DETROIT – "The Red Card You Want" is how the Detroit City FC is promoting their 2015 season ticket sale which began Friday.
The team's merchandise -- which includes a few new items -- also is available to purchase. Season tickets are going for $50 or you can purchase the package for $65, which includes a heavily sought after scarf at DetCityFCStore.com.
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The NPSL season runs from May to July each year. Players from Michigan and around the country, who are currently in college or recently out of college, are selected to play after tryouts in the winter prior to season. The NPSL includes rivalries, tournaments and friendlies such as the Rust Belt Derby between DCFC, FC Buffalo and AFC Cleveland. The derby is based on the results of games played between the three sides. Cleveland won the inaugural year in 2012 and Detroit won in 2013 and 2014.
Detroit head coach Ben Pirmann (also known by the Northern Guard Supporters as Cesar) is an assistant coach for Michigan State University. He has helped guide MSU to the NCAA National Tournament this fall in which they are now hosting Washington University this weekend in East Lansing.
Pirmann, along with many of his DCFC players, has been on the college and national scene this year with his team being the last DCFC affiliate remaining.
The growth of Detroit City FC (8-3-3) has been apparent, last year they began to sell out their games with fans numbering in the 3000 plus range and would even stand around the outside of the fence of the stadium if they could not get in. The league itself as a whole has grown as well with the expansion last year to include in the Great Lakes East Conference the Michigan Stars (4-9-1) and Lansing United (8-2-4), who in their inaugural year became the 2014 conference winners led by Coach Eric Rudland. This year, there have already been quite a few other teams that are trying to jump on this exciting league's ride which include Grand Rapids FC, Muskegon Risers SC and AFC Ann Arbor.
"I am super excited about the upcoming season," said David Dwaihy, one of the DCFC owners. "The growth we saw in attendance over the course of last summer was unbelievable, and the quality of the squad was outstanding. It's amazing to think about how far this club has come in just three years, and I cannot wait to see how things play out in 2015."
Coach Pirmann is proud to lead this team as "Detroit City FC continues to set itself apart from others."
"We have, without a doubt, the greatest supporters in the country," he said. "‘Black Friday' is yet another example of our incredible fan base. The players who don the rouge and gold truly do play for something completely special and unique than any other club: our fans."
Head capo of the DCGC Northern Guard supporters group, Drew Gentry (a.k.a. Sergeant Scary) is one of those fans. He is the one most visibly seen with the bullhorn in the stands.
"We won the RBD (Rust Belt Derby) for the 2nd straight time in 2014 but we didn't quite reach our regular season aspirations," he said. "Because of that, I think the club and the supporters have a chip on their shoulder now. The club will be playing with a determination like you've never seen before…and we in the supporters section are cranking the intensity up to 11."
Detroit City FC players have the opportunity to not only hope to be seen by professional teams, such as Adam Bedell did who is now with the MLS Columbus Crew, but now they can also strive to be selected for the new professional soccer combine each year. This new combine feature was brought on by the league in the hope to produce more professional soccer players through the league. In the past, NPSL competed against the USL-PDL (Professional Development League) in obtaining players and PDL had the advantage in not only years of existence but also through the combines they held that provided chances for their players to move on to the next level. The NPSL now feels that more talent will want to play for their league due to this new facet of the combine.
This Professional Soccer combine for the National Premier Soccer League players will be an annual event and this year will take place on January 9-12 at Broward Community College in Fort Lauderdale Florida. Club coaches will be responsible for selecting their top players for the combine and the nominations will be reviewed and selected by the Combine/Technical Committee which consists of Chairman Kenny Farrell and Co-Chariman Chris Hanlon. There will be 18 players from each region selected. The coaches have already turned in their selections and nominations have been made as of November 26, 2014. The players have until December 8, 2014 to accept or decline this invitation and many of the nations best professional soccer teams' coaches and scouts will be in attendance at the combine. NPSL Chairman Joe Barone is quoted saying, "The game is growing tremendously in the NPSL both on and off the field."
"We are all very excited that some of our very own players will have the opportunity to earn an invitation to play at the next level," Dwaihy said. "The NPSL has always been a great platform for amateur players to showcase their talent, and it is great to see the league taking this step to provide its players with a more formal opportunity to make the step up to professional soccer. Coach Pirmann nominated a handful of eligible players to attend and we hope they will show as well in the combine environment as they did while playing for us."
Pirmann also believes about that combine that "this could be a good improvement to continuing to develop the top players in the country."
Detroit City FC has a number of players that were nominated by Pirmann and selected by the committee, which includes; Tyler Arnone (MF, University of Michigan), Nick Lewin (D, University of Michigan), Cyrus Saydee (MF Michigan State University) and Zach Myers (F, Saginaw Valley State University). Along with those selected they have also included the alternate selection of Zach Schewee (D, Bowling Green State University).
Sergeant Scary confirms that with all of the excitement of the upcoming Detroit City FC NPSL 2015 season, "The only thing that could make it better is seeing YOU in the stands with us. Don't miss out!"