Category: Sidewinder Insider

By Scott Adamson
adamsonmedia.com

Asheville, North Carolina, is known for spectacular fall colors, a year-round Bohemian vibe, and a community that embraces diversity.

Yet while it’s one of the nation’s top tourist destinations, this beautiful mountain region also has a rich history when it comes to The Beautiful Game.

This summer, the Asheville City Soccer Club women’s team hopes to add to that history.

Asheville City SC debuted in 2017 with a men’s entry in the National Professional Soccer League. This season its brand extends to the Women’s Premier Soccer League, with Stacey Enos guiding the fortunes of the fledgling squad.

“Asheville has UNC-Asheville, Mars Hill, Warren Wilson College and Montreat College, and not too far away is Brevard College and Western Carolina University,” Enos said. “I have found more alumni are staying locally after they graduate from college. The active outdoor lifestyle, mountains and eclectic views of our town is appealing to anyone interested in recreation and play.”

Enos is well aware of the soccer tradition in the area – especially since she is a part of it.

Enos was a member of North Carolina’s three NCAA championship teams during her days as a Tar Heel from 1982-86, and went on to play for the first United States Women’s National Team.

Her coaching career started at the University of Seattle in 1994 as an assistant, and she became head coach of Utah State in 1996.

Enos made her way to western North Carolina in 2001 when she took the reins of Warren Wilson College – coaching the Owls for 17 seasons.

It was during her playing career, however, when she learned just how important soccer was to Asheville.

“Personally and historically speaking, back in the 1980s when I was playing for UNC, we played in a match against Warren Wilson College,” Enos recalls. “While the women’s team was relatively new, their men’s team was impressive and well-known throughout the state. Additionally, Asheville hosted an indoor tournament called the Tournament of Friends, which started in the 1970s. It became one of the longest standing indoor tournaments in the country (35 years). It brought players and teams in from all over the country and put Asheville on the map for soccer.

“Now Asheville has a strong youth organization, and a great adult league. Both organizations host tournaments that bring in thousands of participants every year and notable tourism revenue to our city.”

Last season the Asheville City SC men developed a strong following, averaging 2,000 fans for home matches at Memorial Stadium with the South Slope Blues supporters group leading the cheers and the chants. Enos hopes her club will be able to inspire the same kind of enthusiasm.

“The men’s team had a good variety of supporters last year,” she said. “Fans can get a ticket to a game and have a beer and food for $15. The same holds true for a family and their budget. The atmosphere was alive and festive, and everyone feels welcome.”

The WPSL is considered the top developmental league for women’s soccer in the United States and Canada, and with more than 100 clubs across North America, it stands as the largest women’s league in the world.

At its core is a grassroots approach to the game, which helps develop strong ties between communities and their teams.

“Fans want something they can get behind, and every player wants an audience,” Enos said. “When our fans get rolling they are the 12th man on the field. Their enthusiasm elevates the level of play and gives players the extra leg they need to turn themselves inside out for the victory. In this sense, we’re all part of the team that contributes to the good of our community. Seeing a fan wearing his or her ACSC hat, scarf or shirt around town brings a sense of pride and ownership.

“For our region, the WPSL has a strong conference in the Carolinas, and it was a natural fit for us.”

The club has already made two high profile signings ahead of the 2018 campaign.

Midfielder Lydia Vandenbergh, who played professionally for the Chicago Red Stars and collegiately at Clemson, will be a key member of the inaugural squad.

Also on board is former Florida and USWNT U-23 and U-20 midfielder Parker Roberts.

The final roster will include a mix of talented veterans and younger players.

“Over the years, I’ve found that my underlying role and goal as a coach is to empower these young women to be the best they can be,” Enos said. “I do like possession soccer, and as a forward converted into a defender, I’m a fan of the 4-3-3 system. Having said that, your squad personnel often dictates your strengths and weaknesses. A coach needs to have the tactical awareness that plays into their strength.  I also enjoy creating space for players to have the freedom to be creative when they play soccer.

“I want my players to be able to solve tough decisions with the ball at their feet.”

The season begins on May 5 at 7 p.m. when ACSC hosts Chattanooga FC at Memorial Stadium. For season and single-game ticket information, go to ashevillecitysc.com.

Next week: The ACSC men’s team gears up for its second NPSL season.

By Scott Adamson
Adamsonmedia.com

Almost from the moment the United Soccer League announced it was forming a third division circuit, the prospects of Greenville, South Carolina, landing a club was more a case of “when,” not “if.”

Today is the day.

League executives gathered at Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research in Greenville Tuesday morning to make it official. Greenville entrepreneur Joe Erwin, President of Erwin Creates, leads the ownership group which also includes his son, Doug.

“The world game belongs in a world-class community, and we already feel like Greenville is part of USL,” Erwin said. “We are thrilled to be a part of the USL’s new Division III league and to bring professional soccer to our community. The Upstate has a passion for the sport that extends from community soccer clubs that attract thousands of youth to high school teams that compete at the highest levels and nationally-ranked programs at Clemson University and Furman University.

“This is more than just a game, it really contributes to quality of life. As we evaluated all the factors in making a decision, we realized this region is more than ready to support pro soccer at this level.”

The league is expected to have 10 to 12 teams in 2019, and then further growth will be targeted to populate regions.

The Greenville entry joins South Georgia Tormenta FC and FC Tucson as the first three founding members of USL Division III, which begins play next March.

With Major League Soccer serving as North America’s lone first division league in a closed pyramid system, USL competes as a second tier organization and has formed a third level that will play under the USL umbrella.

USL Division III has targeted U.S. communities with populations from 150,000 to one million, with a focus on, “markets that possess strong local ownership groups, populations with broad-based diversity, a vibrant millennial and strong family base, established corporate support, and stadiums to properly showcase the sport for fans, partners and the public.”

Greenville’s population is roughly 60,000, but its broader metro area – which includes Anderson and Mauldin – is more than 880,000.

“We are honored to have such an economically diverse and vibrant market like Greenville, South Carolina, as a founding member of USL Division III,” USL CEO Alec Papadakis said. “Greenville is a dynamic city, with a storied soccer history driven by the nationally-recognized programs at Clemson University and Furman University, along with the international influence of global corporations headquartered in the region. We welcome Joe Erwin to the USL family. As a long-time resident of this community, successful businessman and major contributor to Greenville’s economic growth, Joe is the right person to lead this effort and develop a successful club for the region’s passionate fans.”

Chris Lewis will serve as team president.

“Our success strongly depends on having the proven leadership of someone who understands professional sports, the market and, most significantly, is an active member of our community,” Doug Erwin said. “We found that in Chris, and we’ve placed him at the top of the pyramid running this organization.”

Team branding and stadium decisions are to come.

“If you ask me where we’re going to play in March, I’ve got no answer for you yet,” Joe Erwin said. “There’s a lot of work left to be done.”

The announcement of a USL Division III club marks the second time in less than four months the South Carolina city has been chosen to host a team.

Greenville FC became a member of the National Premier Soccer League last November and begins regular season play in May.

It spends a lot of time in my upstairs closet, situated toward the back of the clothes rack where it remains mostly unworn.

But every once in a while, I’ll break out the red jersey – the one with the Atlanta Silverbacks badge sandwiched between the Joma brand name on top and Premiere Global Services sponsor logo on the bottom.

It even has a sweet, old school USL logo on one of the sleeves.

And caps?

Oh, yeah, I got the caps – both a black one and a red one.

As a Birmingham native, Atlanta was always the closest big league town that had professional soccer.

So although I was a New York Cosmos fan back in the days of the original North America Soccer League, the Chiefs were something of a “home team” for me.

But while the Chiefs, like the NASL, are no more, the Silverbacks are survivors. And I’ve followed their odyssey from the beginning.

Officially, they’ve been around 20 years, becoming the Silverbacks in 1998. However, they actually started their soccer life as the Atlanta Ruckus in 1995.

Since then they’ve played in circuits such as the American Professional Soccer League (which morphed into the A-League), the United Soccer League First Division, the rebooted NASL and now the National Premier Soccer League.

I suppose one could make the case that they’re working their way down the ladder. But I’m not going to be that cynical, which is something of an upset because I’m cynical by nature.

True, in U.S. soccer’s unofficial pyramid, the NPSL represents the fourth division.

But if you like soccer from the ground up – and the NPSL is certainly that – it’s a great fit for a club that absolutely refuses to go six feet under.

And I love the way this club is going about its business.

Have you heard about the Atlanta Silverbacks FC Trust?

Go to asfctrust.org and read about it. Do that, and you’ll see how grassroots soccer is supposed to work.

The primary focus behind the trust is for fans to raise $100,000 to contribute to the club’s operating expenses. Once that threshold is met, it will own 25 percent of the team and have a seat on the board of directors.

This is the model of many successful soccer clubs in Europe and, in fact, partial fan ownership is required in Germany.

This is what community soccer is all about and what makes it accessible to everyone.

Certainly, Atlanta United FC is the “sexy” soccer team in the city right now. Shoot, with the number of fans it drew to Bobby Dodd Stadium and later Mercedes-Benz Stadium in its inaugural season in 2017, it’s the golden child of Major League Soccer.

And that’s terrific. The passion of Terminus Legion is very real and contagious – proof that the Deep South can be a futbol hotbed as well as a football hotbed.

But MLS has a single entity structure and Arthur Blank is the “investor-operator” of the franchise. The decision-making group is a small one.

If the Silverbacks get their way, though, fans will not only get a seat at the table, they’ll get to eat, too. It’ll be more than a club they root for because they’ll have skin in the game.

It’s kinda funny … for as long as the team has been around, I only got to cover it as a reporter once.

On March 28, 2015, the Silverbacks came to Riggs Field to play Clemson in an exhibition. Managed by Gary Smith (currently coach and TD of Nashville SC of the United Soccer League), they won on a goal by Matt Horth, who now serves as coach of Gordon College.

I spent a long time bending Smith’s ear after the match, and at the time it seemed that Atlanta and the modern iteration of the NASL might be in for a long association.

Of course that wasn’t the case.

Earlier in the week, the NASL announced it had canceled the 2018 season and you have to believe that decision was tantamount to folding for good.

But while that league won’t be going forward, the Silverbacks will, with their home opener at Silverbacks Park slated for May 26 against Asheville.

For those of us who want to see real change in American soccer, this is where it starts.

The Silverbacks are an old team that will feature young talent, and you don’t have to take out a loan to take your family to see a match.

I’m going to make a point to go to Silverbacks Park this season. The home team hosts Greenville FC on June 16, and since I’m based in Greenville, that might be a good excuse to take a road trip.

And the trust?

Maybe I’ll contribute to that as well. While it’s fun to talk about turning the United States into a soccer nation, it also requires some effort.

I need to put my money where my mouth is.

The Silverbacks have scratched and clawed their way through history, and I think their persistence should be rewarded.

It’s great to see them survive.

But it’ll be even greater to see them thrive.