USL-2 expands to Cleveland

[condor]

USL-2 expands to Cleveland
Cleveland City Stars to begin play in 2007

Cleveland City Stars News Release - www.clevelandcitystars.com

Friday, December 15, 2006

CLEVELAND, OH -- United Soccer Leagues announced today the approval of Cleveland City Stars (CCS) to be included among the organization’s top-tier teams participating at the highest level of soccer competition throughout the United States, Canada and the Caribbean as a member of the USL Second Division.

The team will be part of the USL Second Division that serves as the second tier in USL’s professional league structure and is a place where many North American players begin their professional careers. The USL Second Division has 10 professional teams from all over the East Coast of the United States as well as the Caribbean. Teams are located in Charlotte, Cincinnati, Harrisburg, New Hampshire, Richmond, Western Mass and Wilmington. CCS is one of three new expansion franchises in 2007 in addition to Bermuda and Crystal Palace USA (Baltimore).

Starting their season in April 2007, the Cleveland City Stars bring professional soccer back to Ohio’s largest city. While the City of Cleveland is the sixth largest soccer market in all of the United States, the absence of professional outdoor soccer during the past years has left an empty space in the city’s attempt to bring more customers and sports fans to the downtown area.

The team will play all their USL home games at the newly renovated Krenzler Field Stadium (Cleveland State University) right in the heart of Downtown Cleveland. The stadium features a brand new soccer only artificial grass surface and the beautiful skyline of Cleveland in the background.

The team is owned by the Cleveland Soccer Foundation and plans to operate as a 501c3 non-profit organization that is entirely dedicated to “Serving the City and Changing the World!”

Cleveland City Stars’ two-fold mission includes:

1) Providing the highest level of professional outdoor soccer in Northeast Ohio in a safe and welcoming environment. Beginning with our inaugural professional season in the spring of 2007, CCS will deliver high-quality, family-friendly entertainment to soccer fans in the Cleveland area and throughout Northeast Ohio.

2) Bringing encouragement to the lives of underprivileged and at-risk youths living in the inner-city of Cleveland through the sport known throughout the world as “the beautiful game.” Across the planet, soccer instills a sense of joy and excitement in those who play - especially among youths - even in the world’s largest and poorest cities. Unfortunately, in the United States, very few coaches and players offer opportunities for inner-city youths to learn to play soccer. Through the sport of soccer, the Cleveland City Stars mission is to bring education programs, positive role models and Christian values to the inner city. The team will provide soccer training, IT education and other expertise to underprivileged youths - wherever CCS is called throughout the city of Cleveland. Through these initiatives, the Cleveland City Stars aim to provide a “helping-hand” and relieve poverty.

“Our hope is that through this two-fold mission, we can encourage lasting social, relational and economic improvement in the inner-city of Cleveland as well as a love of soccer within a new generation,” commented Aaron Tredway, the CCS Executive Director.

In addition to Aaron Tredway, the Cleveland City Stars’ founding leadership will be Mark Geissbauer (General Manager) and Martin Rennie (Head Coach/Technical Director).

Tredway, Rennie and Geissbauer bring a lot of world-wide soccer experience and connections to the franchise and have previously worked together very successfully at the Cascade Surge USL Premier Development League team in Salem (Oregon), where they won two Division Championships, the 2005 PDL Fair Play Award and 2005 PDL Executive of the Year Award.

USL Professional League Operations Director Steven Thompson said, “This new Cleveland franchise will be a great addition and benefit to the existing professional soccer system in North America. They have an exceptional organization to bring professional soccer back to the City of Cleveland and make an impact on the youth through initiatives in the community.”

http://www.uslsoccer.com/home/159162.html