Tuscan Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I had the luxury of taking up some of Lee Haber's time to talk to him about the formation of WSA Winnipeg's PDL franchise, issues they faced while in the process of landing the franchise, how and why the club works, and where the club is looking to go from here. Lee is the Director of Business Operations (my apologies Lee if I got the title wrong, admittedly I forgot to write it down). I actually didn't intend on our conversation to be an interview, but that's the shape it ended up taking, so I thought I'd report it on here to those of us who are interested in the development of sub-professional (only in recognized league status!) soccer in the country. I actually asked him if I could talk to him because I am still working towards my goal of establishing a PDL franchise here in Saskatoon. Some days it really just feels like a bunch of tire spinning though... WSA Winnipeg met some resistance from the clubs already in the Heartland Division, but ultimately was granted a franchise once a majority of the Heartland clubs gave them the thumbs up. Geography seems to be a key determinant in regards to the PDL, and can act as a major block to getting things off the ground. Winnipeg's difference appears to be a ridiculously detailed business plan that has outlined pretty much ever aspect of the environment within and outside the club they could think of. I hope to get my hands on a copy of it so I can take a look at what they did that was so convincing. One of my main concerns was how WSA dealt with the politics that get involved when even researching the feasibility of establishing a PDL club. The provincial association apparently was more than receptive to the formation of the club, as were the main adult Premier teams in the Manitoba Major Soccer League. WSA's greatest asset is their Technical Director Eduardo Badescu, who has been involved in Manitoba soccer for ages. Already having the academy established eliminated the resistance from the provincial Regional Training Center (which has joined up with Saskatchewan's in case you haven't heard). It seems the atmosphere was perfect for the formation of this PDL club, as the academy paved the way for a natural evolution. Moral of this story: it is almost mandatory for an academy to exist before even thinking about a PDL franchise, at least if you're outside of BC, Quebec, or Ontario. I suspect this is why things haven't really taken off for FC Edmonton or in Calgary yet. Lee spoke about the clubs aspirations to eventually look into the feasibility of a Winnipeg soccer specific stadium (SSS) as the team currently plays out of the old PanAm Games soccer complex. Also, if USL Pro follows the model of the PDL and goes pan-continental broken into divisions, it isn't out of WSA's reach to consider moving there. That will depend on the growth of the fan base. I encourage all of us anywhere near Winnipeg to try and take in a game this summer, show them that us hardcores do care enough to travel to see a brand new organization even if it isn't MLS or NASL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue and White Army Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 WSA Winnipeg made their competitive debut today, in a 0-1 home loss against Thunder Bay Chill. How was it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coppercanuck Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 That does sound like an interesting conversation. All the other Heartland clubs had to agree to let another team in? Sounds like a bit of an old boys club. Does it come off like that to you? The politicking to get into a league always left a bad taste in my mouth. Never feels like a fair system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aroundtheworld Posted May 30, 2011 Share Posted May 30, 2011 The boys played great! Overall a very positive debut. The team played great in the first game, but paid for a defensive lapse. The second game speaks for itself. The attendance for the first game was around 600, second game around 300. It's difficult promoting the second game of a double header. The Des Moines games were always indoor. This season we're trying out different things to see what works, so we put those games indoors. Here are the highlights from the first game: Here are the highlights from the second game: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aroundtheworld Posted May 30, 2011 Share Posted May 30, 2011 More from second game: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThiKu Posted May 30, 2011 Share Posted May 30, 2011 That must be really odd playing a full match indoors! Turf looks OLD! Good luck WSA in moving ownard and upward - USL Pro or NASL would be excellent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSM Posted May 30, 2011 Share Posted May 30, 2011 I love those shirts. In the videos I couldn't make out the design on the front, checked the site and saw that it was a WSA watermark (though you don't realy get the W). I also see that the store isn't up yet. Any idea how much the shirt and shipping to Ontario will cost, Aroundtheworld? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kodiakTFC Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 My roommate and I were laughing about how MLS team's have been using 'euro' names so poorly so I drafted this. For the record, this is a joke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kodiakTFC Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 bare minimum you'd go crazy on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.