As you likely have heard by now, AFC Ann Arbor have made the move to the USL system and have joined the pre-professional USL League Two. The move makes them the second team from Michigan in USL2 as they join national champions Flint City Bucks in the Midwest Conference's Great Lakes Division. The implications for the club are all quite exciting and I figured it's high time to give a rundown on what exactly it may mean.
New Opponents
This first one is perhaps the most obvious one, so let's tackle it first and give fans a quick introduction to their new division-mates. The now-six-team conference with the introduction of AFCAA has four brand new opponents for the club. Flint City Bucks have squared off with AFCAA in the U.S. Open Cup previously, but the four out of state clubs will provide new challenges. The travel within the division is a bit longer than what fans will previously be accustomed to in the NPSL Great Lakes with a heavy Michigan contingency. That said, with the jump up of Michigan Stars and Detroit City to the professional ranks of NISA, The Mighty Oak were set to lose out the two of the three closest road trips and in-state foes. Additionally, the Michigan Milk Cup will surely provide more chances to see in-state foes as well.
Chicago FC United won the division this past season and are perhaps the most alluring road trip -- weekend in Chicago, anyone? The club made the national semifinals in 2018 while in the Heartland Division and while taken out by old foe Kaw Valley in the playoffs, they would figure to be a tough opponent. There are also the two Ohio clubs that share the same nickname -- Cincinnati Dutch Lions and Dayton Dutch Lions. Dayton won the division in 2018 while Cincinnati has finished in third each of the past two seasons and would love to get into the postseason. Finally, you have West Virginia Alliance FC, the farther trip of the season. The former West Virginia Chaos struggled last season and in 2018, but have the potential to steal points especially at home if teams come in road-weary.
Pre-Professional and the Term's Implications
The term USL2 use for their league is 'pre-professional' and that is for good reason. Even while it was the PDL the league itself has generally been seen as the premier league for collegiate talent to spend their summers. That is where some of the bigger implications come from for The Mighty Oak. The average age of the USL League Two player is 21.2. Previously, when the league was branded as the PDL, there were eight players permitted to be over 23 on the 26-man league roster, and three players had to be nineteen or younger. I am not entirely sure if that is still the case, however operating on the assumption that it is makes more more interesting roster building for The Mighty Oak.
The immediate positive is that Eric Rudland has done a fantastic job in bringing collegiate players in that play on a high level. While not entirely rare in the NPSL, the league by its nature allows for teams of all types to partake. With the USL2 focus on high-quality college-aged players, that plays to the strengths of Rudland's eye for talent. While some of the non-collegiate talent like Joseph Okumu were under-23 talent, there is still the flexibility for the players like Jack Cawley and Matt Braem, for example, to showcase their talent. It just becomes a matter of being more selective with which of those players you wish to extend invites out to for the season.
Where AFC Ann Arbor have found great success is with recruiting quality collegiate players, especially from out of state, to come to Ann Arbor for the summer. Within USL League Two, I would expect that to not just continue but to be strengthened. Take this past season, for example. Marc Ybarra and Yuri Farkas were both 2018 NPSL Great Lakes XI selections, and both spent 2019 with Flint City Bucks. The allure of USL League Two is strong among top-tier players when seeing the cast of players that have kickstarted their careers while in college is extensive and the move will allow The Mighty Oak to get in on that. The question I am curious to see is just how many more collegiate players will play with the club? There has always been a significant collegiate-player core within the club, though, so I would figure business to be carried out essentially as usual.
The State of the Sport in Michigan
This move for AFCAA is just one of a handful of league realignment moves that will make this coming season vastly different from any of the last few. Entering last season, the state had just one professional team -- Lansing Ignite in USL League One. This coming summer there will be two. However, one of them will not be Lansing. While not yet official, a myriad of fan and player sources have allowed reputable outlets (highly recommend giving this Lansing State Journal piece a read) release stories surrounding the team's folding. Questions remain on if there will be soccer in Lansing this summer in either main fourth-tier league. Rising up to third-tier NISA will be Detroit City FC and Michigan Stars. Both will be making the full move for the spring with the NPSL Members Cup season just about complete. City won the Members Cup while Stars are fifth as of time of writing.
There are also questions surrounding Grand Rapids FC as the NPSL staples reportedly are looking for an investor to help the club over the long term. What that exactly means is unclear as is the ownership situation, as can be seen in the screenshot of the Facebook post in the linked Reddit thread. With this uncertainty, the NPSL Great Lakes, once a hotbed of Michigan teams, looks guaranteed to enter the season with just two teams with the state -- Kalamazoo FC and expansion side Muskegon Risers. Also on the amateur level you have the Midwest Premier League which, while not having announced a team outside Iowa and Illinois as of yet, do indeed have Michigan listed as a site of focus. There is also a campaign seemingly helmed by Livonia City FC and LK St. Clair to put together a statewide league which would figure to center around the current MPSL teams. Finally, you have the uncertainly of the UPSL. With teams moving in the Midwest (the Midwest Central has had three of its five teams confirmed as parts of the Midwest PL) the composition of the Michigan-based Midwest East seems fragile.
Final Thoughts
It is a time of change within the state and with AFC Ann Arbor as a whole. In terms of what it means for the club, in short, I think this is a step of growth and an opportunity to put themselves in a good position for the future. USL League Two fit in very well with the club's ethos of putting players in good positions to play at the next level and to be fit and firing for their college seasons. With so much change, as well, in the state, it is a really good idea, in my eyes, to move to a league that seems to be growing overall within the grand scheme of American soccer. This also aligns them with the most 'stagnant' club in the state -- which is a word with a negative connotation but I don't mean it in that manner. The stability that Bucks have had in staying in the PDL/USL2 offers a really good position for The Mighty Oak as a whole. To conclude, the move sets up a really exciting 2020 season. I think it is exciting for the club as a whole to branch out from just games in the state of Michigan as well in a new situation for the club.
Follow me on Twitter @RMAB_Ryan where I am more active. I tweet a lot about NPSL Great Lakes stuff when in season as well as soccer in general. Of course, I also tweet about Michigan/college basketball.
New Opponents
This first one is perhaps the most obvious one, so let's tackle it first and give fans a quick introduction to their new division-mates. The now-six-team conference with the introduction of AFCAA has four brand new opponents for the club. Flint City Bucks have squared off with AFCAA in the U.S. Open Cup previously, but the four out of state clubs will provide new challenges. The travel within the division is a bit longer than what fans will previously be accustomed to in the NPSL Great Lakes with a heavy Michigan contingency. That said, with the jump up of Michigan Stars and Detroit City to the professional ranks of NISA, The Mighty Oak were set to lose out the two of the three closest road trips and in-state foes. Additionally, the Michigan Milk Cup will surely provide more chances to see in-state foes as well.
Chicago FC United won the division this past season and are perhaps the most alluring road trip -- weekend in Chicago, anyone? The club made the national semifinals in 2018 while in the Heartland Division and while taken out by old foe Kaw Valley in the playoffs, they would figure to be a tough opponent. There are also the two Ohio clubs that share the same nickname -- Cincinnati Dutch Lions and Dayton Dutch Lions. Dayton won the division in 2018 while Cincinnati has finished in third each of the past two seasons and would love to get into the postseason. Finally, you have West Virginia Alliance FC, the farther trip of the season. The former West Virginia Chaos struggled last season and in 2018, but have the potential to steal points especially at home if teams come in road-weary.
Pre-Professional and the Term's Implications
The term USL2 use for their league is 'pre-professional' and that is for good reason. Even while it was the PDL the league itself has generally been seen as the premier league for collegiate talent to spend their summers. That is where some of the bigger implications come from for The Mighty Oak. The average age of the USL League Two player is 21.2. Previously, when the league was branded as the PDL, there were eight players permitted to be over 23 on the 26-man league roster, and three players had to be nineteen or younger. I am not entirely sure if that is still the case, however operating on the assumption that it is makes more more interesting roster building for The Mighty Oak.
The immediate positive is that Eric Rudland has done a fantastic job in bringing collegiate players in that play on a high level. While not entirely rare in the NPSL, the league by its nature allows for teams of all types to partake. With the USL2 focus on high-quality college-aged players, that plays to the strengths of Rudland's eye for talent. While some of the non-collegiate talent like Joseph Okumu were under-23 talent, there is still the flexibility for the players like Jack Cawley and Matt Braem, for example, to showcase their talent. It just becomes a matter of being more selective with which of those players you wish to extend invites out to for the season.
Where AFC Ann Arbor have found great success is with recruiting quality collegiate players, especially from out of state, to come to Ann Arbor for the summer. Within USL League Two, I would expect that to not just continue but to be strengthened. Take this past season, for example. Marc Ybarra and Yuri Farkas were both 2018 NPSL Great Lakes XI selections, and both spent 2019 with Flint City Bucks. The allure of USL League Two is strong among top-tier players when seeing the cast of players that have kickstarted their careers while in college is extensive and the move will allow The Mighty Oak to get in on that. The question I am curious to see is just how many more collegiate players will play with the club? There has always been a significant collegiate-player core within the club, though, so I would figure business to be carried out essentially as usual.
The State of the Sport in Michigan
This move for AFCAA is just one of a handful of league realignment moves that will make this coming season vastly different from any of the last few. Entering last season, the state had just one professional team -- Lansing Ignite in USL League One. This coming summer there will be two. However, one of them will not be Lansing. While not yet official, a myriad of fan and player sources have allowed reputable outlets (highly recommend giving this Lansing State Journal piece a read) release stories surrounding the team's folding. Questions remain on if there will be soccer in Lansing this summer in either main fourth-tier league. Rising up to third-tier NISA will be Detroit City FC and Michigan Stars. Both will be making the full move for the spring with the NPSL Members Cup season just about complete. City won the Members Cup while Stars are fifth as of time of writing.
There are also questions surrounding Grand Rapids FC as the NPSL staples reportedly are looking for an investor to help the club over the long term. What that exactly means is unclear as is the ownership situation, as can be seen in the screenshot of the Facebook post in the linked Reddit thread. With this uncertainty, the NPSL Great Lakes, once a hotbed of Michigan teams, looks guaranteed to enter the season with just two teams with the state -- Kalamazoo FC and expansion side Muskegon Risers. Also on the amateur level you have the Midwest Premier League which, while not having announced a team outside Iowa and Illinois as of yet, do indeed have Michigan listed as a site of focus. There is also a campaign seemingly helmed by Livonia City FC and LK St. Clair to put together a statewide league which would figure to center around the current MPSL teams. Finally, you have the uncertainly of the UPSL. With teams moving in the Midwest (the Midwest Central has had three of its five teams confirmed as parts of the Midwest PL) the composition of the Michigan-based Midwest East seems fragile.
Final Thoughts
It is a time of change within the state and with AFC Ann Arbor as a whole. In terms of what it means for the club, in short, I think this is a step of growth and an opportunity to put themselves in a good position for the future. USL League Two fit in very well with the club's ethos of putting players in good positions to play at the next level and to be fit and firing for their college seasons. With so much change, as well, in the state, it is a really good idea, in my eyes, to move to a league that seems to be growing overall within the grand scheme of American soccer. This also aligns them with the most 'stagnant' club in the state -- which is a word with a negative connotation but I don't mean it in that manner. The stability that Bucks have had in staying in the PDL/USL2 offers a really good position for The Mighty Oak as a whole. To conclude, the move sets up a really exciting 2020 season. I think it is exciting for the club as a whole to branch out from just games in the state of Michigan as well in a new situation for the club.
Follow me on Twitter @RMAB_Ryan where I am more active. I tweet a lot about NPSL Great Lakes stuff when in season as well as soccer in general. Of course, I also tweet about Michigan/college basketball.
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