Tuesday's Aztex's News & Notes - October 5, 2010

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Austin Aztex: Austin and Montreal Square Off in Quarterfinals

Inside Minnesota Soccer: USSF D2 Pro League Playoffs Set

NASL Fanatic: San Antonio to join NASL in 2012.

SB Nations: As The NASL Turns: San Antonio Expansion Announced, No Word On Austin

Soccer By Ives: USSF D-2: A Look Back at Week 26

NASL Fanatic: USSF D2: Are You Ready for Some Playoffs?

Weekend Thoughts

So far my soccer weekend is a little more bad than good in terms of game results. You have the U.S.A. lack of heart & passion let alone their defense in their 3-1 loss at Costa Rica on Wednesday. And then there's last night's Aztex flat effort against the still unbeaten Charleston Battery. I hope both U.S.A & Austin can bounce back tonight and tomorrow and get some wins under the belt. I will post my thoughts about the qualifiers as well as the Aztex games in my next blog.

The bright spot is that the Aztex U-23 put on a clinic against Houston on Thursday in Bastrop. Tony from Chantico's Army has his summery of the match right here. And base on that, it looked like a very good turnout for the match. much props for those attending the match.

And finally I was able to meet with members of the Crocketteers who were at Cuatros for the U.S.-Costa Rica match on Wednesday & the Aztex-Battery match last night. It was a please to meet their leader & founder Michael Macia along with Daniel Rodriguez and others who are trying to get a soccer team in San Antonio. They're having a good time here in Austin and looking forward to good & positive things ahead.

Until then, GO USA !!! COME ON YOU AZTEX!!!!

FC Dallas Add A Defender, Aztex Players Honored & An Update From San Antonio

Austin Aztex News:

Austin Aztex: Eddie Johnson is USL Player of the Week; Caugherty honored

United Soccer Leagues: USL Week 3 honors announced - Johnson, Severs named Players of the Week

FC Dallas News:

FC Dallas Blog: FCD Acquires Kyle Davies

3rd Degree: FCD Lands U-20 Captain Kyle Davies

World Soccer Reader: FC Dallas Trades For Kyle Davies

San Antonio News:

Crocketteers: Soccer Stadium Deal stalling Spurs Sports & Entertainment?

My San Antonio: Holt upbeat about Spurs’ bottom line

Soccer Update From The Alamo City

I mentioned from a blog post weeks ago about San Antonio getting a pro team in MLS and my thoughts that San Antonio would be best fitted in USL-1 instead of MLS. Now there are reports that USL Officials Bexar County and Spurs Sports & Entertainment confirmed talks of bringing a USL team here within the next several years. However the USL officials said that in order for them to do that, San Antonio needs to built a 5,000-10,000 seat soccer stadium. Personally I would think that Alamo Stadium would be good place as a temporary venue for the team while the club and local officials would get plans going for building a new stadium in 2-3 years time. The only problem is that San Antonio taxpayers are not generous to fund a soccer stadium and the city had other plans and priorities to use taxpayers money. And according to the Crocketteers site, with the current economic climate in the spotlight, they believe pro soccer can build an army of opponents in San Antonio if it places a prerequisite of a public-funded stadium on the deal.

Now here in Austin, we don't have a soccer stadium as we are currently playing at Nelson Field (football) and planning on playing at House Park next year. There are plans to have a soccer stadium in Austin in the future but nothing as come up at this moment. But why would USL officials tell San Antonio that they would reward a USL-1 team if have a stadium plan when you have other USL teams like Tampa Bay & New York (coming in the league next year) that don't at this time? That proposal sounds too "Garberish".

What do you think about this situations? Is there any other plans or venues beside Alamo Stadium that would help getting San Antonio a team? Please leave your comments here.

MLS To San Antonio: Version 2.0?

Last weeks there were some news relating to San Antonio re-entering the race to get a MLS franchise. My friends at MLS Daily and Match Fit USA post on their blogs about the current situation of soccer in the Alamo city. Plus I know there's a strong base of soccer supporters in the city. In fact there's already a supporters group called The Crocketteers who are trying to get a pro team in San Antonio rather if it's MLS or USL-1. They also have a blog about this situation as well.

This news is big to me since I was born a raised in San Antonio and I know first hand about the politics that goes around in the city. So it took me a while to think about this and I feel that San Antonio is more suited for USL-1 at this moment instead of MLS due to these factors.

1) Past History: Do you think Don Garber wants to give San Antonio a second look after what happened 5 years ago? Personally I don't think so due to the Mayoral candidates thoughts on getting the MLS team. And from what I getting from this, they are more focus on community oriented & educational issues. Yes there needs to be more soccer fields in the community but I would hope that bring a pro team along with it would help. Don't get me wrong, it's a very good market for soccer in the community. The only bad thing about it is that some council members still believe that it won't generate big financial (like they tried to get a NFL team). Plus the cost of getting a MLS team is higher now than it was 5 years ago so that might play against the city councils thoughts.

2) Rivalry: Here in Austin, the Aztex are in need of a USL-1 rivalry. You look at the likes of Houston-FC Dallas, Seattle-Portland-Vancouver, and New England-New York Red Bulls-D.C. United, local rivalries can grow in a instant. By having a USL-1 team, you can start to build the team from the grass roots up. How do you think Toronto, Seattle, Vancouver & Portland started to get a big fan base of soccer supporters? It doesn't come overnight. Besides, USL-1 need new teams to replace Portland & Vancouver in 2011 and San Antonio would be perfect for Texas to have 2 MLS teams & 2 USL-1.

And I for one as a member of Chantico's Army, the Austin Aztex supporters group, would love to have The Crocketteers on the pro soccer bandwagon rather if it's MLS or USL-1.