a notice from The Soccer Project. The message brought great news. Footplay won the Melrose Mac competition! The notice went on to say,
  
  "Thanks to all of your votes, we now have two brand new editing systems and accompanying software to get the editing off the ground. We can’t thank you guys enough for continuing to be so supportive as we try to get this documentary to the finish line."
  
  "We returned last week from our final shoot in Iran with more great footage and stories, so we will be in the trenches all summer long to edit and finish the movie by September."

Labels: media, players, U-23, USL-1

• 

  Women's Professional Soccer

  Women's Professional Soccer kicks off with their first game on Sunday, with the Los Angeles Sol hosting the Washington Freedom. Maybe we'll see former Longhorn Jill Gilbeau take the field with the Freedom against the Sol's Brazilian superstar, Marta.
  
  I had more or less randomly picked the Chicago Red Stars as "my team", but I've switched to support St. Louis Athletica instead. St. Louis is such a hotbed of soccer, and they're still getting the cold shoulder from MLS (though some are making the case for a USL-1 team there). Plus, they have one of the coolest crests around, hands down. And they have a Brazilian national team star, too: Daniela.
  
  If you haven't seen the WPS commercials, they're pretty good. Here's the one featuring the Freedom's Abby Wambach.
  
  


• Aztex announce four additions — USLSoccer.com
  

  The Austin Aztex have announced the signing of four players for their inaugural USL First Division season, inking local Aztex PDL product Josh Alcala as well as Mike Callahan, Ryan Caugherty and David Sias.

  Nothing against any of the other guys, but I'm especially glad to see fan favorite from last year's U23 squad (and fellow blogger) Josh Alcala be officially added to the roster.


• USL partners with NeuLion for exclusive online video service — USLSoccer.com
  

  Powered by NeuLion, USL Live will carry all USL-1 matches in 2009, both live and on demand, that are not part of the USL Fox Soccer Channel television broadcast schedule. The upcoming season will be the first year the service will be available for free. The NeuLion platform will also increase video availability for other USL clubs in addition to providing match highlights and other special video content such as press conferences, interviews and features.
  

  The company that provided online video of USL-1 games last year went out of business, and there was doubt whether a similar service would be available this year. With just one USL-1 game per week on Fox Soccer Channel (2009 FSC schedule), that leaves very little chance to see your team on the road.
  
  This is a real masterstroke by USL (how often do we get to say that?). I've subscribed to MLS' similar service, now called Match Center, for a couple of seasons now. I originally signed up so I could see more FC Dallas matches, but with access to so many other games, I found myself having those on frequently, too. Watching other teams, seeing other action, hearing more names - it all deepened my fandom for MLS. I expect that will happen even more in this case, where the barrier to entry is even lower.
  
  Now Chantico's Army just needs to find a local pub to watch away matches, one that can hook up the computer video to a big screen...

• USL Week In Review — Inside Minnesota Soccer

  Brian Quarstad of the blog Inside Minnesota Soccer, which covers our USL-1 rivals Minnesota Thunder, among other things, has started writing a periodic roundup of news around the league. Excellent & highly recommended.

Labels: media, players, USL-1, WPS

Remember: the Aztex USL-1 tryouts are being held this weekend at St. Edward's University (map). Fans are welcome, so come get a preview of some of the talent that will make up the Aztex's first season squad.

There are morning sessions Saturday & Sunday, 9:30 to noon, and an afternoon session on Saturday , 1:30 to 4:00.

Following Saturday's afternoon session, the Chantico's Army supporters group will be meeting at Opal Divine's Penn Field location (right by St. Edward's on Congress Ave.) at 4:30. This will be the first "official" organizational meeting:

Things to chat about are officer elections, by laws, formation of crews, etc. So come down after the February 7 USL1 Tryouts, have a pint, and be a "Founding Father" of Chantico's Army!!

Hope to see you there!

Labels: players, supporters, USL-1

This is fantastic.

Pablo Martinez Pascual, a fan from the Spanish 2nd division team Elche CF, has gotten in contact with Aztex fans here in Austin. Elche is where recent Aztex signing Gifton Noel-Williams played in 2007-08, and apparently he had some loyal fans there.

Following is Pascual's message to us about Noel-Williams. First, in English, excerpted from the email he sent to Chantico's Army (available on the Noel-Williams' player page):

Dear friends at Austin Aztecs:

We’re a group of supporters from Elche Soccer Club, the last team when played Gifton Noel Williams, one of the last players arrived to your team.

Elche is an industrial city in the south east of Spain, at southern Europe, near the beaches of the Mediterranean sea. Our local team plays in the spanish second league, in a country that holds the probably hardest soccer league in Europe, together with italian and english teams.

Here, Noel Williams quickly won a place in the heart of a part of Elche’s supporters because of his permanent fight and great responsability in the field, because of his loyalty and, speciallly, because he scored the most important goal in al the regular season and, probably, in the last ten years of the history of our team: the one that let us win our worst rivals, the heatful Hercules de Alicant, at their own home.

Because of all these reasons, some of Elche’s most faithful fans created a way of love and admiration through the player, than even turned into a kind of local new religion: the noelism. He was soon wellknown as the Mesias, and we made t-shirts showing the historical moment of the goal, where you could read I believe in Noel Williams. One of these t-shirts were given to the own Noel Williams as a present, as your can see in the photograph [at top of post]

So, we would like to be in contact with the fans of his new team, as we did also do with the ones from Yeolvil Town, his last team in England, in order to talk about soccer and, specially, be informed about his sure progression in your team. We think it would be nice to show in Spain the soccer in USA through you and Noel. And, if it’s possible, we would also like to have a photograph of Noel Williams with his new team shirt’s, to show it at our internet’s forum, specially dedicated to him. We’ll be looking forward.

We would also like you to show these letter to Noel Williams, as he can know than, even the club responsibles at Elche have been horrible to him, a great part of the fans have a great memory from him and we even miss him.

A great hi’ from Spain.

The Noelist Church.

And in Spanish, as posted to the Aztex forum on BigSoccer.

'Estimados Señores:

Somos un grupo de fieles seguidores del Elche C.F. El último club de España donde jugó uno de los últimos fichajes realizados por su club, los Austin Azteks: Gifton Noel Williams.

Elche es una próspera ciudad industrial, situada en el Sureste de España (Unión Europea), a orillas del Mar Mediterráneo, y cuyo equipo juega en la 2ª división de la liga española, una de las ligas más potentes de Europa, junto a la Premier League inglesa y el Calcio italiano.

http://www.elchecf.es/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elche_CF

Noel Williams se ganó rápidamente el corazón de un numeroso grupo de aficionados por su gran entrega y profesionalidad, por su lucha y lealtad a nuestros colores, y sobre todo, por haber besado nuestro escudo después de marcar un gol que nos dio la victoria en el estadio de nuestro máximo rival, el Hércules de Alicante.

Como consecuencia de estos acontecimientos, se creó en Elche una corriente de afecto y cariño hacia el jugador,que desembocó en la creación de una nueva religión: El Noelismo. A Noel se le bautizó como 'El Mesías' y 'El Profeta', y se hicieron camisetas conmemorativas donde se podía leer 'Yo creo en Noel Williams'. Una de esas camisetas fue entregada al mismo Noel Williams como regalo. (Véase la entrega de la camiseta en la foto que adjuntamos en nuestro foro)

[photo above]

Por ello nos gustaría entablar lazos de amistad con su club, estar en contacto con ustedes, cambiar impresiones, hablar de fútbol. Sería bonito dar a conocer en España el fútbol de los Estados Unidos de América a través de ustedes y de Noel. Y, si fuera posible, que nos enviaran alguna foto dedicada de Noel con vuestra camiseta para ponerla en nuestro foro. Nos haría mucha ilusión.

Nos haria también mucha ilusion, que de algun modo, le hagan llegar a Gifton Noel Williams, este e-mail, para que conozca que en españa, sigue teniendo a muchos seguidores.

Un saludo desde España.'

fdo: Iglesia Noeliana.

Now that's something cool that you won't see in the NFL.

Labels: internacional, players, USL-1

Here's an interesting article by Greg Lalas about soccer salaries in the U.S.: "MLS getting what it pays for". Rather than wanting more millions to import marquee players from around the world, he's advocating that MLS teams pay more for "mid-tier players". And according to Lalas, that means MLS would become a better career choice for some of the players currently in the USL.

Simply put, USL teams are much better than MLS teams at scouting and finding talent. They look in places often overlooked by MLS scouts, such as Division II colleges and NAIA schools. Also, because the players are often youth coaches as well, they are dialed into the clubs and Olympic Development programs. This allows them to find and develop young talent.

If MLS is going to continue to grow and improve without always importing big-money Europeans and hit-or-miss South American and African youngsters, the clubs should start raiding the USL for their best. And they should be given the money to do it.

Labels: MLS, players, USL-1

The first excitement, as you've probably seen, was when Jamie Watson signed with FC Dallas. That was just over a week ago, but already he's traveled to Toronto for Dallas' 2-0 win over TFC (though he didn't see minutes in that game). Then this week, he played for the FC Dallas reserve team in a match against Real Salt Lake's reserves. Although Dallas lost the game 3-2, Jamie scored both the home team's goals, getting a little player revenge on RSL, his former MLS club.

The excellent FC Dallas blog 3rd Degree had this to say about Watson's Hoops debut:

Jamie Watson was terrific against RSL with two goals. He was a bit lost through about 30 minutes until he scored and then raised his game after that. Obviously his nice performance might have been motivated by a team that dropped him. Still a good start for the kid. He combined well, took some guys on. He still needs to learn a bit of the role in Schellas’ 4-4-2.

"It was nice to see Jamie pick up two goals. He’s only been with us a short week and this game means something to him cause he was dropped by Real. So I think he had some internal motivation. I thought he did very well today, but I thought he faded also at the later part." - [FCD Head Coach] Schellas Hyndman

Also via 3rd Degree, a metric ton of fan photos from that reserve game. I went to the trouble of skimming through all 242 of them to find the decent ones featuring our man Jamie: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30.

Last but not least in this Week of Watson is this nice long story on him for MLSnet.com: Home sweet home for Hoops' Watson.

Ellinger, who is Hyndman's top assistant with the Hoops, is happy to have Watson playing for him once again.

"It's positive to have an extra addition to the team with what he brings. One thing I have always liked about him as a player is that he's always had that chip on his shoulder and isn't afraid to work. He feels that he can have a positive impact in any game whether it's an assist or a goal," Ellinger said.

Update: one last bit, a post by Watson himself about this whirlwind signing on The Original Winger, Damn It’s Been Awhile.

And though he hasn't gotten quite the press Watson has, the second big pro-signing news is for the very first member of the Aztex USL-1 team: goalkeeper extraordinaire Miguel Gallardo. Gallardo was also named by United Soccer Leagues this week as the PDL Goalkeeper of the Year, no real surprise given that he had the best GAA and most shutouts league-wide. It's hard to imagine a better nucleus around which to build next year's top-flight team.

Congratulations to Jamie, and welcome Miguel! Now, who's next?

Labels: alumni, MLS, players, U-23, USL-1

Some more nice Aztex coverage to make sure everyone knows about: a nice profile of midfielder A.J. Godbolt in the free Capital City Sports Report paper. Google Alerts found the editorial on their site: A.J. Godbolt and the Austin Aztex. The editor says:

I have to admit, months ago when I first learned of the new Austin Aztex, I was skeptical. I've seen other "professional" soccer teams come and go in this town. In fact, we've covered a couple of them in our pages. I figured the Aztex wouldn't be any different.

I can happily admit, I was dead wrong.

The Aztex are averaging around 1,500 fans per game this season and this past Sunday they pulled in an impressive 4,700-plus crowd against one of the top Mexican team's, UANL Tigres. I know two other professional franchises in town that can only dream of pulling in those kinds of numbers.

The story on A.J. is in their current issue: A.J. Godbolt - Back Home (PDF).

“It has been great taking a more offensive role this season because nothing really compares to scoring a goal. In college it was my job and responsibility to set up my teammates for goals from the flank. It had been since high school that I had been able to be a true goal scorer and attack the way I wanted to,” Godbolt said. “I’m more of an aggressive goal scorer by nature so I have definitely enjoyed getting back into that role over the course of this season.”

Labels: media, players, U-23

It's been kind of slow for the Aztex lately, news-wise. To tide you over until we hear something about the U23 roster, here are a few miscellaneous tidbits (apologies to readers who keep up on BigSoccer's Aztex forum, as neither of these will be news to you).

First, Playing Through, a nice write-up in the Austin Chronicle about local soccer hopefuls Marcelino Uriarte & Wes Allen:

It's a tale of two center midfielders.

Both are smart and versatile. Either would be a cornerstone of the Austin Aztex's Premier Development League team, a squad starting up from scratch a few weeks before the 2008 season opener on May 3 (home opener May 10 vs. Houston Leones, 7:30pm, at Dragon Stadium in Round Rock).

Second, here's a BBC Radio interview with Aztex owner Phil Rawlins. You can listen to the full, hour-long show in original RealAudio format, or just the 7 minutes of Phil's interview in MP3 format (which occurs about 42 minutes in to the full show). Apparently Phil, along with Head Coach Adrian Heath and USL President Francisco Marcos, was preparing for a Stoke City fan meeting of some kind, to discuss all things Aztex.

Phil (& Adrian, presumably) will also be at Brittania Stadium tomorrow night to watch Stoke beat Crystal Palace, the lucky dogs. I'll post an update to the Championship League table after the game, but I'd like to thank Bristol City for their 0-2 loss to Southampton yesterday. Keep up the good work, lads!

Labels: coaches, media, players, Stoke City, U-23

Another beautiful weekend for the second half of the U-23 tryouts at St. Edward's, and lots of players out to take advantage of it. There were reportedly 160 players trying out, separate from the 100+ that were out last weekend. That includes lots of local folks, as well as applicants from as far away as Toronto. The Aztex Pix Flickr group has more pictures of the day, including a few (posted by "grayfamilybuda") with good commentary.

The large turnout was thought to have been boosted by a Univision segment on the tryouts that aired mid-week. And there was additional press coverage this weekend: a photographer from Spanish-language weekly El Mundo, and a camera from News 8 Austin:



That video is now also available on News 8 Austin's site, along with a story drawn from the Aztex's report on last weekend's tryout (including an incorrect mention of "next weekend’s tryouts").

According to team sources, we should be getting some good announcements out of the front office soon. The word is that the stadium location has been decided, and will be announced as soon as all the agreements are finalized, possibly this week.

Labels: media, players, U-23

I stopped by day 2 of this weekend's U-23 tryouts today. The weather was beautiful. I'm no scout, but even I could see there was quite a range of skill on display. There were three separate scrimmages going on at the same time, so I guess that means there were about 66 hopefuls in attendance. The Aztex expect about that many more for next weekend's tryouts (Mar. 15 & 16), too, so I'm sure we'll get a good strong team out of all these guys.

I'm also no photographer, but I took a few snapshots. You can see them in the new Flickr account I set up. I've also started setting up a Flickr group, so that others can share their amateur (or pro!) Aztex photos. (Note, as of this posting, no pictures are showing up in the group, apparently because Flickr hasn't completed their review process of my account yet.)

Speaking of the tryouts, there's a nice interview with U-23 Head Coach Wolfgang Suhnholz on the Aztex website (start on the main page; then read the rest):

Question: Will the Aztex Stoke connection mean a “British style of play?”

Suhnholz: There no longer is a British style, or German style, or Mexican style. That has all changed. Soccer is a global sport. You play with the players you have and what they can bring to the table. I am a big believer that a good soccer player can play with anybody and any style.

Soccer has changed. The bottom line is that you want to put a good winning product on the field. I worked with European, Hispanic, African players, people from all over the world. Even the English don’t play old English soccer anymore. Look at Adrian Heath who has played in the UK and in Spain. He will take the best from everything and play the style that will win. That’s what we intend to do.

Labels: coaches, players, U-23

Via a post by 'Liquidator' on the BigSoccer forums, this news on the Aztex site: Meeting With Austin Area Players.


It doesn't sound like the team is going to rely solely on their partnership with Stoke City:

Rawlins gave a presentation with graphics and spelled out the player opportunities that exists with the Aztex alliances. He also stressed plans to forge an alliance with a professional club in Mexico.

There were also good -- no, great -- words about their approach to finding a home pitch for the team. Er, make that, home pitches.

Rawlins also discussed stadium choices, saying that the club is looking for the best match of the team and season with a stadium. He said the U23 season and the Aztex First Division professional season may be played in separate stadiums to accomodate the specific needs of those teams. "We probably don’t want to put the U23 in a 20,000 seat stadium," he said. He explained that the club will be looking for the best stadium match for each season in order to maximize the crowd experience at the events. Rawlins explained that the organization is in contract negotiations that will soon result in an announcement of stadium choice. "Believe me, it will be for the entire season," he added.

As other BigSoccer folks noted, the "20,000 seat stadium" would just about have to be UT's Myers Stadium. The consensus on that forum seems to be that UT has never, would never and will never let anyone but UT teams use their facilities, but we shall see. In any case, I'm happy to see they're looking for a permanent home, at least for the duration of the season.

The team has also gotten a good bit of interest in their open coaching spots, receiving 30 applications for Head Coach, and almost 20 for Assistant. I thought this last bit about the U-23 Head Coach position was pretty interesting:

Rawlins told the local players that the head coach in the U23 season will be the same Head Coach that will direct the First Division season in 2009.

Labels: coaches, players, stadium