First Flight League Friendlies
The autumn months have been full of twists and turns despite only officially starting a little over a week ago. The newest twist in our coverage was North Carolina’s move into Phase 3, allowing up to seven percent capacity in stadiums with a max capacity of ten thousand or more. In our lower leagues it means that the club’s outdoor venue can now host up to one hundred attendees or thirty percent, which ever is lower.
This unfortunately means that we no longer feel comfortable covering the Raleigh International FC vs Goldsboro Strike Eagles FC game as there will be up to seven hundred fans in attendance at adjacent stadium for North Carolina FC vs Charlotte Independence. From this comes opportunity, however. We now will shift our focus this week down the street to the first First Flight League friendly in TriSocPod history: Lazers SC vs Clinton FC.
What to expect
The First Flight League has been mostly quiet on social media, only posting in recent days promoting their teams for the first time. That leads us to unchartered waters as to what to expect from these two sides and how a game-day will work. What we do know is that the game will not be streamed and it is unlikely that there will be any video or photos from the match, other than what we are able to capture. The games are also friendlies and do not count towards any table.
The Teams
Lazers SC
The Lazers are a club based in Garner, NC that played on fall season in the United Premier Soccer League. The club has been around in some capacity since 2011 providing youth soccer to the area. During their time in UPSL Lazers SC called Wake Christian Academy their home venue. Their one-off season with the league did not go to well as the side finished last in the division with a 2–1–7 record.
Clinton FC
We don’t know much about this Clinton, NC side. They joined social media accounts early September with a black and gold logo featuring a wolf. It changed a days later to their current crest. The team has played a few friendlies, but have not posted about many of them. Information we can find on those friendlies comes from other clubs and is often incomplete. Their home venue, at least for friendlies, that looks to be the home for a local league called Liga de Futbol Las Carolinas.
We will be on location for several games in October. These dates are subject to change based on how comfortable and safe we feel at a venue. That being said, let us know if you’ll be at a game and definitely flag us down if you see us!
