Building Local Talent: American Soccer Club New York's Vision for the Future

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hello everybody, this is Jim Kilmeade and we're
bringing you the American SoccerClub Zone today.
This is going to be a greatshow.
We have some great guests andthis is a show that we'll talk
about not only the AmericanSoccer Club New York and the
NPSL, but American soccer andinternational soccer in general.
We have guests today, greatguests today, and they're

(00:30):
connected through youth soccerand now essentially professional
soccer.
And one of our first guests isMark Lugris.
Mark Lugris will give you hisbackground, but he's an
international soccer player as acaptain of the Puerto Rican
national team.
Long career in major indoorsoccer league and other leagues
in this country outdoor.
But Mark and I go way back toplaying against each other in

(00:53):
college.
I was a Hofstra Flying Dutchmanand he was a Fordham Ram, I
believe it is.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yes, it is.

Speaker 1 (00:58):
Yeah, so we go way back and we have a player here
that we'll be talking to.
He's kind of brought us alltogether.
His name is Aidan Colby, fromNorthport, a Northport-Core
Harbor Soccer Club, alum, stonyBrook and now Molloy College,
but, most importantly, his firstyear with the American Soccer
Club New York and the NPSL.
So welcome to the show, guys,thank you, thank you.

(01:19):
So, mark.
I think we go back to the daysof trying to play professional
soccer, where you got paid incash.
You sometimes didn't get paid,you got a check, you had to run
to the bank.
We've been through it all.
I've had a short career.
You had a very long one.
Aidan can't appreciate all this, but by the time we're done
with the show today, he's goingto hear some interesting stories
.
But you know what, on an amazingnote, we have the World Cup

(01:41):
coming here in 2026 in theUnited States.
It was here in 1994.
So 32 years later, here we areand we both remember what that
did for US soccer in 94.
It changed the level and we'llprobably need to show to itself.
Just decide how our nationalteam was then.
Where we are now.
I don't know if we're furtheralong.
We're further along, but we maynot be better on the world
stage, but the world of socceris completely changed and it's

(02:07):
exploded, some of it for thebetter and some of it not for
the better.
But you also have a companythat you founded called Cantera
Football.
It's your company and I'll letyou talk about that, and that's
how Aiden came together with you, with North Port Cane Harbor
Soccer Club and the Red Bulls.
But before we get into that,just brief history on how you
got here to be sitting here withme and then our involvement in

(02:28):
American Soccer Club New York.

Speaker 2 (02:30):
Okay, I'm going to try and make that as short as I
can because it is a very longstory.
But we probably met playing atthe youth level against each
other.
Didn't know each other at thetime but then as we got to
college we kind of connected andwe had mutual friends.
And you know, you started withthe New York Arrows at that time

(02:52):
in their marketing departmentand I was trying to forge a
career indoors at that timebecause there was no outdoor
professional league and you did,yeah.
I gave up yeah well, you wereprobably right to give up.
I mean it was, it didn't paymuch.
You had a lot of instabilitywith the teams.
The franchises folded everyyear.
My particular situation was Iwould go to a team, play a year,

(03:16):
it would fold, and then I wouldgo on a dispersal draft and end
up in places like Fort Wayne,indiana.
So it was an education insoccer and in surviving, and you
know as well that to market thesport and for the sport to grow
, we were kind of liketrailblazers, in the sense that

(03:36):
it wasn't about the money, itwas our passion that drove us to
what we wanted to do, which wasbe involved in soccer at
different levels.
And now we see the successthat's come.
And it's all come full circle,because now you're running this
club here on Long Island, whichI think is amazing.
It's giving our local players agreat opportunity to display

(04:00):
their skills, and Aiden's aperfect example of that.

Speaker 1 (04:04):
And I'm glad you brought that up, because the
reason we're here today is thatwe've launched the American
Soccer Club New York Zone show.
But this is a show that's goingto talk about the whole world
of soccer.
But we should talk about how wegot to sit in this studio today
and how this club was born Partof your story, part of my story
.
The good stuff, the stuff thatwas challenging.

(04:25):
It's given us a greatperspective to be here today to
know how to try and do thingsright, and the good news is that
there now is, I think, 25soccer-specific stadiums built
in this country.
We have the American SoccerClub is in the level four of the
American Soccer ProfessionalClub pyramid.
We're about where Wrexham was acouple years ago.

(04:46):
We're on our way up, hopefully.
But so, for all the challenges,the game has exploded.
Money is in the game,investment, and so we should be
proud of that.
Even though we lament a lot ofthe negative stuff, it's really
mostly incredibly positive.
I never would have thought wewould have been here 30 years
later after 94, to see what wepositive.
I never would have thought wewould have been here 30 years
later after 94 to see what wehave.
I sat with Don Garber when Iwas head of Umbro North America

(05:09):
and I was sponsoring the MiamiFusion, which was an
unsponsorable, failing franchisefor $400,000 a year, and I sat
in his office when he became thenew commissioner and we talked
about changing things.
He says, jim, I was broughthere to sell franchises and
build stadiums.
Right now I've lost twofranchises and I've built no
stadium.
So we're under a lot ofpressure here.

(05:30):
But now we've got 30 franchises, 15 stadiums.
We have a USL which I alsoworked in and operated a club in
, that has now got over 100teams nationwide.
So the game is alive and welland our NPSL league is in its
22nd year, 23rd year, and isincredibly, with enormous

(05:53):
stability and an avenue for usto launch the American Soccer
Club New York.
So I want to bring Aidan inhere now.
Aidan, I think what people canidentify with you is that people
soccer now is like the numbertwo participatory sport in the
country behind basketball, butit's a dominant sport.
We came up it was kind of apress minority sport.
I used to call it Like we hadno rights, we couldn't get
fields, we had no nothing, therewas no money, you couldn't get

(06:14):
equipment, and now it's theopposite.
Now there's a negative side tothat, but there's a real
business here now.
But the opportunity that Markand I had I think we call
ourselves pioneers because noteverybody even understood our
sport.
Now you come up at a time wherepeople do understand the sport.
It's got a lot of respect.
But now it's even harder tobreak through because there's so

(06:36):
many players.
So when did you start playingsoccer number one?
And I know it was in the NorthPort Cal Harbor Soccer Club in
the youth center.
Yeah yeah, and how old were youwhen you started?

Speaker 3 (06:46):
Five, six years old.

Speaker 1 (06:47):
Five, six years old.
Yeah, it was just like the beeand the honey just running
around.
Yeah, and when did you know youloved it?
Was it something happened rightaway, or did it take some
couple of years?

Speaker 3 (06:55):
I mean right away.
I was a huge fan of the game.
I mean over the.
I mean, of course, at first Ididn't know I want to do it the
rest of my life.
As I played over the years Ijust I just knew it.

Speaker 1 (07:06):
It was a sport I loved and when I continue
playing for as long as I can sodo you remember when you first
met Mark, when he more firstchose you for a team?
Do you remember how well wereyou and when that happened?

Speaker 3 (07:16):
I was probably around the age 10 to 12.
I mean, I met Mark, I playedwith him and it was a great
experience.
He showed me a lot about thegame, taught me and mentored me,
and it really helped.
Was he tough on you?
Definitely yeah.

Speaker 1 (07:35):
Well, you know, mark, let's take it from there.
You formed the well.
You became the director ofcoaching for.
You've been coaching for a longtime at all different levels
across Long Island and otherplaces, but you became the
director of coaching for theNorthport Carbosol Club, which
is a club that my kids grew upin, that I got a chance to coach
in and we got a chance to cometogether again, you and I.
What year did you start?

Speaker 2 (07:56):
Did you take over the club?
I started at Northport in 2011.
I had a mutual friend whose sonwas playing on a team I was
coaching in Stony Brook and hebasically asked me to coach his
younger son at Northport and Icame there in 2011.
There was other trainingorganizations there working and
then just over time I ended upwith one team, two teams, then

(08:18):
three teams and then finallysomeone inside the board said
would you like to help us takeover the club and manage the
training program?
And that started around 2018.

Speaker 1 (08:31):
And, as a coach in the club, totally objective.
That was one of the betterdecisions North Port Carbosol
Club ever made, because they gotyour experience, your stability
and also your approach, which Iconsider an organic approach to
the game.
It's not just about the topplayers, it's about all the
players, it's about the sportand I think that's what Cantera
is designed to represent.
You've got coaches.

(08:51):
I've seen you because you and Icame together, coaching
together, which was really fun.
That was great, and that's yourfavorite team, the West Coast
Celtics.
Yeah 100% More than the RedBulls.
Right, we should say, aiden andMark came together with the Red
Bulls when Mark selected him tobe on that team.
That was a team that stayedtogether, just like Celtic did.
In fact, all your teams havepretty much stayed together yes,
the Rebels, celtic, the Sharksand that's not an easy thing to

(09:15):
do.
But what people may not realize,to keep a youth soccer team
together in this environment inLong Island and probably
anywhere in the country isalmost impossible because
there's the academy de jour.
I call them popping upBarcelona popped up, valencia
popped up.
You now have the MLS reachingdown with lower academies that
are all pay-for-play, that areselling, quite honestly, a lot

(09:36):
of fluff, but parents getexcited by that and they go
leave their town clubs my club,massapequa, where I grew up, I
had a great experience.
They're going through this.
Northport's gone through it.
Northport seems to have comeout of it with the stability,
but you know, aiden, you stayedwith Red Bull your entire youth
career.
You did some supplementalthings, but what made you stay

(09:57):
with Red Bull as you began tobecome a better player and
improve and became someone thatwas scoring goals?
Why did you stay with Mark andthe North Port Coal Harbor
Soccer Club.

Speaker 3 (10:07):
I mean, since I joined Red Bull and Mark was my
coach, I had a greatrelationship with him, so it was
definitely always tough toleave.
Sure, I would say I thoughtabout leaving a few times, but I
thought it was very importantto stay in my hometown and my
hometown players, and I had agreat relationship with all of
them, so I thought that was veryimportant.

(10:28):
Looking back, any regrets?
Not at all.

Speaker 1 (10:31):
No, I think you're a great example that you can get
to a Division I collegescholarship and play with your
local club, as long as you havethe right coach and the right
team, because you did it, youdid it and you stayed with that
team with a lot of good players.
I got to watch that team fromits almost beginning, with my
stepson, matt diaz, being aplayer the biggest soccer player
, even bigger than you, uh, butnow a great football player.

(10:51):
But that team stayed togetherthrough a lot and uh and
excelled and did really, really,really well and um, you know.
So you know, kudos to youbecause I think you're a great
example.
To go back to the club and Iknow you're coaching in the club
now, right, yeah, and talk tosome of these kids and part of
the American Soccer Club's goalis not only to develop a great

(11:11):
professional this year, it's apro-am team professional
franchise that people can aspireto be part of, and we'll talk
about that but it's also toinspire enthusiasm through the
crazy world of pay-for-playmodel and the competitiveness of
leaving your club.
We're out there talking to morecommunity clubs than we are the
super clubs and I think in 2025, what I've learned, having done

(11:34):
this 30 years ago is that theenthusiasm gap is important, and
I think that we have a role toplay with that by bringing you
back to Northport and to otheryouth clubs which, as you know,
you've already done multipleappearances and you're going to
do more.
We're going back to the club toreconnect with these hometown
clubs and they need it.
I actually think they need it.
I think years ago I don't knowif they needed it.

(11:54):
Now you know we're havingNorthport night and the upcoming
game, which I have to give agood plug for our club.
It's a big game for us againstHartford City on Tuesday, june
24th, at 7 pm at our home fieldof Hofstra University's
Captain's Field, which I'm happyto say, is my alma mater, and I
got a chance to be up on thatwall and so I'm very proud to go

(12:14):
back there with this team.
But that's our next big game.
Aiden will be out there, but,aiden, you're surrounded by a
whole bunch of Long Islandplayers Brian Saramago from New
Hyde Park, you know, stalinAcosta from Brentwood, I think.
It goes on and on.
What is it like playing for awhole bunch of guys that you've
played against, older or younger?
And then we'll talk about somerecent developments.

Speaker 3 (12:34):
Yeah, so I mean, growing up I played all sorts of
levels with these players andto be able to play with them
today on American Soccer Club Iplayers and to be able to play
with them today on AmericanSoccer Club I know it's very
important to all of us.
It's like you know, cometogether from wherever we were
playing college other clubs tocome together and now be working
together to play on this teamtoday.
I think it's very important toall of us.

Speaker 1 (12:55):
How is the level?
What did you think of the level?
What did you think it wasbeforehand?
How are you finding it now?

Speaker 3 (13:01):
I'm finding it to be a very good level for all of us.
I think we're all gettingbetter working together and it's
a great environment for us howdoes it compare to the college
level?

Speaker 1 (13:09):
you just had a year of stony brook yeah, um, you're
two of.

Speaker 3 (13:12):
I would say it's different.
Yeah, um, very physical, a lotof older players.
You know you get players intheir 30s where I wouldn't know
all the tricks.

Speaker 1 (13:21):
Yeah, I wouldn.
I wouldn't see that in college.

Speaker 3 (13:23):
So there's definitely more experience.

Speaker 1 (13:25):
A little bit more physical, aggressive.

Speaker 3 (13:26):
Yeah, I would say so definitely, but it's good for me
because their experience havingplayers on our team with that
experience helps me a lot, beingonly 20 years old, so it'll
just, in the end, make me abetter player.

Speaker 1 (13:39):
That's great.
I agree with that, Mark.
From your playing experience,you know things have changed.
When you were coming up todevelop, the pathway was
narrower, but it was clearer.
Now it's a little foggy.
What do you think?
How would you explain thatfirst to the world?
And then, what do you think?

(14:00):
What was better about when wecame up than now?
And then, what do you thinkthat these guys have?

Speaker 2 (14:02):
such an advantage if there is one, I think you hit
the nail on the head a clearpathway.
We knew that if we were a goodhigh school player.
We would go to one event, a highschool all-star game, maybe
Catholic high school againstpublic high school.
College coaches would comewatch the game and then
basically walk down to the fieldand say I want you to come to

(14:22):
my program.
That's right Now.
You go to all these collegeshowcases, id camps.
It's become an industry.
It's a moneymaker for thecolleges.
I think that that's a realissue right now.
I think the pay-to-play modelhas overtaken at every level,
even at the college recruitinglevel, and I think that we're
going to have to fix that inorder to put the talent where we

(14:46):
can see it and where the talenthas a clear pathway to grow.
Right now.
One of the things I suggested along time ago, when Kyle
Martino was running for USSFpresident, I was working
basically on the youthdevelopment model his platform
for that with Mickey Kydes andPaul McGlynn, who are both, to
me, some of the best developersin the United States, top of the

(15:07):
fruit chain.
Amazing, that's Beachside SoccerClub and that's Gachi.

Speaker 1 (15:12):
Soccer Club, and now they're together at.

Speaker 2 (15:14):
Beachside, but those two gentlemen, like we sat down
and we had long discussions andin France they have a database
for the players, every player inFrance, whatever club he starts
in.
They track where he started,what age.
I believe they start at U11 orU12, and it's tied into the
Clairefontaine Academy and whatthey do is they're basically

(15:37):
tracking that player and findingwhere the best players are
coming from and where theirpathway is, and also who are the
coaches, where are they beingdeveloped, so that as a
federation, you know where yourtalent hubs are and who is
developing that talent and wherethe success is in areas where

(15:57):
there's not a lot of talent orthat there's not the resources
to develop it.
So I think that that's reallywhere we have to move away from
pay-to-play and more towardsthis merit-based system and a
tiered system where a player itdoesn't matter what club he's at
can play with his team becausehe's in a good environment and
go all the way up.

(16:18):
So a club like Northport can'tplay in ECNL because they say so
we might have a team that'sgood, it's a velvet rope Right.
There's a rope there.

Speaker 1 (16:27):
And there's a bouncer .

Speaker 2 (16:28):
There's a bouncer and he says no, we're not letting
you in, you have some goodplayers, but maybe we'll try and
get them to come over to ourclub, but we're not going to let
you in.
So in Europe and other placesthey have that merit system
where you can go all the way.
You can be a tiny club and ifyou have a group of great
players and a good developer,they can stay together for a

(16:49):
good part of their developmentand then there's a kickback if
they make the professional level.

Speaker 1 (16:58):
So there is a reward as well for developing those
players.
So the money comes back down tothe grassroots and then it
begins to churn.
Ironically, with the AmericanSoccer Club, which you've been a
technical partner Mark is alsoone of our sporting directors a
committee of advisors advisingus, with Bob Montgomery and
Perry Vanderbeek, farouk Qureshi, jim Rooney people that really

(17:19):
span incredible experience onand off the field to advise us
through this.
And we're gonna need you andall of them because Kevin
Reardon and myself that foundedthis, this, this whole franchise
, this whole group through theBQE soccer partners platform
before the American Soccer Club,with this idea and pulled you
guys together because werealized that not only do we not

(17:41):
know it, all that between withall you guys, we're going to
know a lot more than we knew, uh, together.
But it's changing as we, aswe're sitting here doing this
radio show.
There's something going on inmanhattan with the mls.
There's something going on inkansas city, wherever the us
soccer office is.
That it's going to affect whatyou and I are doing right now
and it's going to affect aiden'scareer potentially.

(18:01):
It might be good, it might bebad, but the point is it's
constantly changing, butchanging like month to month,
not every two or three years.
So we're going to have toadjust our model.
It's like the old flight takesoff from the airport over here
at Republic and as soon as youget up there you have a flight
plan and then the weatherchanges it and you start.
We're having to adjust to ourflight.

(18:22):
We think we have a good modelthat has to stay intact, but
it's going to have to adjust towhat's going on.
And even since we started ourfirst game, may 4th, things have
changed dramatically, just inour own market, let alone the
country.
Now, aidan, I'm not going toquiz you on trying to keep up
with it, because you've got tokeep your head down and become
the best player you can be, andI've seen you develop before our
eyes, right here, in a coupleof months really.

(18:44):
But are you aware?
Does this affect how you getout of bed every morning?
When you see MLS Next Academies, you see what's going on with
the New York City FC is alegitimate professional team in
this market.
They have a legitimate academythat launched our role model,
joe Scali, into a Europeansoccer career.
Much in Gladbach and Bundesligain Germany.

(19:05):
And then you have they have nowtwo tiers underneath that which
will all pay for play, whichare picking off players from
Northport and New Hyde Park andWest Hempstead and other clubs.
How does this?
Do you notice the change evensince you got out of high school
, which is only two years ago?

Speaker 3 (19:20):
I mean, yeah, definitely All these academies
that are.
I just say, pay to play.
I would say definitely likegrowing up playing for north
brook at harbor united.
It definitely affects it.
And looking back and seeing,seeing like the youth players
now that the academy show themlike they say, oh there's better

(19:40):
opportunity here, it I see thatcan hurt the club and obviously
that's not a good feeling forme.

Speaker 1 (19:47):
And you're coaching now too, so you're seeing a
little bit of the other side.
Because you're coaching withMark and Cantera at Northport
Are you coaching younger kidsfor the most part.

Speaker 3 (19:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (19:57):
So, thank God, they're oblivious to all this.
They can just have fun.
Have you enjoyed the coachingaspect?
Do you find it challenging?
Yeah, definitely, I've beenliking it.
Do the kids like him, mark?
Oh, they love him.

Speaker 2 (20:10):
I call him the big monster.
We put him in goal scoring thebig monster, but he's great with
the kids and the kids relate tohim because he's walked in
their shoes and you know, Ithink he's got a playful aspect
about him that he likes tointeract with the kids, so it's
really good.
It's full circle for us and wehave a lot of players ex-players
now I want to bring that up too, because not only one of your

(20:32):
ex-players, justin Carano, heworks in our front office now.

Speaker 1 (20:36):
He was a great player in his own right at Cortland
and some knee injuries but henow works with us community
relations and social media.
And when we went to Vets, whereI lived for 10 years, I kind of
missed going down there, sevenminutes exactly from my house,
and I went down there and I sawDanny and I saw Steve Sissow and
it's really great to see thoseguys and Stefan, of course, yep,

(20:56):
the goalkeeper coach thateverybody's petrified of in town
, but he's a big teddy bear, um,so there's a cool.
I've.
I've seen a culture grow andI'd like to think that, well,
part of our culture is was, uh,mike Carano's team in the early
days, the uh rebels, which wereone of the better teams North
put ever had, and then ourCeltic team that was really like
the, the train that they justcould have then just excelled

(21:19):
and never, never, we grinded itout and that team maximized
their potential and I always saythe highest gpa in the history
of youth soccer, which means weshould have not been a good team
.
We actually a good team, butbut that between rebels, celtic
and there's great teams thatcame before that.
My daughter's team was a greatteam, but the point is that I
saw in my time that developed togo to the red bulls and the

(21:41):
Sharks and how it affected thehigh school program, which has
no idea how lucky it is to havethe club and hopefully one day
we'll wake up.
It's not too late.
The club is funneled againstall the odds of this crazy world
we're living in, with youthacademies and pulling players.
It has had great players andreally, really good teams.
It's not quite got to do withthe county championship, but

(22:02):
they've been competitive.
I wanted to ask this question toeverybody, every youth player,
because there's a bigconversation now going on in the
soccer world.
It's been going on for 15 years.
If you get to one of these bigacademies and we'll talk about
the American Soccer Club Academythat's going to be coming soon
they say you shouldn't play highschool ball.
It's bad for your development,it's bad for this, it's bad for

(22:23):
that.
This is a tough questionbecause there's really no
definite right answer or wronganswer.
I don't think.
But what is it about theamericana playing for your high
school team, whether it be yourlocal school and I'm going to
first ask aidan, then I'm goingto ask you to weigh in on the
big picture from the standpointthat you've seen both sides.
Aidan, what do you?
Are you really happy that yougot a chance to play for your

(22:43):
high school team?
Was that like one of yourhighlights?

Speaker 3 (22:46):
yeah, I'm extremely happy.
I mean, I think it was a bigpart of my career was playing
high school ball and I would saythat was a major part in not
say, playing for an academy orone of these teams where they
said, no, you can't play foryour high school club, because I
had friends that did playacademy who their coaches told
them they can't play, and thatwas a big hit for them.

(23:06):
I mean, everyone I knew thatwanted to play like wanted to
play for the high school club.

Speaker 1 (23:10):
So it's a good, great part of growing and being part
of that team and I don't thinkforeign players from any other
country understand what that islike.
And yet, mark, on the otherside, the purists look at it
like from a soccer standpoint.
It's not good soccer.
The referees are different.
What's your thoughts on that?
Because I know you see bothsides.

Speaker 2 (23:30):
Yeah, I think now we've gotten to the point where
a player has, if they're at aTier 1 MLS club, that MLS club
is investing in that player andthat player is on a pro track.
So I think that there's a giveand take there, that if you're
going to take that pathway, youhave to abide by that rule,
because they're investing in youand they see you as maybe

(23:53):
making a living from the sport.
Right, if you're?

Speaker 1 (23:56):
not, that's joe scali .
Joe scali was in that county.
He didn't get to play for hissachem high school team.
I don't think, and that oneyear.

Speaker 2 (24:02):
That's a sacrifice you're making to play at that
level again.
You can have that balance andmake it anyway.
Um, if you're not inside thatmls tier and you're just trying
to break your way up, it's agreat place for exposure.
A lot of college coaches comedown to see you, so it's a.
It's a real positive in a lotof ways and I think socially it

(24:22):
gives them a lot of balance intheir life.
It lets them be a part ofsomething bigger and connect
with other kids in the schoolthat they would not normally
connect.
And I remember when he playedhis semifinal for the county
there was probably 1,000 peoplethere.

Speaker 1 (24:36):
Yeah, it was incredible, probably about 1,000
.
And I think that's.
You know, everything in life isa tradeoff.
You can't have it all.
Whether it be a politician orwhether it be a business, when
you make a decision it's never a100% win.
You have to take a tradeoff.
Then later back, was thetrade-off worth it?
Did we spend all that marketingmoney to promote American

(24:56):
Soccer Club?
Did we get the fans in theseats as a return?
And you don't know that untilyou're done.
But this is a conversationthat's ongoing, but I guess it's
a small percentage of playersright now.
And let's bring this all intothe American Soccer Club and why
.
Kevin Reardon and myself havebeen talking about this since we
birthed the Rough Riders in1993, used a very similar model

(25:17):
and were able to put it into useand won a national championship
in two years.
Organization of the year putnine guys into MLS, three
national team players GiovanniSavarese, chris Armis, tony
Miola was already there.
Guys like Jimmy Rooney andothers went on to have
phenomenal careers and we hadthe Defender of the Year in
Travis Rinker out of John GlennHigh School.

(25:38):
We had Danny Leon, 17-year-oldkid out of Peru, good player,
and now still here in LongIsland.
So all these years later, theAmerican Soccer Club has come
from that model of investing inlocal players and staying with
them.
So if you lose a game you don'tjust go find another foreign
player for a couple.
We're sticking with our guys,we're sticking with Aiden.
We're a team that's just about500, and we've got a playoff

(26:02):
stretch to come.
We have four games left.
This big one Tuesday night atHofstra at 624, june 24th.
But I'm looking at how we builtthe club and what our concept is
.
Our concept is to put thisAmerican Soft Club team, the
Fighting Tomcats and we've got agreat logo.
We're taking a team picturesoon that will be out on the
internet and available to buy,with the actual F-14 Tomcat made

(26:26):
by Grumman here in Long Islandover in Uniondale.
But the youth academy thatwe're going to develop that will
be able to interact with theprofessional team that we have
with right now in the NPSL.
We're starting to get into that.
We're signing and announcingthe 16-year-old player signing
in the days to come, announcedbefore our next game, and we're
going to have a fully fundedyouth academy that will be for

(26:48):
maybe 100 to 200 kids as webegin.
So I know you're a big, bigbeliever in that.
You've advised us on how to dothat and we're looking at how to
do that now outside of the MLSstructure, the USL structure,
the ECNL structure, and themarket is starting to tell us
what we want to do.
What's your thoughts on thatyouth academy and having players
come in to train with AidenColby's and all the players we

(27:08):
have on our team, and even a newsigning, the Brian Saramagos
have played three years inPortugal.
What is it, from a coachingstandpoint, to that experience
of interacting with the team?
I mean, they're both important.
What do you think?
Do you think one is moreimportant than the other, or
would they complement each other?

Speaker 2 (27:23):
I think that it's given a player like Aiden a
great opportunity and I've seenthe development already this
year in his game.
So allowing players tocross-pollinate with older
players, different levels, isgoing to increase the growth.
It's going to allow the playerbecause in our era, we were 16,

(27:45):
we were good.
We were already playing onmen's teams.
That's where you learned how toplay because your athletic
talent couldn't be used.
You had to use your smarts tobasically navigate those
situations and problems in thegame.
So for him it's been a greatthing to kind of go to this
level.
It's higher than college andnow he's going to go back to the

(28:07):
college game and bring what helearned there and I think he's
going to see how much he grew asa player.

Speaker 1 (28:12):
Yeah and Aiden.
If you want to see Aiden,you're going to come down to on
Tuesday night, june 24th, 7pm atHofstra University Captain's
Field my alma mater to play onprobably the nicest
soccer-specific venue in theNortheast definitely New York
metro area, next to Belson.
You can see Aiden Colby and therest of the American Soccer
Club is fighting Tomcats at 7o'clock that night.
To get tickets you go toASCNewYorkcom and just click on

(28:36):
tickets and you can buy tickets.
Tickets are $14 if you walk up,$12 if you buy in advance
through the website or otherwise, and if you get into a group of
50 or more, which we have fiveclubs coming, it's going to be a
great crowd which will all comein with 50 to 100 players.
So we're looking to sell outthe 2,000-seat arena for the
first time this year.

(28:57):
Tuesday night is a big game.
Hartford City is a good team.
They're top of the division.
We knock them off and we changeour path and we probably get
into the playoffs.
So no pressure, aidan, butyou've got to play well on
Sunday and I will have to sayAidan scored one of the better
goals you're going to see at anylevel two weeks ago against
Osner at Belsen Stadium at StJohn's.
An absolute great cross byAlbert Nieto from Ecuador,

(29:18):
phenomenal, one of our great,experienced international
players.
A driven ball that Aiden,somehow blasted into the net on
a full volley and really changedthe course of the game.
So can you do that again, aiden?

Speaker 3 (29:27):
We want to do that at home, I'll definitely try.

Speaker 1 (29:29):
Yes, and, by the way, kjoy, this is going to be a
weekly show, kjoy 98.3, here inLong Island.
We love this station.
This is our home.
This is now a soccer stationfrom here on in the American
Soccer Club New York zone.
That's our show, that's ourstory.
Thank you, mark Lugris, thankyou, aidan Colby, thank you.
Thank you, kjoy.