Still Beckoning

It may not be overly apparent from this article title, but I have continued to struggle with whether I want to continue this site. Year after year I take the Indy Eleven offseason to evaluate whether I want to spend another season devoting my time to writing about my hometown team. Around the final third of each season, the frustrations and time commitment that I spend trying to write the best articles that I can start to feel like it's not worth my time. After spending the summer months writing about the men's team and the women's team, the sheer quantity of games and articles starts to wear on me since this originated as a hobby and is not my full-time job. As I indicated in my unfiltered thoughts after the men's team's USL Cup quarterfinal loss to Greenville, there was a stretch this past June during the W League season where I attended 4 games and wrote 6 articles in a 9 day span (Friday to following Saturday). Even with a hobby that you enjoy, that was a lot to write.

After the off-season consideration of whether to walk away from the keyboard, I'm planning to be back for another year of covering Indy Eleven, and have submitted my request for season-long credentials (which I know as of the time of this article that I and my photographers have been approved to receive). Another year of articles, discussions with the coaches post game, and stadium/MLS talk. Maybe even a few articles this year on some of the World Cup games.

With one major caveat...

I'm going to write when and how much I want. When you request season credentials from Indy Eleven, it states that if you don't intend to cover at least half of the home games, then you should request credentials on a game-by-game basis. Women's team games requires a separate credential request, but generally indicates the same thing. So, at a minimum, the men's team credential request asks that you cover 9 games of the 18-game home schedule. With the women, if I were to request those credentials, that would be 2.5 games of the 5-game home schedule. By the team's requirements, I need to cover a dozen games over the two seasons. 

I plan to do more than that minimum, but maybe I don't get as detailed in my articles for the away games. Maybe I limit the away games to just the key details and not go in as much depth as I have in the past. Maybe I barely cover the women's away games. Racing Louisville barely covers the games so why should I struggle through a terrible feed to cover the game too?

Other than that's the standard I've set for myself and this site. That doesn't mean that I have to continue to overwhelm myself doing a hobby.

I've decided that I might, emphasis on might, bring a bit more levity and open honesty about the teams and the club. I've tried to be as professional of a writer as possible on this site, but I'm not a professional. I have no formal or informal training in journalism. It should be okay for me to periodically sound unprofessional.

So while some level of frustration has been and will likely remain a part of my ongoing relationship with this club and this site, I plan to continue to write this year, just maybe not at the depth or frequency as I have in the past. I want to also enjoy watching a game for the joy of watching a game and not evaluating it for things to write about.

Ken Block, the rally driver and of gymkhana fame, once replied when asked during an interview about his legacy, "I try to inspire people to be creative and live a fun life. And don't be an asshole."

This site has been my idea of being creative, I don't think I'm an asshole. Backing down the effort on this site this year will be my attempt to live a fun life. We'll see how it goes.

Roster and Tryout Talk

With today's signing of Hesron Barry, Indy Eleven's roster currently stands at 20 players. From what I've been told, there will be one more signing later this week (edit: Paco Craig announced on Wednesday, sooner than I expected) and then the team will put a hold on any new players for a bit. Add a few Academy players and the team can take part in some 11 v 11 scrimmages, but won't have too many extra players if/when the injury bug happens as the season progresses. So I suspect the team likely hasn't completely filled out the roster and will add some more later (maybe not until the season has started), but they won't be actively signing any players after this week. 

Later this week though, Indy will be holding their annual open tryout. I would recommend you go watch Matt Sheldon's recent video on his Become Elite YouTube page titled "Are Open Try Outs, Combines, and ID Camps Still Worth it in 2026?" I've thought for a long time that open tryouts at a professional level, even one at the level of USL Championship, is more of a money grab, but Matt's video provided some really nice insight for me to think that maybe Indy's open tryout isn't a complete money grab. Thinking about his video as it relates to Indy's open tryout, Indy might be an ideal place for a player to go to an open tryout based on these reasons:

1. Indy has a history, albeit limited, of signing players from their open tryouts. It's a long shot, but it has happened.
2. Indy invites other teams from the area to participate in the tryout, usually including teams like Fort Wayne FC, Detroit FC, South Bend, and even coaches from Mississippi Brilla were there one year. This means that your $250 registration fee can go a long way to finding a club. It might not mean a contract with Indy, but it might mean a contract somewhere. 
3. Indy had an entire YouTube reality series in 2024 entitled "Undrafted" where they went through the process of giving guys a chance to make the team through a summer-long tryout. A player did get signed from the series, but left the team fairly early. It did show though that over the years they will look for players in unique ways.
4. Coach McAuley. Sean seems to have the heart of a youth development coach so that's one aspect of it, but more importantly this year, McAuley and the team are looking for a roster that is "younger and hungrier." A guy that pays $250 to attend an open tryout is often younger and hungrier by nature. As Roman Pierce would say, they "hongry". 

Based on the signings for the team this year, McAuley said he wanted younger and hungrier, and the player signings are definitely the former. The average age of the new players is 25.4 years old, with a team average age of 26.75 years old. Back out the effect of the ages of the midfield three (Blake, Lindley, & Quinn) and the average drops back down into the 25s again.

The team is clearly going young again. A young, and hungry, open tryout player doesn't seem out of the question this year if there's a guy who meets a need. The success of this season could come down to McAuley's ability to convert a team of young, hongry players into a team that has something to prove and never stops fighting until the last whistle. In the past, including this offseason, McAuley has said that some of the roster moves that were made in years 1 and 2 of his tenure hampered the teams ability to sign players they wanted and when they needed help. Those roster contract issues have been fixed coming into this season so what you're seeing on the field this season feels like what McAuley wants. How quickly he can get them all to gel may go along way to determining if this is a successful, playoff participation year or another year of wondering what went wrong.

I doubt there will be a player from the open tryout that makes the roster, but you never know.