Where haveI been news?

Alright everyone, so the first thing I have been is busy: moving from my cramped NYC apartment to wide open Lakeland Florida to start my new life as the owner of Peak Fitness, a performance training facility for athletes.

The good news is this will give me more access than ever before to pro soccer players and matches—which means more fitness columns such as my latest on increasing your heading for soccer.

Staying true to my Floridian roots, I have also decided to refocus this blog on issues of Florida soccer. With Miami's expansion efforts heating up, we are still waiting for a team here in central Florida. But pro soccer may be closer than you thought. In a soon to be released column, I spoke with Tampa native Rob Stone and USL VP Tim Holt who gives the lowdown on MLS coming back to Tampa and some inside info on negotiations for a USL 1 team in Tampa by 2009!

Deep thoughts on: Expansion

Turning to MLS as a whole, the big news this week with relation to Florida has been the new effort by the City of Miami to fund a $50 million soccer stadium by 2010. For Floridians, this is a huge development and would almost certainly prove an attractive offer for many investors.

But after the failure of Fusions and local A-league side Miami FC's attendance hovering around 1,000, could any expansion side fill a soccer stadium? Loook for my column on the subject in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, it is also clear the league's rapid expansion will provide an increasing challange to the USL player pool. With this in mind, I asked USL VP of operations Tim Holt his thoughts on the matter:

With the MLS continuing to expand, how will the a-league remain relevant with the drain on talent and resources?

TH: I am not necessarily convinced that future MLS expansion drains talent and resources to the extent it affects the objectives of USL as a soccer organization. Our models are very different. MLS represents 14 franchises in 13 markets, albeit in a very high-profile manner; whereas USL with its 24 professional franchises, 100+ developmental (men’s & women’s franchises), and 600 elite youth teams represents a vertically-integrated league model that we believe reflects how clubs/leagues are structured in the world’s top soccer nations.

We focus on being grassroots and serving to provide affordable family entertainment in every market we serve while positively impacting player development opportunities for elite male and female athletes. Further, we are actively working to establish further relationships with international clubs and leagues currently highlighted by the ownership of a professional soccer team in Baltimore by Crystal Palace FC of the English Championship and the recently announced player-development initiative between USL & West Ham United of the English Premier League, not to mention several affiliations between our franchises/clubs and teams in other continents around the world. We operate in a world market and although concerned about MLS expanding into markets where we have established soccer professional soccer franchises, USL expects to be more relevant in the next 20 years than we have been in our first 20 of existence.

My Take on the matter:

But while supporters are quick to point out we are unlikely to reach the crisis point of the cash fueled EPL, one need look only a few hundred miles north to Scotland to gauge the impact of foreign mercenaries.

Only after a dismal television deal led to a financial meltdown amongst SPL clubs did the influx of cheap, foreign talent which was choking Scottish youth systems cease to a halt-- forcing Scottish sides to field homegrown youngsters in their first teams. Today, it is no surprise that this coincided with the renaissance which is currently taking place with Scottish national team and improved club football in Europe.

In Europe for example, the Rangers team which defeated Lyon 3-0 in France fielded 8 scots, while the Celtic team that turned over champions league holders AC Milan fielded seven. Hell, between them Celtic and Rangers field nearly as many Englishmen as the top four EPL sides combined.

When it comes to MLS, these contrasts (and the NASL for that matter), illustrate the dangers and benefits of what is on the horizon. For every Christian Gomez, we will likely see several Sergio Galvan Rey's and Denilsons. At least Juan Veron had the decency to follow his heart, rather than cashing in on his name. But many teams will not be so lucky. Beyond entertainers, we need players who will mold our youngsters both on and off the field (ala Etcheverry, Moreno, and Angel)

Ultimately, success with these rules will come down to the development of our youth academies and our coaches willingness to take a chance on young players.

Given the number of foreign (and mostly British) coaches in our league, I just hope we are all on the same page (you hear me, Mo Johnston?).

Anyway, stay tuned for my full story on pro soccer in Tampa in the coming days. Until then, show some love.