Title of this post pretty much says it all. While NPSL gets some things right, there are a lot of things they could do far, far better. Here are the Top 5 things NPSL should fix to make sure they are around for years to come.
Welcome back, faithful readers of AP! It's been a long time since I've done one of these. Today's interview with Oakland Roots SC is actually the first since this May, and the first since the baby was born.
There are going to be some changes at AP moving forward. I am going to continue doing interviews, but they will be fewer and farther between, as I'll be focusing on trying to make sure interviews are higher quality, to make it worth the wait, while also doing more op-eds, which seem to draw a lot of interest. Now, back to today's interview. I've actually worked with Benno on doing an interview to discuss his project in Oakland once before, and we didn't get it all worked out. This time we did. You'll also hear from Mike Geddes of Street Soccer USA and Edreece Arghandiwal, two of the other guys behind Roots SC. Oakland Roots SC also have an affiliate playing in the US Open Cup this year, Oakland Leopards, and they're first game is against Oakland Stompers on Saturday, September 22, 7:00pm PST at Castlemont High School in Oakland. Details of a live stream should be forth coming. And now, without further ado, I give you the Roots. There are 14 teams meeting this weekend to discuss NPSL Pro: New York Cosmos, Miami FC, Jacksonville Armada, Chattanooga FC, Detroit City, New Orleans Jesters, Milwaukee Torrent, Boston City, Hartford City, FC Arizona, ASC San Diego, Virginia Beach, Miami United, & Asheville City.
NISA is seeking sanctioning as a D3 league with 8 to 10 teams. I don't know who all those teams are, but from what little I've heard, it sounds like it could be an even split between west coast and east coast, and likely 8 teams to start. Now, lets consider this. NPSL Pro is attempting to start as a new league, with only 2 teams on the west coast. The remaining 12 are east coast/south. If NPSL Pro and NISA can come together and start one new league, it would launch with 22 teams total. Lets say 6 on the west coast and 16 on the east coast/south. I've heard of a couple of groups looking at this situation waiting to decide which way to go. 2 in the mid west, 1 on the west coast, plus a couple of other NPSL teams. This means within a couple of years this merged league could have anywhere from 25 to 27 teams based on existing ownership groups. That's a lot of teams! How much better would this one league be than two? Wouldn't this make the stated desired of both leagues, promotion and relegation, so much easier if you launch this way? Come on NPSL Pro and NISA. Figure it out. Find a way to work together. Do something great that could change the face of US Soccer forever! Happy Friday everyone, I've got a surprise interview for you! As you may have seen, the United Premier Soccer League, or UPSL, announced some changes to their playoff format this past week. Prize money has gone from $5,000 per championship winner twice a year to $10,000 per championship winner twice a year. A significant improvement and amount for the amateur scene.
Ahead of this weekends final UPSL Championship under the old playoff format, Yan Skwara took some time to answer a few questions about the new format and some other potential changes for the league in 2019. UPSL has grown quite a bit since we first talked, leading to a serious revamp of the UPSL's playoff format. Can you walk us through what prompted those changes to increase prize money and get rid of a more 'March Madness' style championship structure hosted in one place? The UPSL has obviously grown so we have to adjust to our growth and do whats best in the interest of our league and team members. As far as the announcement of the revamped playoff format goes its no different that other leagues who have been in our shoes and grown out of their shoe size. We need to now go to a regional / national - one game final format for a handful of reasons but high on the list is the economics. Also, having a one game final really gives the UPSL and its sponsors the opportunity to showcase a final and build a event that is powerful and meaningful with sizable crowds. With that being said we are excited about our finals this weekend in Colorado as it will be the last "August Madness" style playoff format but we will have eight great teams from all across the country flying in and squaring off to see who will be crowned 2018 UPSL Championship. On the prize money side, we have always been a leader in the market as far as being one of the few National leagues that offers a cash prize to the winner at the end of the playing season. Because we have grown, we are now blessed to be able to invest back into our league for our members. Outside of players wanting to complete for a championship cup, owners need to be rewarded for their efforts and annual investment and a cash prize of $10,000 twice a year gives clubs the opportunity to put some cash in the bank and continue to invest in their players and the club itself. Do you feel these changes are going to make for a more competitive and intimidating playoff atmosphere? I think the stakes will go up each time we are able to increase our UPSL Championship cash prize and we certainly are not stopping here at $10,000 as our goal is to keep working with our sponsors so we can coninue to increase the cash prize in the future because we know it will make a difference in not only the level of competition but it the size of our crowds and spur sponsorship. As the league grows into new places, like the Dakotas and Alaska, do you see this new playoff model as more efficient and cost effective? Having four conferences and keeping playoffs regional will clearly benefit the league and its members from a cost standpoint keeping cash in the bank and not going out on travel. The NPSL does offer some help to teams to cover travel costs. Is that something the UPSL would consider doing if needed? We did announce on top of the $10,000 cash prize each season, the UPSL will provide an initial $5000 travel per dium to cover travel costs for the visiting finalist. As far as a travel per dium for the regional's, we are looking at that and will see what we can come up with but for now we are set with a $10,000 championship prize twice each season (two seasons in a 12 month period) and a $5000 travel per dium twice per year so total budget set aside for Finals is $30,000 for 2019 between the cash prize and travel per dium. Any plans to have a Championship Game naming rights sponsor to increase the prize money on offer? We are meeting with title sponsors as we speak and look to have some good news in the near term. For me this is the fun part and an exciting opportunity to continue to grow the league and set a whole new standard for the game in America. Anything else exciting that the UPSL is working on for 2019 that you can share to the people reading this so they have something to look forward to? A league naming rights sponsor, perhaps, or a Hawaii conference? We have several major announcements coming forward that gear around additional new league title sponsorship's not to mention some very exciting new teams in markets that are new to the UPSL and some great management team additions. |
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