Recently it was announced that Worcester will be the new home of a new pro soccer team, Worcester FC. It is hoped that the new team will encourage more people to find the local soccer teams that they can play for and get more people playing the beautiful game. This team will be competing in the 4th division of the American soccer pyramid, the ASL (American soccer league). I recently had the chance to sit down and talk with the president of Worcester FC, Tim Melican. Here is some of we talked:
Tim, is an obsessed soccer fan. I didn’t have to ask or guess who his favorite soccer team is, because his West Ham United t-shirt was obvious. Unless you are from eastern London, or grew up watching West Ham, they are not the typical team the average fan would follow, those teams are Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, the big budget, big spending clubs. His obsession in soccer would come much later in life, around 2008. It started with playing the computer game “Championship Manager”, a soccer management game, about as real as a game can be. I myself have been a fan of this game franchise since 2001. He would not only watch the EPL matches, but he would also watch the lower leagues. So why West Ham United “I just loved the colors, I loved the shield, I loved what the team is about. I loved the fact that they had the toughest hooligans during the 80’s-90’s. It was like the team that had your back. They only won a few FA cups and never the championship. It’s one of those slight underdog thongs, and even their song Forever Blowing Bubbles, its about that, keeping your dreams high.”
This is also not his first time starting a new team in the ASL. He started at ASL’s Mass United as a volunteer. Than he help start Greater Lowell United, also in the ASL. He wants to take what he did at Lowell and bulk it up. So it is not like Tim is coming here, starting a team and not knowing anything about soccer, or what he is or needs to do, or looking to make a quick buck. Worcester FC will be run a non-profit.
WHY WORCESTER?
#1 reason, they don’t have a team. #2 reason, they need a team. The team vice president, Luis Diaz, who will also be the head coach of Worcester FC, is from the area, Marlboro, and is familiar with Worcester. To Tim, he doesn’t see why Worcester can’t support a soccer. The 2nd largest city in New England, a city that had a viewing party last summer for the USA v Belgium game, and a city with 9 colleges, the perfect demographics for soccer, Worcester is perfect. Then their are those who support grassroots soccer. The small, local teams, where some are still trying to hold on and fight for their dreams of making it big. There are some fans of the game who don’t exactly follow the traditional “big” teams or leagues. This will also good for young kids who want to go see a soccer match. We as sports fans moan and groan at the rise of ticket prices with the big 4 sports teams, how the average family is getting priced out of sports games, here is a great opportunity to be able to have an affordable family night out with the kids to watch their local soccer team, competing in a pro league in the USA soccer pyramid.
“We want to be every ones #1 team, no matter if you are a Revs fan or not, Portuguese, African, Greek, Hispanic, we are Worcester’s club, we are Worcester FC! That is bottom line. So anybody in and around Worcester, Worcester County, we want everyone to support us, because we are here for everybody.”
There will be two tryouts, July 12th and July 19th. Tim made it clear he wants chemistry to be an important priority. Those who make the team will be from those who participate during the try outs, so if you are thinking about it or know someone who is, attend. He also made it clear that July 22nd will be the first day of practice, once the final roster is announced. Strong word of caution for anyone thinking they don’t need to attend practice if selected. This is a pro team.
There will be more info coming out over the next month. I can say the first game is August 22, it is not clear whether that will be home or away. Other info like game day ticket prices, food and beverages, is all being worked out, so stay tuned or check out the team website for future news: http://www.worcesterfc.com/
I will also be posting future articles related to Worcester FC and my conversation with Tim Melican. Don’t think this is all I had to say.