Union Omaha supporter here. I'm gratified to see and hear the enthusiasm. If I can offer any insight, I would simply advise that you urge your club ownership and management to be aggressive, but deliberate. Initial club investment should go to players and supporter engagement, in that order. For players, you're right - most should be in the 21-25 age range. But you should also have about 3 Crash Davis types - older guys who have bounced around, have a lot of wisdom and experience, are good enough to play a game for a living, and want to postpone delayed adulthood for another year or two. Ideally, the older guys would be your goalkeeper, a pivot, and a big physical #9. Let the younger guys be your wings, fullbacks, and playmakers. Don't worry (yet) about a club specific stadium and all the other trappings of professional football. We still play in a minor league baseball park. It sucks. The sight lines are wrong. The pitch dimensions are truncated. The surface is trash because the infield needs to be re-sodded and the mound needs to be shaved down before every match. It's a horror. But, it's become a huge advantage because visiting teams hate playing there. You'll see when your club visits Omaha. We're the most successful club in the league, five years in, and we're just now beginning construction of a proper park. Turn your relative remoteness into an advantage. Our closest rival is Madison - five hundred miles away. Become a distant outpost and turn your ground into a fortress - a hornet's nest where angels fear to tread. I look forward to welcoming you to the league. But, you had best saddle up. Our warm Midwestern hospitality ends at kick-off.
Union Omaha supporter here. I'm gratified to see and hear the enthusiasm.
If I can offer any insight, I would simply advise that you urge your club ownership and management to be aggressive, but deliberate.
Initial club investment should go to players and supporter engagement, in that order.
For players, you're right - most should be in the 21-25 age range. But you should also have about 3 Crash Davis types - older guys who have bounced around, have a lot of wisdom and experience, are good enough to play a game for a living, and want to postpone delayed adulthood for another year or two. Ideally, the older guys would be your goalkeeper, a pivot, and a big physical #9. Let the younger guys be your wings, fullbacks, and playmakers.
Don't worry (yet) about a club specific stadium and all the other trappings of professional football. We still play in a minor league baseball park. It sucks. The sight lines are wrong. The pitch dimensions are truncated. The surface is trash because the infield needs to be re-sodded and the mound needs to be shaved down before every match. It's a horror. But, it's become a huge advantage because visiting teams hate playing there.
You'll see when your club visits Omaha. We're the most successful club in the league, five years in, and we're just now beginning construction of a proper park.
Turn your relative remoteness into an advantage. Our closest rival is Madison - five hundred miles away. Become a distant outpost and turn your ground into a fortress - a hornet's nest where angels fear to tread.
I look forward to welcoming you to the league. But, you had best saddle up. Our warm Midwestern hospitality ends at kick-off.