Minneapolis City announce formation of a U-23 team
Earlier today, Minneapolis City SC announced the creation of a U-23 team on its website. City is already a part of the Stegman’s organization, which fields multiple teams in the Minnesota Amateur Soccer League. One of those teams — Stegman’s 1977 — won the MASL’s first division this past summer, and made use of City players in need of competitive minutes.
As to why the Crows opted to augment their organization with a U-23 team that will play an independent schedule of friendlies, head coach Adam Prybil offered, “There’s a disconnect between that first team, and its training, and just going out and playing random MASL games. Our thought with the U-23s was to provide more of a structured environment.”
Pribyl said City’s aim with its U-23 team is to create added room for college-age players on the fringe of contributing to its first team to stay involved with the club, and to provide them the opportunity to train with its NPSL team on a regular basis.
The United Premier Soccer League expands into Minnesota
The UPSL, a rival league to the NPSL which occupies a similar position in U.S. soccer’s unofficial fourth division, has expanded into Minnesota with the addition of FC Minneapolis.
#UPSL welcome @FCMinneapolis https://t.co/RurQwJFwEg pic.twitter.com/ofvIotE2xq
— UPSL (@UPSLsoccer) January 23, 2018
FC Minneapolis will face a number of historic amateur clubs in the UPSL’s Midwest Conference, namely Milwaukee Bavarian SC, Croatian Eagles (Milwaukee, Wisc.) and RWB Adria (Chicago, Ill.).
Armada to honor player contracts
Nipun Chopra of Soc Takes reported that the Jacksonville Armada will honor remaining player contracts and will give players the option of going on loan to a USL side. With the future of the NASL in tumult, Armada owner Robert Palmer sent a letter to players to address their concerns.
Regis’ fight for equality
The world of soccer lost an icon last week when Cyrille Regis passed away from a heart attack. Throughout his career, Regis battled racism from fans and sometimes opposition players. He was called the N-word, had bananas thrown at him, and was targeted by monkey chanting. Things that, unfortunately, are still in the game today. Just this season we heard stories of racial abuse from Liverpool’s Rhian Brewster and Manchester United’s Romelu Lukkaku. Matthew Syed of The Times explains how Regis’ fight for equality is far from over.
Atlanta sign Barco, followup
This past weekend, Atlanta United broke the bank to sign Ezequiel Barco from Argentine club Independiente for a league fee of $15 million. While many pundits have claimed that this marks a new era in MLS and the future of MLS transfers, Kevin McCauley of SBNation argues that this signing will only matter if other MLS teams are willing to spend big as well.
Ish Jome on trial with NYRB
Former #MNUFC leftback/winger Ish Jome is joining #RBNY on a preseason trial. A pacey athlete capable of sending in a lethal cross, Jesse Marsch may be able to refine his positioning and tackling. Smart move. https://t.co/OiK9tClYke
— Jeff Rueter (@jeffrueter) January 23, 2018
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