Monday, September 20, 2004 - Ottawa Fury News Release - www.ottawafury.com

OTTAWA, ON -- The Ottawa Fury has been granted an expansion franchise in the Premier Development League (PDL) for the 2005 season. The PDL is a branch of the United Soccer Leagues and is considered the male equivalent to the W-League. The Fury have fielded a team in the W-League for the past five seasons and this past August hosted the W-League Championship.

“We are delighted to add a Men’s franchise to the Club,” said an enthused Fury President and CEO, John Pugh. “Ottawa fans have really enjoyed top level W-League women’s soccer and they will be similarly excited with the standard of play in the PDL.”

The PDL is the only North American development league for men’s soccer. The league provides top US and Canadian players under 23 years of age with the opportunity to perform in a professional setting during the summer months while maintaining their collegiate eligibility.

“USL is excited to have the Fury organization joining the PDL,” said PDL Director of Operations Steve Clamp. “The Fury have been an outstanding member of the W-League and Super Y-League and we expect the same success from their PDL team.”

PDL rosters may consist of a maximum of 26 players, with 18 designated for each game. At least three players in a full 26-player roster must be under 19 and a maximum of eight players may be over the age of 23.

“Whilst the Club will be seeking out some of the nation’s top young players, we will also be looking for the best players in the region – there is considerable talent in Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec and the PDL will give these players a stage on which to display their skills,” said Fury Technical Director, Colin McCurdy. “In the future, I am very confident that we will see Fury players graduating from our Super Y-League development squads to our PDL and W-League teams.”

The Fury are expected to play in the Northeast Division.

The Fury will hold an initial Identification Camp during the weekend of October 9th and 10th. For additional information players should contact Chris Roth at 613-282-6485 or visit the Fury web site at www.ottawafury.com

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I don't care if the season is only 2-months long. I just want to see Ottawa get a men's team again. It is great news that we now have a PDL team! Where can I sign up for season tickets? No CPSL team in Ottawa meant a long summer for me. Now I can't wait for next summer.

I wonder what is going to happen with Oz Optics Stadium? Will the owner try for a CPSL team again. It is so sad to see such a fantastic field not in use.

They are expected to play in the Northeast division. Here is what the Northeast division looked like last year:

Albany Blackwatch Highlanders
Brooklyn Knights
Cape Cod Crusaders
Jersey Falcons
New Jersey Stallions
Reading Rage
Rhode Island Stingrays
South Jersey Barons
Vermont Voltage

Hmmm... road trips to Albany and Vermont are certainly possible.

This is huge news the usl adds another canadian team ottawa gets a high level soccer team again.

Wasn't the guy who ran the CPSL team formerly ruminating about going to the A-League? What happened with that?

While any development of soccer in Canada is welcome I'm not sure this is at the right level.

I haven't been out to any PDL games but I can't imagine the level of play is substatially different from the CPSL. If that's true then why not stay in the CPSL where travel costs are far lower and you don't have to deal with border-crossing issues?

Alternatively, if you want to step up in caliber, why not go higher? Really, who in Ottawa even knows where Reading or Rhode Island are? Why not jump to the A-League where you have natural rivals in Montreal and Toronto? Also, with teams in Saracuse and Rochester as well as Toronto and Montreal a good portion of the travel won't be any worse than the PDL.

The cpsl and pdl skill level is for the most part equal with that said in ever other area the pdl is far above the cpsl.The cpsl is in deep right now alot of owners only look at the cpsl as a last resort the league needs a major change.
The pdl is very appealing for many reasons it will fit in ottawa fine.As with the fury playing the lynx and impact that still can happen with the fury in the pdl the fury will play 18 games in there own division and a few games vs psl teams.

with the way the PSL was structured, if they do return-and I so no reason why not-the closest PSL team to Canada is the hounds and I would guess that they will have Ottawa on their schedule next year. But that is just an educated guess.

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I'm not sure how that gets them playing the Lynx and Impact since those teams play in the A-League, not the PSL.

Maybe a few friendly matches could be organized?

The team will probably be playing out of Keith Harris stadium (on the campus of Carleton University).

http://www.geocities.com/sigmanorthamerica/media/bosott1.jpg

WVW
First the travel will be much the same in the pdl then it would be in the cpsl.In the cpsl the there closest road trip would have been 3 hours and the longest would have been 10 hours its much the same in the pdl there closest is vermont witch is 4 hours and the farthest is reading witch is 12 hours not much difference.So why go to league that is very unstable and that is why they are in the very solid usl.

Jaydog,

Even if travel distance is a wash (and I'm not convinced the *average* trip wouldn't be shorter in the CPSL) there's still the whole border thing. Lineups to get across, getting sent to Syria by US customs, having to deal in US dollars while travelling, and all of that.

Plus, I think the draw will be better if Ottawa is playing other Ontario teams than unknown places in the States.

Also, I don't think that the CPSL is unstable - at least not in the sense that the league is going to close up shop. I would certainly like to see more stability in individual teams but that should come with time.

In the cpsl the closest team to ottawa is durham witch is 3 and a half hours.The cpsl will not cease but they need major changes mostly in the top dogs office.When the wizards were around they did not draw all that great and all ready there is alot if interest in the pdl.There is no doubt the fury will draw solid numbers.

What do you consider solid numbers?

There will be between 800-1200 per game.

Plus the Fury already have a relationship with USL and not with the CPSL. Maybe we'll see some of the other Canadian W-League teams add PDL teams.
Also, it sounds like the Fury is the extension of a youth club. By going to the PDL they can inlude Canadians that are playing college soccer in the US. If they joined the CPSL they wouldn't be able to do this.

Is the PDL way better than the university soccer in Canada?
I play for St. Francis Xavier University in the atlantic conference I tryed to attend some tryouts for the PDL last year but it was impossible because of the distance and time of the year they were held.

Any extra info would be appreciated since I am still interested in staying during the summer in North America (im from argentina) and I have heard that the PDL is the best option to play in a competitive level with out loosing elegibilty.
Thanks!

The pdl level of soccer is for the most part better then the canadian university soccer.Yes the pdl is big time commitment from apr-mid july.The fury ran a 2 day mini camp a few weeks ago i am sury they will run another mini camp in dec or jan.If you want to stay in canada this summer you should think about trying out for the fury if that fails ottawa has teams in a league called eastern regional soccer league.There is a under 23 division that would most likely fit you it is much like a university division a ton of ciua players take part in this league.And then if that does not fit your need you could go to toronto to the cpsl they go from may-oct.

Very solid numbers for the Ottawa Fury PDL would be 1100 fans per game. Remember the size of the market. Wasn't Winnipeg told their market was too big for a PDL team and was encouraged to go A-League? The Thunder Bay Chill draw an average of 753 in a market which has 121,986 people as of 2001. This gives an Index of 6.17 (average attendance / population * 1000). Ottawa has 1,063,664 people and 1100 per game would be an index of 1.03. Teams like Montreal had an index of 2.71, Vancouver's 2.43 and Toronto's 0.52.

The league average for 2004 was 554 but some teams like Kalamazoo drew 1,160 per game. I think Ottawa has to do the same of course that depends on the other sources of revenue.

About winnipeg the league was worried about travel claming the only close teams was thunder bay.And they were denied there pdl applaction.Ottawa is a a-league market is it now who know.Starting wwith the pdl is the right way to go for now build a very solid fan base etc.

Jaydog, thanks for the help.
If you find out the day of the tryouts would you please post it.
Do the pdl teams recruit? Do they have a coach already?
Oh, and I am already 23, I would be 24 in june, do you thnk this would be a problem? or an advantage? since they are gong to be a young team.
Thanks very much
Sorry for all this questions
Cheers
Federico

I don't think your age will be a probleam pdl teams are allowed to carry 7 overagers who are over 21.I really can't see them goiing with a whole team under 21.They are going to need some experence to lead this group.Aslo with this beeing there first year they are preety much like a expanson team.Aslo they plan on playing at keith harris stadium witch is on the university of carleton campous.I will post the try-out info when its aval.

Maybe it's different in Canada per CSA, and maybe it changes next year, but the current USL rules say:

The league rules would apply anywhere, US or Canada.

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