Would you look at that map? Here we are, one week into the 'launch' of American Soccer Clubs United, and there are forty two teams that have joined up from coast to coast and north to south. I'd say it's a really solid start and shows the desire of teams to work together, make their voices heard, and help each other thrive and become sustainable.
To be clear, this last week hasn't been all smooth sailing. For every club eager to sign up, we've had a club that's voiced concerns or had questions over the initial thrust of the ASCU to unite clubs for an open system, and have even been met with stone cold silence from teams that have voiced support of some of the issues ASCU was created to help clubs address. Now, if you're one of the forty teams that has joined already, once again, welcome! Glad you're with us. You'll be receiving detailed material from us later today about what we hope to see ASCU become, as dictated by the member clubs. For those who haven't signed up or are still thinking it over, I want to make things a little clearer for you. ASCU exists to serve the best interests of it's member clubs, as dictated by the clubs. This isn't simply an attempt to throw weight behind the promotion and relegation movement, but an attempt to give teams a united front to push for change and reform in the areas they deem important. Could be promotion and relegation, could be more of voice in league affairs, or more input in decisions that are being made by the USASA or even USSF. ASCU is designed to become a member driven vehicle to whatever end its members see fit to drive it to. Not only that, but because of its size vendors can be brought on as business members offering clubs discounted services because of the potential client pool. And who doesn't want cheaper stuff so more money can go into the club? As it stands, we have forty two member clubs representing over one thousand players, coaches, administrators, staff members, volunteers and owners. That's a pretty big deal. No one has ever tried to get teams collaborating on such a large scale. Let's keep going. Regardless of how the promotion and relegation fight goes, ASCU will still be here, working to give clubs a fair shot at sustainability. Will you join us?
"Regarding the name I felt like if you have the opportunity to represent one of the worlds greatest cities then why dilute it."
Today's interview is brought to you by Jack Nadel. Jack Nadel International has partnered with American Pyramid to provide teams with access to a full range of merchandise. You can now order anything from shirts and water bottles to umbrellas and pint glasses with your teams logo on it, giving your fans more cool team gear to buy than ever before. As a bonus, all American Pyramid readers get 10% off their first order of $300 or more in merchandise. Simply email Mark Mogle at [email protected] and tell him American Pyramid sent you. Minimum order quantities may apply on certain branded merchandise.
Good morning everyone! I'm going to apologize upfront that today's intro is a little longer than normal. Firstly, as I'm sure most of you are aware of by now, I have partnered with the fine group behind American Soccer United to create an association for non-league clubs, regardless of league or size, called American Soccer Clubs United. It's a free, voluntary association to help unite teams to push for change and reform while leveraging the size of membership to get discounted goods from vendors. If you are with a club and reading this and haven't yet joined, you can do so by clicking Here. Second, a little context for this interview. About a month ago, I started to engage with Nick Swinmurn via Twitter about his efforts to bring the USL to San Francisco. Things had started to break down a little, as they often do on the internet, as the discussion turned to the soccer scene and fans in San Fran. Thinking I might be a little too optimistic, I mentioned doing an interview to discuss the soccer scene and its challenges.
This turned into what I consider to be a very enlightening interview covering not just the scene and it's challenges, but Nick's fairly unknown involvement in the non league scene in Northern California. I know some readers might be off-put by the fact that I'm interviewing a USL guy, but withhold judgement until you've read the whole thing. Check it out.
Title pretty much says it all. Dan reached out to me earlier this summer about doing a guest post discussing the branding of NPSL Club Minneapolis City. This post covers why the team chose the brand it did, and explains how owning your brand, no matter what others think, is critical.
As I'm sure everyone has noticed, there have been some major events in US Soccer over the last couple of days. I don't want to recap what has already been said or add my opinion to the sea of opinions (though I do have one), but instead I want to address another event that happened yesterday that is slowly but surely gaining steam. First, a little history. Earlier this summer, I started talking with American Soccer United about several different projects, chief among them the idea for a US Open Cup Fan Prize to the amateur team that progresses the furthest. (By the way, if 1,000 people donated $5, which just happens to be how many people read the blog last week, we'd raise $5,000 to give to Christos FC. That's $3 less then the cost of one month of basic Netflix) One other idea was American Soccer Clubs United. In my day job, I work with a lot of business associations. Groups of businesses who have come together and become members under some kind of acronym, like BSCAI. These associations are able to do several things. They provide a united front and voice for their members to push for their best interests. This includes lobbying and and vendor deals. They use their collective strength to get discounted goods and services from companies that offer what members need. Thus the idea was born for American Soccer Clubs United. Yesterdays news did speed up the process significantly, but that's not a bad thing. ASCU provides an avenue for clubs to join together and make their voices heard, beginning with support for Dennis Crowley and Ricardo Silva's push for CAS to force the USSF to open the soccer pyramid. Every verified club owner/manager who joins is added to a master list of teams that can be used to show the promotion and relegation movement has many, many interested parties. It's time to go beyond Twitter hashtags and graphics and unite voices. As the ASCU grows, we're going to start talking with vendors and leverage the strength of our collective members to get discounted goods and services on everything from jerseys and merchandise to insurance and media, including many more ways to benefit lower division & league clubs ad a whole. This is a serious thing we're working on to improve the game of soccer at the lower levels in the United States. If you want to read the ASCU Mission Statement, click Here. If you work for/run a club in the lower levels, from D2 down to a County League, click Here to join. I'd also like to issue a hearty Welcome to the following Clubs who have joined ASCU since just yesterday afternoon when this was launched. Bearfight FC - Delaware
Lowcountry United - South Carolina Gold Coast Inter FC - Florida Oakland Pamperos - California Western Nevada FC - Nevada Biloxi City FC - Mississippi Santa Ana Winds FC - California Sante Fe Wanderers FC - Kansas Sports Identity FC - Massachusetts FC Santa Clarita - California Frontier FC - New York Club Toledo - Ohio LK St Clair - Michigan Motorik FC Alexandria - Virginia The Valley FC - California Oakland County FC - Michigan FC Denver - Colorado Boston Siege - Massachusetts Muskegon Risers - Michigan DeKalb County United - Illinois Los Angeles Wolves - California |
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February 2021
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