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After
more than a quarter of a century of operation, the Williamsburg Soccer
Club, a non-profit soccer club dedicated to the promotion of soccer,
education and youth development, joined the United Soccer Leagues (USL)
in 2001 when it was awarded a Premier Development League franchise. The
club’s primary purpose in obtaining a PDL affiliation was to provide
an additional opportunity to develop our local player’s soccer talents
to the maximum extent possible.
Kevin Darcy, Virginia Legacy Soccer Club’s Director of Coaching, will head the coaching
staff of the PDL Virginia “Legacy”. Assisting him will be club Executive Director Jeff Dominguez, William and Mary coaching legend Al Albert, club Technical Director Johnny Kamaora as well as Legacy Director of Youth Development Bobby
O'Brien. “Our player pool will rely predominantly on current and former Legacy Soccer Club
players, top collegiate talent as well as a handful of former professional players to enhance the level of play." Kevin Darcy
By
offering a United Soccer League affiliated PDL team as its flagship
team, the Virginia Legacy Soccer Club has uniquely distinguished itself
from almost all other youth soccer clubs in Virginia while providing the
Williamsburg area with its first community based sports venue in a
national league.
USL's
Premier
Development League
The top U23 men’s amateur league in North
America lives in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the
development ground for elite players. The 2006 campaign features a
59-team format within four conferences, consisting of 16 regular season
matches, 8 home and 8 away. The schedule is augmented by participation
in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, and various exhibitions. Players have
the ability to compete in the PDL throughout the summer months in a
professionalized setting while maintaining their collegiate eligibility.
The league is the proving ground for players that aspire to reach the
highest-levels of the game, while providing affordable family
entertainment within their city. The league consists of over 60 teams nationwide
with the Virginia Legacy participating in the Mid- Atlantic Division along with teams from Richmond, West Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia Beach and Fredericksburg. www.pdl.uslsoccer.com
2007 PDL Outlook
United Soccer Leagues announced the official alignment for the 2007 Premier Development League season. Including six new teams, the alignment is comprised of 63 teams. The league’s playoff format was also announced.
New franchises to the Premier Development League are the Springfield Demize, Mississippi Brilla, Lancaster Rattlers, San Jose Frogs, Fredericksburg Gunners and Ventura County Fusion along with new teams in Baton Rouge (LA), Raleigh (NC) and Spokane (WA) yet to be formally introduced as well as the Long Island Rough Riders and Toronto Lynx, formerly of the USL Second Division and USL First Division, respectively.
The divisional alignment was changed to a consistent two-division format for each of the four conferences for the 2007 season, eliminating the three-division alignment that previously existed in the Eastern and Southern Conferences.
Following the same playoff format as years prior, four teams will meet in a conference playoff tournament in the first week following the season with the top two representing each division. Two semifinal matches will be held the following week with the PDL Championship on the third week of the postseason.
The 504-game USL Premier Development League season opens April 28 in California where the Fresno Fuego play host to the Bakersfield Brigade and the Lancaster Rattlers host the Ventura County Fusion in a battle of expansion clubs.
The season gets underway in earnest the following weekend with 12 matches. Among them are expansion sides Mississippi Brilla, Springfield Demize, San Jose Frogs and Baton Rouge.
The champion Michigan Bucks begin defense of their title May 16 when they host the West Michigan Edge. The Carolina Dynamo and Cape Cod Crusaders will look to continue their regular season streaks from last year’s unbeaten campaigns when they both open their season on the road May 12.
The season comes to a close July 22 with eight matches.
2006
PDL Preview
While
some regions have seen a clubs establish a stranglehold on the
postseason berths over recent years, others are wide open, making
preseason championship prognostications virtually impossible.
The
Central Conference has historically been the most consistent in its
postseason representation as the Chicago Fire Premier, Michigan Bucks,
Boulder Rapids Reserve and Des Moines Menace have been perennial powers
with a total of five championship appearances, including the last four.
The
Menace, who have been in the playoffs four of the last five years and
went unbeaten in 2002, became the first, however, to win a championship
for the region since the repeat of the Chicago Sockers in 2000.
Meanwhile, the Boulder Rapids Reserve had been to two finals as they
made the playoffs in three of the last four years. Michigan has been a
premier club since their launch in 1996, missing the playoffs just once
and reaching the 2000 final. The Fire Premier have never missed the
postseason in five years, reaching the final in 2003 and going unbeaten
in 2004.
Outsiders
looking to crash the party are likely hoping for Chicago to finally have
an off year in the Great Lakes Division after seeing two dozen players
drafted by Major League Soccer the past two years and the Menace to
struggle in the Heartland Division without championship MVP goalkeeper
Andy Gruenebaum in goal.
The
Eastern Conference will have a slight shake-up with the new
three-division alignment, but the Ocean City Barons and two-time
champion Cape Cod Crusaders will be the frontrunners to take their
divisions. The Crusaders are on a four-year postseason run that began
with their back-to-back titles and the Barons have dominated the past
two seasons with an unbeaten 2004 campaign and just two losses in 2005.
After three years at the top, the Williamsburg Legacy gave way last year
to the former professional club Carolina Dynamo, who have not missed the
playoffs at any level for nine straight years. The Dynamo, however, are
now part of the newly-aligned Southern Conference where they will likely
be the favorites to take the South Atlantic Division, leaving the Mid
Atlantic wide open aside from the Richmond Kickers Future, who were
unbeaten last season going into the last weekend of action.
The
most wide open conference is without question the Southern, where the El
Paso Patriots have become the dominant side after reaching the playoffs
both seasons since moving down from the USL First Division, reaching the
final last year. El Paso has suffered just three losses both years and
finished first in scoring last year after being second the year before.
Also
in a new three-division alignment like the Eastern Conference, the
Southern’s wild card will be a wide open race while the Southeast
could go to anyone in the established trio of the Bradenton Academics,
Cocoa Expos and 2004 league champion Central Florida Kraze.
The
Western Conference on the other hand, has seen a handful of teams step
to the forefront over the past few years with a trio taking center
stage. Orange County Blue Star has become the annual favorite, reaching
the playoffs four of their five seasons and winning the regular season
title last year. The Fresno Fuego have been in the playoffs two of their
three seasons while the Southern California Seahorses have been in the
top three in the Southwest since joining the league in 2001. The Cascade
Surge has represented the Northwest, which has added the Utah pair of
the BYU Cougars and first-year Ogden Outlaws, the last four years.
Changes in the Northwest combined with the new Southwest additions of
the Los Angeles Storm, San Fernando Valley Quakes and former USL power
San Francisco Seals could throw a wrench into the usual outcomes.
Some Recent History
2005… NEW NAMES, GOLDEN MOMENTS
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The 2005 season marked the beginning of
the re-branded USL First and Second Division names for USL’s
professional leagues, but at the close of the year, it was some familiar
names adding more hardware to their trophy case. Veteran clubs in the
amateur PDL and W-League claimed their first titles. In a year that saw
the elimination of golden goal overtime, their was an abundance of
golden moments as all three senior men’s leagues saw their
championships decided via penalties in addition to many other fantastic
finishes.
Despite finishing with the fewest wins
(11-6-11) in the team’s 12-year history, the Sounders surprised many
in the playoffs with a run sparked by the addition of Cuban defector
Maykel Galindo. Seeded fourth, the Sounders blanked rival Portland 3-0
on aggregate to advance to the semifinals, where they avenged a loss to
the Montreal Impact from the championship match the previous year.
Seattle played the Impact to a draw in the first leg and won at Montreal
2-1 to advance to the championship. In the final, the Sounders downed
the Richmond Kickers in penalties 4-3 after a 1-1 draw to claim their
third USL-1 title.
The Charlotte Eagles, also a 2004
finalist, also claimed another title by winning their second USL Second
Division championship. Although Jacob Coggins led the league again in
scoring, it was a neck-and-neck race with the Western Mass Pioneers
during the season. At the close of the season, it was a group of four
that also included the second-year Harrisburg City Islanders and 2003
champ Wilmington Hammerheads that pulled away from the pack. Harrisburg
and Wilmington took leads in their first legs of the series against
Charlotte and Western Mass, but the top seeds proved too much in the
return legs. Charlotte, who had lost in penalties at home the year
before, downed the top-seeded and host Pioneers in a thrilling final via
penalties 5-4 after a 2-2 draw.
The Des Moines Menace and New Jersey
Wildcats finally broke through to claim championships in the PDL and
W-League.
The Menace, a perennial power, reached
the semifinals for the fourth time and finally got through to the final,
where they dashed the hopes of the host El Paso Patriots in front of
nearly 7,000. A scoreless affair was decided in seven rounds of
penalties 6-5.
The Wildcats claimed a long-awaited title
after going unbeaten through the 2004 season and playoffs only to suffer
heartbreak in penalties to the Vancouver Whitecaps. New Jersey nearly
repeated the feat only to be handed their first loss in two years by the
Ottawa Fury in the season finale. The Wildcats went on to claim revenge
against Vancouver in the semifinals 2-1 and Ottawa 3-0 in the final to
win their first championship.
Going unbeaten and winning a championship
in the Super Y-League is not an easy task, but four clubs accomplished
the feat in 2005. Match Fit Academy, the only club to win two SYL
titles, saw their U14 (15-0-1 overall) and U17 (14-0-3) Girls teams go
unbeaten as did the DeAnza SC U14 Boys (14-0-2) and Michigan Wolves U13
Boys, the only team to finish perfect at 15-0-0. Michigan’s
performance was also highlighted by a absolutely perfect campaign at the
Super Y-League North American Finals in which they did not allow a goal
in their five matches, finishing 19-0 on aggregate. The MetroStars (now
Red Bull New York) won the organization’s first championship in the
U16 Boys age bracket after experiencing heartbreak earlier in the year
at the U19 level, where they finished unbeaten for the year, but fell in
penalties in the championship game to HC United.
About
United Soccer Leagues (USL)
As
United Soccer Leagues celebrates its 20th year, soccer at all levels
continues to grow in the U.S., Canada, and Caribbean. The largest
organization of elite-level soccer leagues in North America, United
Soccer Leagues is dedicated to growing the sport at the grassroots level
in every community. The USL First Division and Second Division (North
American men’s professional soccer), the USL Premier Development
League (U23 North American men’s amateur), the USL W-League (North
American women’s amateur), the USL Super-20 League (U20 North American
men’s and women’s amateur) and the USL Super Y-League (North
American boy’s and girl’s elite youth amateur) have provided a
platform for thousands of players to reach their dreams since 1986. This
vision and commitment to develop a soccer nation by fans, investors,
administrators, coaches, and players has created the foundation for the
growth of the sport, while presenting affordable, exciting family
entertainment in over 100 cities and towns on the continent. www.uslsoccer.com
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