The Aztexan

Saturday, August 29, will see the Austin Aztex back home again at Nelson Field. The 7:30 game, against the Miami FC Blues, will be their next-to-last home game, and their last weekend game, of the season (the very last game will be on Monday, Sept. 7).

Miami stumbles into town this weekend in extraordinary shape. Though they recently signed "Brazilian hero" Junior Baiano, and they're just 6 points down the table from the last playoff slot, they've had a couple of serious setbacks recently.

First was a midweek loss to the Carolina Railhawks on Wednesday night. Not just any loss, but the worst beating in league history¹: a 9-0 drubbing (match report / box score / video highlights). [Update: not the worst in league history after all; see footnote below.] At one point the Railhawks let the U12 team from halftime take the field, and they scored twice! Okay, that's just a joke, but this was a collapse on a scale rarely seen in professional soccer anywhere in the world. The loss caps a 7-game winless streak for the Blues that's seen them shut out 4 times and dropped their goal differential by 20.

As if that weren't enough to put a cloud over a team, there are reports in the wake of yesterday's sale of USL that Miami owners Traffic Sports may pull the plug on the whole franchise:

Traffic had considered folding the club before this season but gave it a reprieve, with certain stipulations: Improve the performance on the field and with attendance.

At 7-13-4 and playing in front of just a few hundred fans a game, neither benchmarks have been met. Now, with the ownership bid collapsing, it is unclear what level of commitment the Brazilian soccer company will have in South Florida.

The Aztex, meanwhile, are looking for some redemption for the end of the season. They're already started rebuilding for next season's campaign, signing 2 new players this week: Jamie Watson and Salif Diao-Jimenez.

Defender Salif Diao-Jimenez joins the Aztex on a two-year contract fresh from Stoke City’s Youth Academy. The 19-year-old is a product of the Stoke City Academy where he spent the last three years playing for the Stoke U-19 and reserve teams. Diao-Jimenez is a versatile player who can play either at fullback or midfield and was highly rated by the Stoke coaching staff. He is originally from Senegal but has dual Dutch citizenship.

Watson returns to Austin after a very successful season with the Wilmington Hammerheads of USL-2, in which Watson was the league's top scorer (12 goals and 6 assists) and helped the Hammerheads win the USL-2 Championship. For his efforts, he was named to the USL-2 All-League Team.

I'm sure we'll see Jamie get some minutes this weekend, though Salif was just stepping off the plane on Thursday, so he may be less likely to play.

As usual, the place for pre-match refreshments is Nomad Bar, just off Cameron Rd. The regulars from Chantico's Army will be joined by the fine folks of the Free Beer Movement, hosting their second Aztex match day. If you're a soccer newbie, maybe a little curious to see what all the fuss is about, now is the time to check it out. You'll get an evening of fine football and a free beer or five, compliments of FBM. These pre-game festivities will get going around 4:00 (FBM) or 5:00 (Chantico's Army).

Kickoff will be at 7:30 on Saturday; we should be in for a good show. Come on out and cheer your Aztex on over this final leg of their inaugural season. Come on you Aztex!

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¹ I determined this after examining historical results back to 2003. 2007 results are not available; if anyone has access to those, I'd love to see them.

Update: I stand corrected; Miami's 9-0 loss was not the worst in league history. Per the Railhawks Report, there was a worse defeat in 1998 (Seattle over California 10-0 on June 19).

Labels: gameday, rivals, USL-1

Fellow USL-1 blogger Brian Quarstad of Inside Minnesota Soccer continues his work to fill the void in USL media coverage.

In addition to writing the weekly USL review that I've mentioned previously, Brian also came up with the idea to put together a league-wide, team-by-team season preview. Brian asked bloggers from around the league, including yours truly, to submit write-ups on their teams. Now he has put it all together, along with help from Major League Soccer Talk's Kartik Krishnaiyer to fill in some gaps.

Enjoy now and bookmark for reference later in the season: 2009 United Soccer League-1 Preview.

Labels: rivals, USL-1

It's been a couple of months since we met the first of the PDL expansion teams the Aztex U23s will be playing this year: Midland's West Texas United, aka The Sockers. Now let's turn our attention south, and I mean really south; about as far south as you can get in Texas. There we'll meet the other 2009 PDL expansion team, rounding out the Mid South Division as an all-Texas division: the Rio Grande Valley Bravos.

The team was announced on November 14.

[Director of Business Development Miguel] Puente indicated that the new RGV franchise will look to the tremendous talent that exists locally to build the foundation of the team, and that the organization will also work with the local academies and soccer leagues to implement a reserve youth system.

Less than a month later, the club unveiled their name, logo and new technical director. The colors are good, and the name is excellent (especially compared to the Fockers, er, Sockers).

Prior to Moreira's presentation, the RGV announced that the club will be named RGV Bravos F.C. and unveiled the club’s badge, which has a traditional look and whose theme is representative of the area’s Mexican heritage. The team colors will be blue and gold.

... [Ismael Moreira Braga] played for legendary Brazilian clubs Botafogo, Flamengo and Santos during the 1960's and 70's. In addition, the defender from Rio de Janeiro was selected to the Brazilian National Team on various occasions from 1967–70. ... During his playing career, Moreira played with and against legendary footballers Pelé, Zico, Jairzinho, Gérson, Sebastiao Leonidas, Zé Carlos and Paulo César.

According to the team's website, they will be playing their home games at Valley View High School's Tiger Stadium, in Hidalgo-Pharr, TX (a 5.5 hour drive from Austin).

The new team has been busy with tryouts, on both the U.S. side and the Mexican side of the border.

Over 150 players attended the RGV Bravos FC open tryout held Saturday, February 14 at Reynosa’s Unidad Deportiva Solidaridad, where the USL Premier Development League first-year club wrapped up the first phase of ... putting together the Valley's first professional soccer team.

Mexican soccer players from Reynosa and around the Mexican Republic arrived at the sports complex several hours before the official 9:00 AM registration time. All players were given an opportunity to be observed in game situations by "Moreira" and Assistant Coach Javier "El Gato" Navarrete.

"It was great to see how well the residents of Reynosa responded to the Bravos," said Bravos FC General Manager Miguel Puente. "The true meaning of 'Passion Without Borders' was manifested through hundreds of people waiting in line for the opportunity to showcase their talent."

The border city’s government assisted in coordinating the open tryout in conjunction with Bravos FC.

The seventh PDL squad in Texas, and third on the border: welcome to the league, Bravos!

Just think, some of this year's Bravos (and Heat, Leones, Patriots, etc.) players may be in a good position next year to join the San Antonio USL-1 team that people are starting to talk about...

Labels: rivals, U-23

The USL-1 season is fast approaching, and I have a feeling the pace of news & announcements is just getting going. While there's a breather, let's take a quick look at our fellow USL-1 expansion team: the Cleveland City Stars.

The team's "promotion" from USL-2 to USL-1 was announced on Dec. 5:

"We are delighted to be the latest addition to the USL First Division for the 2009 season," said Cleveland City Stars General Manager Mark Geissbauer. "After winning the USL-2 Championship last year and the success of our franchise on and off the field, this was the most logical decision to make. We know that this is going to be a big step for our still fairly young franchise, but we are looking forward to the challenge of competing at the highest level in the USL system and bringing the USL-1 into a flourishing market like Cleveland."

I put the word "promotion" in sarcastic quotes because really, it's not one. Not in the way most of the soccer world means it. True, they were the USL-2 champions last year, so if there were a system of promotion & relegation in this country (I wish!), then sure, they would have been promoted. But there's not, so they weren't.

What happened is that the Atlanta Silverbacks folded, and the league scrambled to find a team that would step up and keep USL-1 from contracting. For proof that the Cleveland promotion wasn't long in the works, look no further than the move of Martin Rennie, their award- and championship-winning young coach to the Carolina Railhawks less than a month before the USL-1 announcement. Meanwhile, they have yet to name their own replacement head coach, though I'm sure that's imminent.

Not that the conditions of this 3-year old team switching league tiers matter all that much. I give a hearty welcome to our opponents from Cleveland, aka "The Mistake On The Lake" (I don't make 'em up, I just repeat 'em. I'm from Ohio, it's okay).

Their supporters' group is called the Green Army. They have a blog, which has been quiet since early December, and a discussion forum, which looks more active.

The ownership of the Stars club is unique: it's actually a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, the Cleveland Soccer Foundation. Their slogan is, "Serving the City & Changing the World". In addition to the kind of community outreach you might expect, they also have what might be the most exotic partner team around: the Nairobi City Stars, of the Kenyan Premier League.

They played last season at Cleveland State University's Krenzler Soccer Field, though I think they'll be moving to a new home — also not yet announced — this season.

And though I'm not all that big on mascots, theirs does have a pretty clever name: Crocodinho.

To wrap up, here's an excellent video montage of their USL-2 Championship win over the Charlotte Eagles last year:



Fantastic! Almost makes me regret the Mistake-on-the-Lake comment. Almost.

Labels: rivals, USL-1

Hot on the heels of my last post about PDL expansion team West Texas United, the team has announced their name, mascot and a major sponsor.

The good news is, the sponsor doesn't sound too bad.

West Texas National Bank was chartered in 2000, the result of the merger of three independent banks. Headquartered in Midland, the bank’s corporate "roots" in the community date back to 1904.

In addition to being the "title" sponsor, the West Texas National Bank partnership also includes WTNB patches on the uniforms, Youth Jersey Night sponsorship at the home opener, halftime contests at home games, and more.

The name, on the other hand, doesn't do much for me.

After announcing the birth of the franchise in September, a "name the team" contest was held, in conjunction with the Midland Reporter-Telegram. It turns out the contest will have two winners, as the name "Sockers" is actually a combination of two entries.

"The name 'SockHounds' was suggested, a direct tie-in to the RockHounds baseball club," Hoppel said. "We also like Coyotes for a number of reasons, especially as it relates to a team logo and potential mascot. So, the name 'Sockers' is really a hybrid. It’s also unique, as no other minor or major league team is using the name."

Okay, at least they didn't use "SockHounds"; that would have been even worse. But using a misspelling of the name of the sport itself? Really?

Since they'll be our rivals, I guess I should be glad they have an easy name to make fun of. But in my opinion, they should have just left it at "West Texas United", and had the coyote as mascot and nickname (a la The Potters, Hoops, Orange Crush, etc.).

Labels: rivals, U-23

Time to start taking a closer look at other expansion teams in the Aztex universe. Let's start in the PDL, with the first new team to join the Aztex U23s in the Mid South Division: Midland's West Texas United.

The team was announced on Sept. 15.

United Soccer Leagues announced Monday that the ownership of the Midland RockHounds minor league baseball team unveiled plans to bring a new level of soccer to West Texas with a Premier Development League franchise. The team will begin play in spring of 2009 at Grande Communications Stadium next door to the home of the ‘Hounds at the Scharbauer Sports Complex.

The full name of the team is yet to be announced, and will be the result of a name-the-team contest (I think leaving it at just "West Texas United" would be cool, but maybe modern day sports marketing forbids such subtlety).

The "primary" name for the new soccer team is derived from the largest youth club soccer organization in the Permian Basin: West Texas United Soccer Club.

Utilizing the name for the new PDL team was a joint decision. The PDL team is not "taking over" the youth programs. Instead, the two will work jointly to create and advance the best possible atmosphere for the sport of soccer in the Permian Basin.

An interesting aspect of this organization is their existing sports-business experience: they also own the minor league baseball team Midland Rockhounds. The Rockhounds play in the Double-A "Texas League" (not in the higher level Triple-A league the Round Rock Express play in).

The club will be operated by RockHounds co-owners Miles Prentice and Bob Richmond and staffed by the existing baseball front office. RockHounds general manager Monty Hoppel says that, although the sports share the same playing season (spring / summer), the two will make an outstanding combination.

“We think the soccer team will compliment the RockHounds season, rather than compete with it,” Hoppel said. “The (eight) soccer home dates will fall when the RockHounds are on the road so, really, we have the best of both worlds.”

The Rockhounds management seem to know what they're doing on the baseball side of things; the team was recognized as the top minor league baseball franchise in the nation in 2007. Time will tell if they can run a soccer team as well.

The new club's experience doesn't stop there. They've also named Jesus Enriquez as head coach.

The native of Delicias, Chihuahua, Mexico brings a decade of coaching experience to the new franchise, nine of those seasons coming with the El Paso Patriots of the USL. Enriquez served as an assistant coach with the club from 1998-2002, and was named head coach in 2003, guiding the Patriots to a pair of division titles in four seasons. His 2005 team reached the PDL championship game, falling in overtime (6-5 on penalty kicks after a 0-0 draw in regulation time) in the title game.

...Enriquez’ playing career included two stints with the Patriots in El Paso (1991-94 and 1997), twice being named the team’s captain. He also played for USL clubs in El Paso (the Gallos) and Phoenix, as well as the Mexican First Division, and was a member of the 1985-86 Mexican University National Team which competed in the World University Games in Kobe, Japan.

One aspect of the new Midland team that was known from day one — earlier, really — was where they would play. They'll be at Grande Communications Stadium, the football-field half of the Scharbauer Sports Complex (Citibank Ballpark being the baseball-field half). Here's the Google Maps satellite view. It looks like a beautiful facility, though it's clearly built for throwball, and the 15,000 seats might look pretty empty for PDL games.

A hearty welcome to our new Mid South rivals. I imagine El Paso is happy to have a team practically next door (only 4 hours away; that's "next door" in west Texas terms, right?) In future posts we'll take a look at the newly-promoted USL-1 side Cleveland City Stars and the other Texas PDL expansion team, the Rio Grande Valley Bravos.

Labels: rivals, U-23, USL-1

The Silverbacks website says "Silverbacks Men Sit Out 2009 Season." But given what a struggle it is to build and keep momentum in the world of pro sports, I bet that this is the end of this USL-1 team in Atlanta. Imagine if they were to try to start back up again in 2010, how many fans they'd have lost, due to this "sitting out" season.

The Atlanta Silverbacks announced today that the Atlanta Silverbacks Men’s professional team will take the 2009 season off.

Due to the state of the economy and the potential of an MLS team coming to town, the men’s pro team has decided to sit the year out while the Silverbacks assess the landscape.

I'm fully in blogger commentary mode here (i.e., I know not of what I speak but I'm not letting that stop me). But I'll go on to claim that "the potential of an MLS team coming to town" is a red herring. As I say, I'm not in the loop on what bids have been made or are going to be made, but I haven't seen anywhere that Atlanta is at the top of anyone's MLS expansion list.

Besides, why would that possibility keep the USL-1 side from playing next year? The only reason I can think of is that they're losing money each season, and are afraid they'll be run out of town in the future, after they've become profitable. But we know for sure that MLS couldn't come to Atlanta until 2011 at the soonest (Seattle & Philadelphia announced for the next 2 years), so if that's the rationale, then their profitability outlook must be pretty bleak for several years out.

In any case, this can't be seen as anything but bad news for USL-1. Now, rather than remaining the same size next year when the Aztex join the league (effectively replacing Seattle), it will contract by one.

Labels: MLS, rivals, USL-1

• Aztex open new offices, unveil new logo — AustinAztex.com
  

  The ceremony concluded with the Aztex unveiling the team’s new logo/crest. The redesign was a collaborative effort intended to transition the organization from it first season in the PDL to the 2009 campaign, which will feature a full professional team competing in the USL-First Division against teams from around the nation including Miami, Portland, Montreal, and Atlanta.

  I like the logo a lot, though I am a little confused about the exact colors. The image on that page is considerably darker, almost maroon, compared to the copy I received by email from the team, which I can only call "bright red".
  Well, see for yourself:
  


• USL Soccer coming to Valley — KGBT.com
  

  After four decades of organized soccer, the Rio Grande Valley was awarded a professional soccer franchise by the United Soccer Leagues (USL).
  
  The historic RGV franchise will participate in the Premier Development League (PDL) of the USL in the 2009 season.



• Carling Cup: Stoke City 2-0 Rotherham — Stoke City FC

  City are into the Quarter Finals of the Carling Cup for the first time in almost 30-years after a comfortable 2-0 victory over League Two side Rotherham United.

  Stoke advance out of the fourth round along with Arsenal, Blackburn Rovers, Burnley (who upset Chelsea on PKs today), Derby County, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur & Watford. The exact match-ups for the fifth-round, to be played in December, will be drawn this Saturday, Nov. 15.

Labels: rivals, Stoke City, U-23

What a night! The first-ever Austin Aztex home game was Saturday night, and if you missed it, you really missed something. The crowd was good, the team was good, the play was good; heck, even the result was good! (Austin soundly defeated the Houston Leones 2-0.) Not too bad a start for an expansion side.

Being brand-new to soccer in Austin, I have the opposite background as the author of this excellent post-game report:

I won't pretend to be a neutral observer for the home debut of the Austin Aztex U-23 squad. I didn't want to ask for media credentials because I wanted to sit in the stands and gauge the reaction of the crowd - if there was going to be a crowd. I wanted to do this because I want so much to see the Aztex succeed and enjoy a successful, professional soccer organization in Austin. I've been going to the Austin pro/semi-pro games since the days of the Soccadilloes and the Austin Thunder. I bemoaned the disaster that was the Austin Lightning. I predicted the scam that was the Austin Posse.

Nevertheless, I was also anxious to see what kind of crowd would turn out. Turns out, my worries were unfounded. The count from the Aztex front office is "nearly 1,500", which is fantastic. All in all, a great start for a season — and a team — that's just going to get bigger & better!

Hope to see you at Saturday's match against DFW Tornados!

Labels: gameday, rivals, U-23

If you're following the Austin Aztex at all, you probably know their season officially starts Saturday. The first-ever game of the Austin Aztex is an away game, against the El Paso Patriots.

As noted in this fine write-up in the Chronicle, El Paso finished in 2nd place in the Mid South Division last year, so they may be a tough opening opponent.

Although I would have loved to make the 16-hour round-trip drive to El Paso, I'm afraid I'm going to have to miss seeing this auspicious moment in person. However, there is a possibility that some loyal Aztex supporters will manage to get an Internet video stream of the game hooked up to a TV at Mother Egan's on Saturday night.

Having that hook-up is not a certainty. In fact, having a video stream of the game at all is not a certainty. However, Mother Egan's having plenty of ice-cold Harp lager is a certainty. Hope to see you there!

Labels: rivals, U-23

Finally, some signs of life from our soon-to-be PDL arch-rivals, the Houston Leones, in the form of two articles from the Houston Chronicle.

The first is a fairly brief blurb covering the basic facts of the new team and the league itself, though it does have a little info on some of the players: Leones ready to roam pitch in Houston

Adhering to league rules, the team is made up of mostly college-age players, many of whom attend local schools, including the University of St. Thomas, Houston, Houston Baptist and San Jacinto College. . .

The team also boasts developmental players from Mexican teams UANL Tigres (two) and Cruz Azul (four), the latter with whom the Leones have a partnership.

The Leones will be coached by Carlos Ayala, who previously coached Cruz Azul's team in First Division A, Mexico's equivalent of a second division.

The second is a more in-depth piece on the owner, Juan Carlos Hernández: There's nothing amateur about Hernandez's venture. At least there were never any anguished decisions about where they would play, as Hernandez owns Soccer World Center, a 17-acre private soccer park in Richmond (southwest of Houston).

Proof [of Hernandez' seriousness], in the way of a brand-new 4,500-capacity stadium, is as hard as the white-coated concrete it is made of. A simple yet efficient facility consisting of two long bleacher structures along the sidelines that rise some 25-30 feet, a small but cozy press box (complete with A/C), and a no-frills scoreboard, sound system and lighting. The field is getting greener and should be in good shape come May 3, when the Leones host the New Orleans Shell Shockers.

The Leones will be one of only five PDL teams, out of the more than 60 this season, to own their stadium.

Sounds like a nice outfit. I can't wait for the Aztex to start beating them!

Labels: rivals, stadium, U-23

From the Houston Dynamo fan blog Nutmegged, we have a nice introduction to another brand-new Texas soccer team, and what may well be the Aztex U23 team's main rival in the PDL: Holy Leones! USL PDL roaring into town.

So who, are the Leones? According to the team's Wikipedia page, the team was formed last year by local real estate and construction bigwig Juan Carlos Hernandez, whose son Juan Carlos Jr., was a goalkeeper in the Cruz Azul youth development teams. The USL's page on the team has some wonderful up by the bootstraps background info on Hernandez, which is all very nice.

Labels: rivals, U-23