This Is What I Do

Since I’ve recommitted to this blog in February I’ve been on a mission to get back into the game in some capacity. But not just any capacity. I don’t want to start a soccer camp and rip kids off. I don’t want to join a youth club and pretend to be a coach. I want to somehow be involved in a way that will influence a greater soccer good. What that greater good is, also, can be up for debate. I will start with this. I want to see the USMNT win the World Cup.

Why can’t this happen in my lifetime. I also want to have a top level professional soccer team in Fort Lauderdale (in the form of the Strikers of course). Why can’t that be a possibility?

We can discuss these goals later, for now, here is what I am up to and how I am going to try and make those 2 things happen:

1. The Striker Likers Blog

This is a place for my personal opinion. I’m not a journalist nor a historian. Just another crazy kid in love with soccer, in love with the idea of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers and an American who wants to win. I hope I can connect a few folks to those concepts and bring people together to spread the word, talk about the game and continue its growth.

2. The Lauderdale Soccer Club

The club my parents started back in 1995 with a few youth teams still exists! Yes, we play in an affiliated league and can compete in the US Open Cup. According to US Soccer’s bizarre pyramid, we are considered a 4th division team. With that mentality in mind, my job will be to publicize our club, marketing our team, seek sponsors and one day, just maybe, the Lauderdale Soccer Club can be a pro outfit. Imagine, our own stadium, development teams, the works. I won’t get ahead of myself, we are still looking for our first sponsor.

3. Gold Coast Soccer Premier League

The league our team plays in is also a labour of love for our family. The Gold Coast has been around since the 1970’s and my parents keep it alive. It’s currently 7 teams strong in its summer session. It’s a legit league, taken seriously. Players are looking to make college teams, or they are college players looking to make PDL and semi-pro teams. It’s 4th division as they say.

So, that’s what I’m up to you. What are you up to?

US Soccer: The Most Confusing Sport in the World

A bold statement in fact, but let me explain. 

It begins at the US Open Cup game between Miami FC and Atlanta United. A simple cup tie for most soccer fans, but to the trio of teenagers behind me the fabric of American soccer was something they couldn’t seem to grasp. And I don’t blame them, we have made our beloved sport so confusing to follow that we are handicapping our chances of popularity and success.

“What’s the difference between the Lamar Hunt Cup and the US Open Cup?”, they so innocently wondered. I hope it doesn’t come as a shock to anyone reading this article, they are the same thing. But if local youth soccer players don’t know the difference, we have a problem.

The kids continued to have problems getting their facts straight. They kept saying that Atlanta United forward Andrew Carleton played for Weston FC. Andrew, in fact, grew up in Georgia, is one of Atlanta United’s Homegrown Players and has played for the US U15 and U17 national teams.

The boys went on. Commenting on how Miami FC would fare against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers and Tampa Bay Rowdies, who in their view of the US Soccer landscape all play in the same league. In fact, Miami FC play in the NASL. Tampa Bay plays in the USL. And the Strikers, well, they just don’t exist anymore.

Here is where I’m going with this. We have some how some way in this country so confused the public that following our sport requires a dictionary, a glossary and a legal bible.

A few months ago I got mad at radio broadcasters for not being able to understand the away goal rule in a home and away Champions League game, but I fear the problem is much worse.

Take South Florida for example, sometime soon we will have our Miami MLS team. We will also have a Miami NASL team. We have teams in the NPSL, UPSL and PDL national leagues. Confused? PDL is an Under-23 league. NPSL is a mix of amateur and semi-pro.

What about college teams? We have a lot of teams. We have a lot of leagues. What makes it so muddled is that they are all run separately and the only competition that unites them is the US Open Cup.

As we like to compare to other countries. When cup games are scheduled its easy to say this team is Division 1, 2, 3, etc. Here we have MLS teams playing USL teams and NASL teams playing PDL teams. And no one has any clue as to what differentiates one from the other.

Unfortunately I don’t have the answer. Is it simple enough to have US Soccer come in, take over each league and say you are 1, you are 2 and so forth? Perhaps. I don’t care what it’s called, let’s just make it simple and let fans know what they are in for.

We're Not Gonna Take It

Still waiting to hear about the future of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, just like we’re waiting to hear about Miami Beckham United (recent news reports seem to indicate there actually maybe news). In any case, Miami FC remains the only professional outfit in all of South Florida, but let that not be a harbinger for doom. In fact, the opposite is true. The true dirty south has begun to rise, in several ways.

THE US OPEN CUP

The cup begins this week and we have representation! Red Force FC, Miami United FC, Boca Raton FC and the South Florida Surf will be playing their hand in the cup. They, of course, play each other in the first round, meaning at least two will be in the second round. It’s good to know we have this strong a contingent of amateur sides.

U-17 WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS

The good old U, S of A qualified, finished second in the tournament and had a few young-ins from around here. Weston FC and Kendall SC each had an impact player on the squad.

THE TAILGATE SHOW

Yes, we Striker fans have a podcast. And it’s awesome! This South Florida-centric show really pulls at my heart strings. The show’s crew - Chris, Paul and Justin really know their stuff and can put on an entertaining 2 hours each week. Guests include soccer writers, soccer players, soccer movers and shakers. Hopefully I’ll get a guest spot in the “kudio” one day.

HIMMARSHEE FC

Flight 19, the Strikers supporter’s group did what they had to do while the Strikers went away - they started their own club! A community-owned club will be bringing a fresh look to amateur scene, and also supporters to amateur games.

So that’s just a peppering of what we got going on down here. As for me, well, I’ve got some things in the works as well. Too early to brag about now, but just like my neighbors, I’m not sitting idle while Lockhart Stadium becomes a weed garden.

The Name Game

I am a positive person. I believe in a world where the Fort Lauderdale Strikers will live again. I believe South Florida can support an MLS team, maybe two. I believe. I believe that. I believe that we. I believe that we will see the Strikers again!

But there are a few things that drive me crazy. One of those things are soccer camps. At not just any soccer camp, it's those club branded soccer camps. I'm talking to you Barcelona and PSG. I won't go into the rant that soccer camps are just money makers and have no positive affect on soccer in our communities. 

If we're going to have soccer camps they have to have ties to local soccer.

I grew up with two soccer camps, both devices of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. I was blessed with the Thomas Rongen Soccer Camp and the Nene Cubillas Camp Futbol. Both camps run by Strikers. Today our children are being drawn by these big clubs, Barcelona and PSG. But that's not all. I was picking up my son from school and in the office I saw a flyer for a Colo Colo soccer camp. Are you kidding me?

What's next? Pachuca? Manchester United? Is that what we're coming to? Do we need to brand our soccer with these clubs to provide validity?

If we believe that we are a soccer community, a soccer producing community, then drop these brands and have pride in yourself. We are doing ourselves a disservice. It's part of why we get the ICC games, international friendlies, but very little professional soccer. 

The casual soccer fan here. The fan that we need to cater to has all of these brands coming to town diluting our own local product. Stop the branded camps. We need more local action. We need to create our own brands. 

Who's to Blame for the MLS Void in South Florida?

The first guest post to Strikers Likers comes from my dad. Dr. Jose Meeroff. Associate Prof of Medicine University of Miami and Florida Atlantic University. ATFA (FIFA) “A” pro soccer coach. NSCAA Premier Diploma Soccer Coach and Emeritus life time USSF and NISOA Referee.

My dad, myself, my son and my nephew drove up to Orlando last week to catch an MLS game. The entire drive home we tried to convince ourselves not to move to Orlando where apparently they figured out how to have MLS, and amazing stadium, and an amazing atmosphere. 

So moved be the experience, my dad wrote this. Enjoy.

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WHO IS GUILTY THAT WE DON’T HAVE A MLS TEAM IN SOUTH FLORIDA?

To me the answer to the title question is quite simple: we all are guilty by reasons of abandonment, incapacity, ignorance and egotism.

I will center my opinion in the following concepts. First, look at the makeup of our nomad South Florida communities. The great majority of us were born somewhere else in the world and came here to make fortune the easy way. We are a community of foreign people with no interest in the history and/or the tradition of the area we live in. Very few South Florida residents have any idea of the origins of Broward or Dade county, nor do they know the significance of those names. According to most New Yorkers (some days I tend to believe that South Florida is just a “South New York” borough) people come to Florida to die, to escape from justice, to make easy money to be later sent to “their countries” or to have sex.  

In South Florida, there is very little support or loyalty to any institution, in education, art, or sports. South Florida, for most of those that are now permanent residents, is still a transient place just for entertainment, leisure and promiscuity. Those negative beliefs can immediately be incorporated into local soccer. Most soccer people in our area strongly believe that here it is impossible to seed the passion for the game. They stalwartly dispute that: 1. Soccer is much better in their home land; 2. The game is not suited for the “American mentality”, whatever that means; 3. Their kids ought to go and play soccer in their home country; 4. American natives are not capable of running the sport and/or the business of soccer; 5. There is no need to support the US National soccer teams, the local top pro/semipro squads or even collegiate teams and 6. The quality of American Pro soccer is inferior to the weakest one in the world.

I strongly argue that all these concepts are intellectual aberrations pungently contributing to South Florida’s difficulty to integrate into the prospering scene of the top level of soccer in the US. We are well aware that US professional soccer leagues are not perfect and need improvement. But which league around the globe is perfect: the corrupt Italian Calcio Serie A or the disable Argentine Premier AFA league? 

Nevertheless, the US first division pro league, Major League Soccer (MLS) is blooming exponentially and its level of play can be easily compared to the one of any of the so called “first soccer world” pro leagues. The MLS has currently 22 teams playing, 19 in continental US and 3 in Canada. The MLS plans to expand to 28 or more teams, with probably different divisions. Most of the current teams own modern soccer specific stadiums, are structured logically and have an established large local fan base. 

Last weekend my son, Diego, and I attended the match played in Orlando between the Orlando City SC and the Los Angeles Galaxy. That was a treat. Orlando has a new, spectacular soccer specific stadium built in downtown Orlando (with the managerial and financial support from the local government and business). The game was played on a Saturday afternoon, the stadium was packed with 25,000 spectators most of them wearing the colors of the home team. The atmosphere was incredible and much safer than the one you encounter when attending a match in South America or even in parts of Europe. The game was excellent and ended in a 2-1 victory by Orlando City with a goal scored in extra time (minute 91) on a great set play. We were fortunate to watch impressive American players such as Jonathan Spector and Joe Bendix from the home team and Jermaine Jones from the visitors (a German born player from American parents who is a regular to the US Men National team since 2010). The Orlando City SC organization is a broad one: they have not only an MLS team but also other pro teams including a USL team (Orlando City B), women’s pro team (Orlando Pride) and a very sophisticated youth based structure (Orlando City Development Academy), all under one roof.

For us, the only negative aspects of the weekend experience were driving to Orlando, spending a night at an overpriced Hotel and trying to find good, modestly priced restaurants where to eat. Otherwise it was a great event. My grandchildren Nico and Hudson loved the game and the spectacle.

In the meantime what are we doing here in South Florida for the good of soccer? We continue importing “soccer academies” of insignificant value, increasing the number of “clubs” playing “traveling” soccer (a misnomer for expensive recreational soccer), not communicating among each other and waiting for the Messiah to arrive and fix all our deficiencies. Unfortunately, in my modest opinion, we have too many messiah potential candidates who are not only not qualified as such, but also not honest and not pledged to the progress of soccer in the Gold Coast. Furthermore, the real soccer experts and committed South Floridians soccer devoted are very seldom called to participate in any progressive project including the ill-advisedly Beckham one. Regrettably we continue living in the dark ages and with almost no light at the end of the tunnel.

Definitively, I don’t want to live in a depressive mood. I don’t want to be forced to wait for someone to build a spaceship that can take me to Mars, Jupiter or to other galaxies where I can start developing and cultivating good soccer. In the meantime, I will continue going to Orlando when I can, coaching the Academy Premier team, organizing and delivering coaching educational activities and teaching the little I know about soccer to all my grandchildren Nico, Hudson, Luca, Harley and Dylan.

Nevertheless, I also demand that local people wake up, start accepting responsibility and act. I won’t remain passive; if it requires to fight a war, I will fight. And for the rest, I remind them what was said at the JFK inaugural presidential address “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”. We, as a society of settlers, have the obligation to build up the next level of soccer in South Florida, now !!!

Who Is It Good For?

So I haven’t found too much in the past week to lift my spirits about a year passing by without the Fort Lauderdale Strikers.

We had the MLS opening weekend however and I tried to watch as much as I could possibly watch. I had other obligations - Tae Kwan Do practice, summer camp tours, Chinese Lantern Festival. It’s the joys of parenthood. Luckily I was able to finish the weekend playing soccer with my 5-year old son and 6-year old nephew.

Back to MLS, it was an awesome weekend. It would have been even better if we had a game down here for sure, but for now, it’s a pleasure watching this game take shape in the US. Seeing it covered as much as it is. It gave me that warm and fuzzy feeling you know. That feeling, however, was quickly diminished when I heard sports talk radio trying to come to grips with Barcelona defeating PSG in Champions League.

So for a brief moment I wasn’t lamenting the loss of the Strikers, I was instead embarrassed and extremely angered that sports media still acts ignorant to our sport and laughs at how little they know. I scanned 4 separate sport talks shows right after the game. Each of them made mention of the result. Then each of them got confused on how aggregate scoring works. Then each of them laughed at how little they know about it.

Is that where we are right now? Do we still need to explain why regular season games end in a tie? Do we to explain what the Champions League is every year? It’s a insult. I wanted to live in this moment where the game completely restored my faith. I wanted this moment to be enjoyed. Instead, radio hosts were baffled at all the twitter noise and then stumbled over the scoresheet. No excuses sports media.

So that’s out of the way. Now back to Strikers talk. Not much to report really. And that’s it.

But I’m not going to stop there. So the next thing is google. I’m a big believer in building stadiums. Lockhart needs to refresh. OKC Energy has done something similar with their building, Taft Stadium. Check it out, it’s nice. A lot of teams, also, are dressing up their rented facilities, which is nice. But having your own space is special. The MLS model has afforded this. Not many team below that threshold can say they same.

But Lockhart was going to be rebuilt remember? Schlitterbahn, a water park was going to put a park in that area and have a lazy river run through Lockhart. They were going to upgrade the stadium and put in 4 more soccer fields. Initially the plan stalled because the city had to but the land from the airport and a hefty price. But guess what? They did it, they bought it. Plans were made and Schlitterbahn was about to become a reality. So why hasn’t it been done? Rapids Water Park. A water park in Palm Beach County has brought the City of Fort Lauderdale to court for not allowing competing bids for the space.

For that reason the rebuild is at a halt. It’s truly unbelievable. But that is the real reason that South Florida gets a bad rap. It’s not the players, it’s not the teams, it’s not the fans. It’s the greed. Look at Beckham’s deal. He’s on his third stadium location because of local business greed. First it was the cruise lines, then it was the Marlins. Everyone wants to benefit monetarily so it makes it hard to move the mountain.

A new question arises now. Since the Strikers are incognito, does the stadium plan fall to pieces? How is this resolved? So many questions. So little answers. Everyone says they’re committed, but no one wants to work each other. Every one out for themselves. Good for their business bad for soccer in South Florida.

What's Missing

On a day where the St. Pete City Council confirms the date for a special election including the re-imagining of Al Lang Stadium, those of us in South Florida continue to wallow in our own self doubt, pity ourselves and look up to the heavens for something.

Now, that something isn’t David Beckham like we all believed it would be three years ago. As a Strikers fan, we are on the verge of something that is quite interesting (if not disturbing).

Imagine a scenario if you will that in 5 years time the MLS has three Florida-based teams. Taking into account today’s environment, those three teams would be Orlando City SC, Miami Beckham United and the, ugh, Tampa Bay Rowdies. Am I supposed to be happy or pissed off? The growth of the game of soccer in the US is definitely important to me. I was picked on so much for being the soccer kid in school and now we have soccer-specific stadiums. The expense has been the Fort Lauderdale Strikers which takes me into a talking point.

What is the point of MLS? At its inception, FIFA mandated that US Soccer have a professional league in order to be awarded hosting rights to the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Our founding fathers at the time knew what happened to the NASL and made the decision to create the MLS in the image of American sports leagues. With franchises instead of clubs, the MLS was born. You can’t blame them. The passing of NASL 1.0 was epic. Everything and anything had to be done to avoid a similar calamity. American sports leagues are very stable and so to follow that lead makes business sense.

But soccer has that little something different that no other sport has. It provides opportunity. To me the World Cup is the greatest thing ever because every country is included. Albeit most countries don’t have any shot of winning, they do have an opportunity to make it and play those “world-class” countries. Kuwait in 82, USA in 90, Saudi Arabia in 94 and so on and so on.

Soccer leagues around the world have that same inclusion, just to a different degree. Though slim, a 4th division side in England can theoretically play in the Premier League. That is what the seasoned soccer fan is accustomed to, that is part of the game. The MLS is completely void of that excitement. Actually, and disagree with me, it seems that more excitement is generated in groups trying to make the MLS, than the actual MLS games themselves. Why? Because its the only time we “the little guy” or “outsider” can make it to the big leagues.

It took Philadelphia 7 hard years to push and push to get into the MLS and get a stadium. It was a remarkable story that included a supporter’s group and ownership that fought every obstacle and made it happen. Since they’ve been in the MLS, can you name 3 players who’ve played for the Union?

There is no drama in the MLS, but it is our first division. I honestly find more joy in watching MLS teams compete in Champions League play because that is where that drama exists. Imagine if an MLS team wins the CL? They get to go to the Club World Cup, and play Real Madrid or Barcelona in a competitive match. Wouldn’t that be something?

The MLS is great for so many things. It has increased the level of play of the American footballer. It has made better US coaches. It has forced soccer into mainstream media. These are all things we can thank the MLS for. Plus we have soccer-specific stadiums. So I’m not bashing here, just working my way to something else. The MLS has done all this, but it came at a price and that price was the theater.

I’ll take one stab at a fix for this. MLS should expand to 40 teams and have 2 divisions with pro/rel between them. Then the last place team in Division 2 needs to play in a playoff against the champion of whatever league is deemed beneath it. If it were right now, you would have a NASL-USL playoff winner play against the last place team in D2 MLS. Winner makes it in. I think that will add some excitement, put some fire into these games and freak fans and owners out enough to make the games more interesting. And for the business owners afraid of seeing their $150 million wasted to play in the USL, well, that is the sport, it’s part of the game.

Last point I want to make about MLS here is really more of a statement about MLS Miami. So their PR firm came out and said they are committed to building a world-class club. I mean, come on! An MLS team, by definition, is not world-class. I think MLS fans know that. People in South Florida know that for sure and we can smell bullshit pretty darn well. Should I keep going? You know I’m a little bit of a Miami hater right now, but even the Miami supporters groups are getting antsy, so that cannot be a good sign.

So how does this affect a future Fort Lauderdale Strikers outfit? I don't think it does because we don't even have a team on the field. Without Pro/Rel it is very hard to imagine a strong ownership group investing enough to keep the Strikers alive. And knowing our market, if you're not providing a top-quality experience, you are not going to have attendance. Man, I'm getting very depressed right now. At least I have the USMNT. March 24 can't come any sooner.

What Do We Really Want?

There are numerous factors to take into consideration in order to run a professional sports team (or franchise, etc.). For most of us, we will never know what those things are. For the ones closer to the action, it may became more clear. At the end of the day however the business of sports is at complete odds with what makes sports so fun to watch and enjoy.

The environment we live in now is one of hard business dealings and a soccer economy that still hasn’t realized what it can be or who it should be. I think we tend to get too far from reality sometimes because most of us really love this game and understand every nuance. I actually believe there are more people like this than American sports media or even sport business owners realize.

Professional soccer in America is crazy. It’s the wild wild west every day. We are still in pioneering times and I wonder why that is. The US was introduced to pro soccer in the 1970s. We hosted a World Cup in 1994 and in 2017 we have a 22-team (and expanding) league in the MLS. So why do I still have to explain to people how the Champions League works? Why is it a conversation I have to have to defend international friendlies. Why are we still explaining the game of soccer? I don’t have an answer really but I do believe it is holding us back.

We are so caught up in trying to sell this notion that soccer teams in America can be world famous when we forget why we have teams at all. What is the purpose for having a pro-team? Do we ever really think this through? It’s basically the same question as why do we have TV shows? Pure entertainment. We know for a fact that the game of soccer is the most watched sport on the planet, yet here in South Florida we can’t keep a team afloat for more than a decade at a time, if we’re lucky.

The reasons are endless and the proof is in the pudding. But let’s look ahead. We don’t have a choice really because not much exists.

#1. Quality

 We watch things that are entertaining because of the high quality. The WWE is high quality in production value and execution and it does amazingly well. Soccer in America is getting there? The level of play in the MLS I would argue is “acceptable”. If an MLS side could win the CONCACAF Champions League that would be something. What MLS also considers is the theater. Soccer specific stadiums (SSS) really add to the experience and they add to the quality. Lockhart Stadium, once the blueprint for SSS, is now a relic. Without a proper congregation location, this game doesn’t work. MLS is right it not pushing start with Beckham for this reason.

I can go further. No soccer games in baseball stadiums. No soccer games at high schools or college stadiums. The stadium is as much part of the team as the players and the fans.

Now if we say that the MLS is the highest quality pro soccer here then you can argue we need to set sights on that. But there are issues there. Not anyone can be in the MLS. Your media market among other things dictate your entrance. Look at The Rochester Rhinos. Probably one of the most stable professional clubs in US history will never be in the MLS. They can win the USL year after year, sell out their SSS and never go anywhere. That sucks. But that is our reality at this moment.

Does the pro/rel argument come into play because of this? If clubs like Rochester exist what is their long term strategy? Is playing in the USL the endgame?

Imagine if the Strikers had that sustainability. Imagine if the team had stayed put after the original NASL fold instead of moving to Minnesota. Image if the early 90s team kept playing through all the leagues that came and went (remember the USISL?). What would the team have looked like? Would the Fusion have played at Lockhart if the Strikers were still in existence? If the Strikers had lasted that long, one would argue, attendance would have had to been stupendous. Would MLS be knocking on the door? Would a Fort Lauderdale team with history and fan base be a viable option for the MLS? This takes me to my next point.

#2. Good for Business

Who ever owns the team needs to make money right? You can only lose money on an investment for so long. How that revenue is won is important. Would the Strikers be a springboard club and make money off of player transfers? Are enough local businesses comfortable with marketing to the fan base? At what level does the team have to be to garner any broadcast revenue? Do the Strikers need a pay-to-play youth outfit to add to this revenue stream?

To be sustainable, we need to keep our eye out on this one. We need to align with strong local companies who are as much a fabric of our community as we believe the Strikers can be. They are hundreds of locally-bred companies here that should be a part of this. Have they been contacted? Ever approached?

The business end of all this is what most of us tend to avoid. We care mostly about what happens on the field. So what is good for business in South Florida and Fort Lauderdale in particular? Now remember that at this point a Fort Lauderdale Strikers team has no real stadium. A huge disadvantage. Miami FC has FIU Stadium and maybe one day Boca Raton FC plays out of FAU Stadium. The opportunity there is that a SSS for the Strikers would be solely for soccer purposes, not a collegiate-share venue. That is good for business. You want to own your home, not rent it. Unless there is a pool, pool maintenance is bitch!

It truly is a vicious cycle. You need attendance to drive ticket sales. You need a good team to drive attendance. You need to build hope to get people interested. Do you think Orlando City would have happened without the lure of MLS? Is that carrot available in the FTL? I don’t really know.

The other side is navigating the mine field that is the youth soccer structure.

#3 The Youths

High School and Collegiate soccer aside, we are littered with youth clubs. These organizations don’t need the Strikers for anything. They have been built on their own, they finance themselves and they are extremely successful. The game of soccer is a competition and the business side is just the same. A youth club is better off hosting a weekend tournament then sending their players and families to an NASL Saturday night match. Theoretically, a professional soccer club has its own youth system. So the Strikers would be at odds with every youth club in existence today. Would we ask these clubs to fall under the Strikers umbrella? Are there other options? This is a subject that seems easy on paper until you get down to work it out. And that has been the argument. We have tons of youth soccer players. They would go to a pro soccer game right? Wrong. They play on their team. They travel with their team. They pay dues to their team.

What I am trying to get to is a working hypothesis. I want there to be a Fort Lauderdale Strikers. And I know there a lot of us out there who want the same. Unlike any country in the world, we have to choose what league we play in. There is no pyramid, so this decision is vital. We also need to be responsible in our dreams. Do we realistically see ourselves playing in the MLS? Is the USL/NASL environment the right place?

What happens in Miami and Boca and West Palm and Jupiter may or may not happen. It should not deter efforts in the FTL at all.

What do you think? What can the Strikers be? Who should they be? Let’s draw out our vision of the future. It will get us one step closer to making it happen.

New Jerseys! Yeah!

I’m feeling nostalgic today. Wait. I’m a Strikers fan, I feel nostalgic a lot. But seriously, I just caught a danish film about the Euro 1992 miracle and whenever you start talking Denmark you automatically start thinking to yourself about how amazing their World Cup 1986 jerseys were.

I mean am I right?

Never before did we see pink used with so much tenacity. It was stunning, and the team was fantastic too. But I don’t want to get too far down that rabbit hole. I want to keep things in focus. I want to see pro soccer in Fort Lauderdale again. So here are my ramblings for the day, week or whatever.

Uniforms, Kits and Jerseys

Is there no greater garment invented in the history of mankind than a soccer jersey (or kit or uniform or whatever). At times they can be regal and at times that can be infuriating. But we can all agree that we are suckers for the new kit release (and websites dedicated to it). Just look at the media hype right now just weeks before the MLS kicks off. No one is talking about roster changes or playoff pictures or odds of winning the MLS Cup. No, everyone is talking about jerseys.

Has our soccer culture evolved to a point where we get excited more about the dressing than the substance? Now I’m not saying we should abolish 3rd kits and not do this every year, but we need some moderation. It is surprising to note that the money machine of soccer jerseys has barely scratched the service of NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL teams. It probably is due to the fact people in the old days thought that anything influenced by soccer must be a disease.

They are slowly coming around. The NBA will have sponsors on uniforms come next year with a tiny patch above the left pectoral. This has caused outrage. For the owners, however, just another revenue stream.

And isn’t that novel, ownership concerned about revenue. I say that because revenue is a key factor in sustainability. And isn’t that, as Strikers fans, what we are looking for. Aren’t we in need of something that will last long enough to hand down to our children. It is, if you really think about, an act no less a miracle that the Strikers have been created several times, separately. Another post topic for another day I presume: How the Strikers keep coming back.

I want to stick to want can make the next Strikers chapter sustainable. I’m not involved in the actual process yet (I think I need to join Flight 19 first) but here are my thoughts.

The Stadium

Gotta have it. Soccer is a religious experience, it needs a place for supporters to congregate and watch the beautiful game in person. It needs to be a point of pride. It needs to have history and be cutting edge. It needs to be Lockhart Stadium. Let me rephrase that: it needs to be an updated, state-of-the-art, place I want to live Lockhart Stadium. No need to build a new one, no need to find another location. The location is perfect, it has the history, it just needs to be torn down and rebuilt (figuratively of course).

From press clippings it seemed that this initiative began but never got too far. The water park idea I think is still on the table, but we have to have a shiny new Lockhart to make the Strikers stay for good. And we need more than renderings, because US Soccer fans like only one thing more than new jerseys, and that’s stadium renderings. You know, sometimes I feel that the MLS teams don’t actually exist and we are living out some fantasy idea of cool jerseys and soccer specific arenas in our head.

On the topic of stadiums, my last point. Never put a soccer game in a baseball stadium. I have nothing against baseball even though it was their faithful who trashed soccer the most back in the day. Their stadiums just can’t give you the right soccer experience (sorry NY Cosmos, have a good season). Also, as much as Central Broward Regional Park is a beautiful facility, can’t play soccer there. It’s just weird.

If we were to take stock of what we have that I would deem capable of hosting soccer you’ve got Hard Rock Stadium, FIU and FAU. None of those fit the geographic specimen to be the Strikers’ home. So Lockhart it must be. And wouldn’t it be great if it was all spiced up and fancy? [Feel free to link your own stadium renderings if you’ve got them]

I guess I will stop here for now, seems like the post is going a little long.

Until next time, start thinking how we can guarantee 10,000 people for 15 games. To be sustainable, we need people to show up.

The Pyramid

As I am attempting to keep this blog fresh I have to make sure that I am honest and up front with everything that I am doing. Remember, I am posting all this in an effort to have professional soccer back in town. As I have been thinking about this there are obviously many things to consider. We could literally sit at a bar and talk about this for 12 days straight. I just don’t want to go there. For starters, I don’t drink, so being at a bar would be out of place. I mainly don’t drink due to the epilepsy, but we can discuss that at another time.

How do we get pro soccer back? One thing for sure is we have to stop waiting around to see what other people will do. Will David Beckham finalize the stadium plans? Will Paris St. Germain buy the Fort Lauderdale Strikers? Why are we sitting on our hands? We the people of South Florida need to rise up.

We also need to question everything. For professional soccer to exist what do we need? There have been debates upon debates on this subject. We know now that it can exist and the conversation has now turned to what version of pro soccer should exist. Is the MLS model worth it? Should we adopt the open (pro/rel) pyramid seen around the world? How should clubs be structured? Who should be responsible for funding youth academies?

I don’t have answers to these questions. But here in the United States, we have a lot of different things going on at once. I’m not sure it’s like that any where else. And, who is to say that what we have is not poised for success, whatever success may be. And isn’t that the real question? Why are we so passionate? Why are we so concerned?

I’m not here to point fingers and say what is the best way for soccer to be organized in the United States. But we all know that just having a team is not enough to be sustainable. We had the Fort Lauderdale Strikers (generation 3). Last year they averaged 1,361 people per game. That’s bad. Why didn’t anyone go? Were there better soccer teams in our area. Was it just because the league wasn’t at the level? Who here can tell me why we can’t get 10,000 people to come to a handful of soccer games. It was only 15 games!

Are we becoming too saturated? Look at the US Soccer pyramid. MLS>NASL>USL>NPSL>PDL. In South Florida alone we have 10 or so teams amongst those leagues. Is it because they aren’t MLS teams no one goes? When Beckham United materializes, will it draw?

I will watch any soccer game, and although the Strikers weren’t wizards on the field, I still went (just not as often as I should have). That changes now. I’m going to see Boca Raton FC in the NPSL. I’m going to PDL games between the Palm Beach Suns and Floridians FC. Are we so caught up in quality that it stops us from attending? I do have a theory about why the Stikers drew so little this past year. It’s not as simple as pointing a finger at management and saying that they screwed up. That doesn’t work. My first job out of college was at Disney World. On my first day, at lunch, I heard a 15-year employee complain about something management could do better. At that moment I realized that complainers don’t get anywhere. The stay in the same place forever. I never complained at Disney. A few months later I was that employee’s supervisor.

But back to kicking balls. And, I know that I am ranting. We need to take ownership. I mean that it every sense of the word. There has to be tens of thousands of people in our area who would love to see a professional team. Bring their kids to the game. Bring a date maybe. We don’t go because we don’t want to own up to the failures. But that is what our sport is all about. Do you think Newcastle United fans stopped showing up because their owner sold a player or because they got relegated? Instead, they just get louder and stronger until changes are made and the team gets better. We need that here big time. I envision a hoard of Striker Likers who are vocal, who have ownership and can influence change. I see Striker Likers who like to beat drums and Striker Likers who will just watch. Am I so out of place?



Back to the pyramid for a quick second. Remember what I said back there. We have 10 or so semi-pro teams in our area. You want an investor to buy an MLS team down here? Then don’t just show up for the Barcelona vs. Chivas friendly. Show up to the South Florida Surf vs. FC Miami City PDL game. Show up to the Boca Raton FC vs. Miami Fusion FC US Open Cup match.

Here is a current list of clubs you should look in to:

Boca Raton FC
Miami Fusion FC
FC Miami City
Floridians FC
South Florida Surf
Palm Beach Suns
Beaches FC
Miami FC
Miami United FC

Don’t be a stranger to soccer.

Enough is Enough

My first post to this blog was back in November of 2007. The last time I posted was June of 2011. I’ve been slacking.

At that time I was enjoying the fact that Miami FC had rebranded as the Fort Lauderdale Strikers and after so long I could go to Lockhart, like I did when I was 9-years old, and watch my favorite team play. I did nothing to make that happen. And now, as the team is on the verge of possibly collapsing into oblivion, I come back to this blog with renewed purpose.

I’ve had two children since I last posted and perhaps that is why I am so angry at myself. Why am I not involved? Just last year the founder of Foursquare created a team for the NPSL solely on the premise of “if you don’t see something you like, make it yourself.” It was a rather profound discovery and I recommend you follow the Kingston Stockade journey because it is nothing but pleasurable.

I come from a soccer-crazed family, but I don’t live a soccer-crazed life. In fact I’m far removed from it. Why that is I do not know, but I want it to change. And it starts here. I will have goals. I will state dreams. I will chart my successes and failures and hopefully have your support and help along the way.

Goal Number 1: A Pro Soccer Team.

To make things clear I want a professional soccer team in my backyard. In my hometown. For me that area stretches as far north as Jupiter and as far south as Hollywood. Miami is just too far removed. And as much as the international allure of Miami is, it is not South Florida. Also, when MLS had a team named Miami, they played in Fort Lauderdale. Just saying.

So what can I do to have a pro soccer team here? There are flashes of course and later on this blog I will reminisce about failed ventures such as the Boca Raton Sabres, Coral Springs Kicks, and Fort Lauderdale Sun.

If it were up to me, and for this blog, since it is only me at the moment, my focus will be to devise a plan on how a team called the Fort Lauderdale Strikers can play professional soccer again.

If you stop reading here fine. I’ve made my point. From here on I will go into detail about why the Strikers. As I said before I grew up here, and my only physical contact with pro soccer was the Strikers of the late 80s and early 90s. I went to their games, I was a ball kid, I went to the Thomas Rongen Soccer Academy (run of course by Striker players) and when I got to play at Lockhart (which I had a few occasions - middle school county championship, high school all-star game, scrimmage against the Fusion), I felt jitters.

I also said I was soccer-crazed. When I meet people today and they ask me who is your favorite team, I warn them that they are in for a long conversation. For when you don’t have a stable league and teams come and go and the best quality stuff comes overseas its hard to gather. I haven’t been able to follow a singular MLS team since its inception. At first I flocked towards the teams that were adidas sponsored (Columbus, KC and DC) but now the whole league is adidas so I can’t follow that formula. Abroad I have teams in every country because as an American you never know where one will end up. My parents are from Argentina, so if a team had an American or an Argentinean, I liked them. Again, that formula lasted only so long so over time I’ve made allegiances. In England, I like Tottenham. In France, Marseille. In Italy, Fiorentina. In Japan, Yokohama F. Marinos. In Argentina, Racing Club (my Dad’s team). I will go in depth on this subject in a future blog for sure. But if you like those teams, let’s talk.

Anyway, the Strikers will always be my home. And one day they will return to the playing field in a professional capacity.



I want to shift gears a bit and talk about myself. I think it is important that you know who I am. I wrote this blog behind a veil of secrecy for no reason what so ever. So here it goes. My name is Diego Meeroff. I was born in Oklahoma City in 1980 and moved to Charleston, SC and Nashville, TN before my family settled in Coral Springs and then Parkland where they are today. My parents are from Argentina and we were raised that soccer was the only sport worth participating in. If you know the Meeroff family I’m pretty sure it is not because that my father is a crack gastroenterologist. It’s because my dad is a soccer nut. If you take anything away from your experience with him, I hope that it becomes obvious that he is passionate about this sport and passionate about it succeeding in this country. He might have insulted you at some point or probably given you a red card. That’s just my dad.

Me however, I just wanted to play. I started playing in recreational leagues in Nashville and Coral Springs, but when I turned 6 I tried out and made the U-9 team for USA (United Soccer Association) in Sunrise. They folded and I joined the Plantation Eagles. When my parents moved to Parkland the Plantation commute became to much and I started playing for Team Boca in Boca Raton. After a few years, and by now I was 15. Few teams remained in this area. Basically in my age group there was one team from Miami and one team from Coral Springs. My dad, the passionate figure that he is, had fundamental differences with the Coral Springs administration. So my family started their own club, Lauderdale Soccer Club. We were rag tag, but in our 3 years of existence we made the State Cup final twice (losing to Miami Strike Force both times).

The second final we lost was on the day of my high school graduation. I scored our team’s only goal in the 2-1 loss and I had to suffer the drive home from Cocoa Beach to walk the stage and receive my diploma. A very weird day for me for sure. I played high school soccer at Stoneman Douglas. It was pretty uneventful aside from our district championship game where we scored 3 goals in the last 7 minutes to beat Coral Springs 3-2. I went on to FAU to play soccer. The summer before my freshman year I was diagnosed with epilepsy. And a year later I wrecked my knee playing in a State Cup game.

At that point I threw my dream of playing pro soccer out the window and found a new love in music. I learned to play guitar, found some other crazy kids and started an indie band. It was such a great experience and opened me up to a whole new world. I still followed the game, but I was not so immersed. The years since have really been a blur. My professional career in marketing actually began at Walt Disney World. After one year with the mouse, I came home and worked at an ad agency, a real estate office and a travel agency. I’m now the Director of Marketing for Florida Atlantic University. I’m very passionate about FAU and we’ve come along way, and we will go a lot further.

I also got married, and I have 2 beautiful children. My 5-year has yet to touch a soccer field. I’ve made attempts, including building a mini field in our backyard for him. I’m not pushing him. At least not until he’s 7.

So that’s me in a nutshell. I’m going to commit to this blog. Once a week, just say want I need to say. I will also reach out to our soccer community. We may be dysfunctional but we are all passionate. We just need to combine that passion and bring a team back to the fold.