Minneapolis City Disqualified from the US Open Cup

No introduction for this one. Title says it all. This is a guest post from Dan Hoedeman of Minneapolis City. Read it, share it, spread the word. Let's make some change.

​Minneapolis City is out of the U.S. Open Cup.

Because we switched leagues from the Premier League of American (PLA) to the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), we violate Section 202 rule C1a.

It is a heartbreaking way to be bounced from the tournament.

​It is outrageously unfair.

This offseason has been famous for the upheaval in professional soccer: Minnesota United leave NASL for MLS, Tampa Bay Rowdies leave NASL for USL, New York Cosmos fail and then are saved, and on and on.

For all that upheaval, the professional teams remain eligible.
We stay at the same level of the pyramid, leaving one league for another to help manage our travel costs, and we are out.

How? The rules are skewed toward the professional teams. 

Section 202. Team eligibility (cont.)
(b) Division I, II and III Outdoor Professional League Teams:
(1) To remain eligible throughout the tournament:
(i) A team must remain a playing member in good standing within its club/league competition from December 31 of the competition year until the Open Cup Final;
(ii) A team’s league must be in operation from December 31 of the competition year until the Open Cup Final.

Which, for all intents and purposes, ​means that professional teams can move leagues at will.
 
​But for amateur clubs the rule is slightly, but critically, different.
(c) Teams Entering Through the Open Division:
(1) To remain eligible throughout the tournament:
(i) A team must remain a playing member in good standing within its club/league competition, starting from the Open Division entry deadline and continuing until the Open Cup Final for the competition year;

We would be eligible if we were a Division 1, II and III Outdoor Professional League Team. 
If we were the 1%.

Instead, because for us the tournament "started" in August 2016 and has encompassed, in the six thrilling months since it began, a single match, we violate this rule.

We reached out to USSF when we switched leagues to discuss our situation.
They told us that the spirit of the rule was to ensure that teams did not "materially change" throughout the tou​rnament.

Our appeal was based on the spirit of the law, how we did not "materially change":
- Our corporate structure is the same
- Our club management is the same
- Our players are the same, and anyway restricted by USOC registration rules
- We remain in the same level in the pyramid
- Our league switch was made to reduce travel costs, keeping us viable
- We remain in good standing and have support for us in both the PLA (still!) and the NPSL 

Also, we noted how the letter of the law resulted in the ridiculous situation where our neighbors Minnesota United could, in the same timeframe, switch leagues, materially change and still participate in the cup while we were out in the cold.
How does it make sense to punish grassroots players, fans, coaches, and managers who are doing this for love of the game, for the hope of a fairytale while allowing professionals to do the same thing with no issue?

The USOC Competitions Committee heard our appeal but decided to obstinately stick to the letter of this rule.

So, instead of being the first amateur team from Minnesota to qualify for the first round proper of the U.S. Open Cup, guys like goalkeeper Matt Elder get to watch clubs like Tampa Bay Rowdies, who switched from NASL to USL, play instead.

Elder works in commercial real estate, and I know what it is like for him to roll into work on a weekday morning the day after a training session has ended at 11:30pm. How he saves vacation days to use on soccer games. He does it not because he is paid but because he loves it.

Maybe next year.

Coach Jon Bisswurm gets to watch from home too. His day job is advertising. He has a months-old baby. He committed his time to coach the team, to travel with the team, to pull this all together not just because it was fun but because of a sneaking suspicion that the right breaks could see us play a competitive game against Minnesota United, could make the players famous--and maybe help some of them achieve their dream of being professional soccer players.

Maybe next year.

Our fans get to watch other teams as well, other teams that switched leagues.
Fans can watch others play instead too. Like the first grade daughter of a member who was so excited after watching our second qualifying round win against Oakland County FC that she wrote about it at school. She got to help stamp the hands of fans coming into the stadium and can't wait to do it again. 

​Maybe next year.

Soccer in the United States is a chaotic mess.

But while the pros have the money and the muscle to do what they want (like, say, create TWO second divisions), the amateur clubs get arbitrary enforcement of a rule in contravention of its stated spirit.
 
​All we are asking is that the spirit of the law be applied, that Minneapolis City AND Minnesota United be allowed to switch leagues and still compete in the Open Cup.

All we are asking is that the US Open Cup be, well, open.

Maybe next year.