Stockade FC Through the Eyes of AOHV (American Outlaws: Hudson Valley)
In the summer of 2015, I woke up to a twitter message from this verified, Dennis Crowley guy. The blue check is always pretty intimidating but our American Outlaws: Hudson Valley (AOHV) chapter of U.S. Soccer Supporters was pretty used to interacting with bigger names from the US Soccer world. That morning, I did not think anything of the message at first but, of course, I had to figure out who this guy was. This is the moment that my Stockade FC journey began. As I read Dennis’ message asking “how do you think an NPSL (D4) team would do up here?,” I, admittedly, thought he was a bit crazy.
While the Hudson Valley has always been a hotbed for soccer, I’ve seen too many athletics projects come and go in the area. Regardless, I was on board 110% from the start and was willing to use our AOHV and local soccer contacts to help make this work. Dennis and I continued to exchange a few emails and discuss field spaces, players and so much more. After a few days of back and forth, we met up at a local brewery and that is when I was able to realize the plan and start to believe in this project. Corey Allen, AOHV’s social media instigator and soccer guru, came along with me to meet Dennis. We discussed lower level soccer and the potential here in the Hudson Valley. A few weeks later, the Stockade FC application went into NPSL and here we are two years later! Now, I know my side of the story is a bit less interesting than Dennis’ fun-filled San Francisco night where he decided to reach out to AO: Hudson Valley with this crazy idea, but still, it’s meaningful.
Our American Outlaws chapter had a lot to bring to the table. We were fresh off a 2014 World Cup where we filled our chapter bar with nearly 1,000 supporters [WATCH THE VIDEO!] for the USMNT matches, especially the knockout round match defeat to Belgium (DAMN YOU WONDO!) and a 2015 Women’s World Cup Championship (!!!). It just seemed like the perfect time for us to get involved with a project like this. Our following was at an all time high and we could use our local connections to pull in talent and supporters. Obviously, we understood why Dennis reached out to us as he wanted to build this local soccer brand, and we were grateful. Here in 2017, Stockade FC is filled with AOHV members. From myself and AOHV treasurer, Nick Hoffay, to Assistant Coach Rory Becker, players and many, many supporters. I love the supporters side of the game. It is undoubtedly one of the most important aspects to a home field advantage and growth of the game. But when it came time to determine my role within Stockade FC, I wanted to be part of the club, rather than the supporters group. The Dutch Guard was quickly established and AOHV, of course, provided some tips and advice.
There are two very different components of Stockade FC. There is the side of the club that manages the brand and the side of the club that manages soccer. While the marketing, social media and brand get most of the national attention, the FC side of the club works just as diligently behind the scenes. I have been fortunate enough to be on both sides. Even though my main responsibilities revolve around soccer day-to-day operations, I have experienced, the hard work of our volunteers and the many roles that they play. While Dennis and the team do an incredible job with marketing, sponsorship, streaming, etc., their hard work allows the coaching staff and players to focus on soccer.
Now that you understand the backstory of how I became involved with the club, my main purpose for writing this is to help other clubs understand the soccer side and the many moving pieces.
RECRUITING
In the winter of 2015–2106, as Dennis and Randy Kim, Stockade FC’s General Manager, were busy hiring our first head coach; Nick Hoffay, Stockade FC’s Lead Scout, and I were busy identifying players. We began with the players we knew from the area who had potential to play at this level and expanded to college programs and players on the outskirts of the Hudson Valley. Eventually, Nick’s scouting document read over 200 names with locations, ages, scouting reports and much more. As we planned our first tryouts, we used this document to contact players and coaches. Our inaugural 2016 squad was comprised mainly of players from the Hudson Valley who had played in college or higher levels. The coaching staff chose 33 players from a player pool of ~200 prospective athletes. During our 5 trial dates, of which 2 were held as open tryouts, we saw players at a range of playing levels. Of the 200 players in the 2016 tryout process, only about 50–60 of them were recruited. In 2017, we were dedicated to changing that.
During the winter of 2016–17, Nick and I contacted more coaches from D-1/2/3 schools than I could possibly count (Talking to college coaches in your area should be priority #1). Shoutout to coaches like Matt Viggiano (Marist), Trevor Gorman (UAlbany), Cesar Markovic (Siena) and many more who have been incredibly supportive of our club. We watched hours and hours of game film, wrote nearly a thousand scouting reports and spoke with hundreds of players about potential trials with Stockade FC in 2017. Of the 5 tryouts in 2017, 3 of them were private invite-only session. In those 3 sessions, Coach David Lindholm and his staff we able to see over ~110 players who were previously scouted and evaluated before being invited. On the coldest weekend of the year (FREEZING!), we held open tryouts and evaluated 132 more players over the two day span. Although over 200 players had registered for the event, not all braved the temperatures. After the coaching staff selected their roster for the 2017 NPSL season, there were 12 Stockade FC returners from the previous season and 21 newcomers. Of those newcomers, 13 were currently playing at the collegiate level.
As the club develops, we start to understand what particular pieces we may need to improve on in future years and what players may be leaving us as they get older or head into the workforce after graduation. My hope for the winter of 2017–18 is that we will be able to sit down as a technical staff and be able to identify those key areas of need. This will help us to target certain types of players/positions during our recruitment process. This process seems to get a little easier as the years go on — well, if you are winning at least!
REGISTRATION
Now that the team has been selected, the registration and USSF clearing process fun begins. The National Premier Soccer League uses a registration process called BonziTeam. On Bonzi, players will fill out key information, country of citizenship, previous club information, etc. and upload important documents such as their passport so the NPSL can clear them through US Soccer. I assume all leagues have their own form of data collection for registration purposes and will ultimately train your club staff to use the service much like the NPSL does for us via BonziTeam. The registration process can be a royal pain, so plan lots of time, especially for your international born players who will require an International Clearance Form (ITC). This form will be sent to their foreign federation and could take up to 30 days to clear. Once all of the players clear, you can control and edit the BonziTeam roster which you must have on match day to supply to the referee, opposition and scorers table/press booth. Every NPSL team is assigned a case manager to help manage these responsibilities.
Links to study:
NCAA/AMATEURISM
One of the best pieces of advice I can give you: READ! In the past 2 years, I have spent hours upon hours reading rules, guidelines and regulations for different levels of soccer in the USSF and NCAA. Something you will learn very quickly is that every set of rules is different. As a NPSL club who deals with many players with current NCAA eligibility, amateurism is extremely important. In order for us to keep our college players in good standing with the NCAA, all of our players must follow the strict NCAA rules of amateurism. It is important that you learn all of these rules and guidelines. It is essential to running a club. Make friends with a compliance officer (Hey Ed- Thanks!) and make sure to ask questions because the eligibility of your athletes is at risk!
- My go-to amateurism in NCAA link: click here
I can’t stress the importance of this enough! Please make sure you do everything in your power to protect the student-athletes in your system. A couple extra wins is not worth changing their lives and potentially risking their scholarships and education.
My biggest tips for you re: amateurism-
- Players with NCAA-eligibility may not participate in your program until the end of their school calendar year (~May 1)
- All contact with them must go through their coach during the school year.
- Get out to their matches/training sessions to see them play rather than finding ways to see them in tryouts.
- Current NCAA athletes may NOT compete with professional athletes. This means, if you pay anyone on your team, you can’t use current college athletes (or future college athletes). Period.
- No more than 5 athletes from one program can play or train on a team at one time (aka- each college program can only give you 5 players).
- When hiring a head coach, keep in mind that Coach Bobby Muuss (I’m at big fan of his!) at Wake Forest can not coach Wake Forest players in the offseason.
- Lastly, when in doubt, talk to NCAA Compliance officers! I am not a Compliance officers, but they are easy to find- every NCAA school has one and they are always happy to help!
COMMUNICATION
Communication is incredibly important to our group. For overall Stockade FC business, we rely heavily on slack and google drives for our day-to-day interactions. On a daily basis, our slack channel is filled with ideas and questions and cries for help/assistance. Our google drives are filled with scouting reports, rosters, spreadsheets, data, contact information, schedules and training plans from the coaching staff.
Communication with the players and technical staff is also vitally important. This is one of the most important duties of my position. On a weekly basis, I send player emails with the weekly schedule and the game day itinerary for home and away matches. As an amateur team, Stockade FC players very often hold everyday jobs. We have teachers, engineers, lawyers, businessmen, etc. who manage everyday life, their work life and their Stockade FC life. It is important that we make sure they are up-to-date on all information for the week ahead. I would greatly recommend this strategy to every club.
YOUTH
The youth of our community has been very important to us as we have built our NPSL side. Local soccer players wearing Stockade FC gear or their town league or travel team uniforms at Stockade FC matches receive discounted, $2 tickets. Local teams walk out with our players and opponent, play mini-matches at halftime and line the fences post-match in hopes of an autograph or two. We have also donated tickets to local Boys and Girls Clubs and other organizations. The community is a major priority. As an elementary educator, this is incredibly important for me. In year 2, we have already done so much for the youth in the Hudson Valley and continue to look for more ways to help. (I am also working on a post about our future Stockade FC Youth Academy- coming soon!)
Our players have been actively involved in the local youth soccer community for the past two years. Very often they can be found at training sessions, camps, clinics, etc. working with the youth of the Hudson Valley.
One of the favorite parts of my position is that I get to be at training every night. I love the ability to get to know every player, help manage gear and equipment and all team needs. On any given day, I can be seen collecting data from players, filling out will-call lists, handing out training gear or chasing soccer balls sent flying over the goal frame. I know it is not the most glamorous part of the job, but it is a blast! It is the brotherhood of the sport which I love so much. Something I would not get to experience if I wasn’t at training.
There is a lot of work involved and, yes, my house (and my parents’ garage- thanks Mom & Dad!) is a mess most of the time, filled with Inaria boxes, Stockade FC kits and training tops, and so much more …
and the laundry STINKS… (Ha! Right, dens?!)
And I usually can’t see out of the back windshield of my car…
But I wouldn’t trade any of it! Being part of this club and helping to grow local soccer in our community has been an incredibly rewarding experience. I am very excited for the future of Stockade FC and the impacts we can continue to make on soccer in the Hudson Valley and in the United States. Responding to that twitter message was one of the best things I have ever done!
Hey — I’m happy to help in any way I can! Drop me a comment or find me on twitter @d4nh0ffay!
