Indy Eleven Season 3 Preview - Cautionsly Optimistic Expectations Edition

The Indy Eleven off-season has been a busy one. Let's take a look at where they've been, where they are, and I'll give my thoughts on where I think they're going.

The Indy Eleven finished the 2015 season with a 8W-9D-13L overall record with a 5th place finish in the Spring Season, a 9th place finish in the Fall Season, for a 9th place overall finish. Before the Spring Season concluded, the team fired Coach Sommer and placed the Interim Coach title to previously title Assistant Coach Regan. With that limited amount of success in the record books and working with an Interim Head Coach, things were bound to change. 

I talked a little about the hiring of Coach Hankinson here, so I'm not going to go into much detail here. I also touched on the initial 8 players that were re-signed from last season in that article, so let's dive down into the rest of the roster moves for a bit. The Eleven created great election style banners for each of the player announcements so I'm going to use them here as I discuss the signings. I hope they don't mind.

These are the initial 8 players that the team re-signed: Janicki, Franco, Miller, Mares, Stojkov, Smart, Wojcik, and Lacroix. Three defenders, three midfielders, and two forwards. A total of 11,772 minutes of last year's team, or just under 40% of the total team minutes from last season.  As I indicated in my other post, these guys all seem to fit into the "warrior" mentality that Coach Hankinson wants for this year's team. While scoring was an issue at times for this team, I think keeping Woj and Lacroix had a lot to do with the fact they are young guys who are still learning the professional game, but their size and speed, respectively, are key to their return. I like this group and think it's a good core group to start a roster rebuild. Given Janicki's history with Coach Hankinson, he's the only player from this group that I expect to be one of the opening day starters, but I think they all are going to be able to compete for starter roles. Mares, Franco, Miller, and Smart have shown they have starter ability and if they have used the off-season to improve, they will push for those roles regardless of who was signed after them. Stojkov's warrior attitude will endear him to Coach Hankinson so he'll find some minutes. Wojcik and Lacroix are still young guys with lots to learn, but I see them as substitutes. If Lacroix can find a little more consistency, he may find himself in the "super sub" role that has been Smart's the past three seasons, as his speed late in the game against an opposing team's tired legs could be a nice weapon to have.

Brad Ring was the next player from last year's roster to make his way back, bringing the team to 44% of last year's minutes retained. Ring's signing marked the start of the direction for the 2016 team. Experience. At just 28, Ring is one of the oldest players being re-signed from last year's roster, but he was able to be a steady force in the defensive midfield spot and I think he'll again fight for time at that position this season. Like the rest of the returning players, Ring fits into that "warrior" description that Coach Hankinson wants this team to embody so I'm glad to see him back.

Sinisa Ubiparipovic - Signed 12/15/2015

Indy's first non-returning player was Sinisa Ubiparipovic, the first of what would become three players from last year's runner-up team Ottawa Fury. At this point in the roster signings, it's hard to say which players will be starters and which ones will be substitutes, but Ubiparipovic will be an opening day starter. He's the first of a trend of veteran signings for the Indy Eleven, but he was signed from Ottawa to take the playmaker role that was missing at times last season. Mares has shown glimpses of what he's able to do, but Ubiparipovic brings a more experienced view of the field than Mares can bring at this stage in his career. I'm not convinced that the presence of Ubiparipovic means that Mares will be relegated to the bench, but he's going to have to use the work ethic that took him from season one level to season two level and bring it up to compete for the starting spot against Ubiparipovic. The team had visions of Kleberson being that playmaker role last season and his injury meant that the team spent the entire season trying to find the right depth at that position. Ubiparipovic and Mares brings the team that depth again.

Daniel Keller & Keith Cardona

The Eleven went back to signing a couple of last year's players after signing Ubiparipovic by re-signing Daniel Keller and Keith Cardona. With these two players, which would turn out to be the last two players re-signed from last year's team, the minutes retained is brought up to just over 50%. I continue to harp on that statistic because of what I have noticed in the past couple seasons and these two players are good signings for how it looks like Coach Hankinson wants to go with this team. I don't see Keller getting starter minutes yet, but he was more than a serviceable holding midfielder this past season. He's a young local guy who I think is going to relish the opportunity to improve and play some valuable minutes throughout the season. I'm glad to see Cardona back, but based on the later signings I don't see him as the starting keeper. He has tons of ability and he's getting a great role model to learn from this season. More on both of these guys after I talk about the rest of the roster additions.

Neil Shaffer & Eamon Zayed - Signed 12/23/2015

The new signings began in earnest when the team announced the additions of Neil Shaffer and Eamon Zayed right before Christmas. Zayed's signing proved to me that I might as well stop guessing what players the Eleven were going to be signing because they went to the other side of the world for this signing. The guy is a prolific goal scorer and for a team that struggled to put the ball in the back of the net last season, I don't see any way this guy doesn't make it onto the opening day starting lineup. My hope is that he scores that game and just continues to show the NASL what he has shown in every other league he has played. Neil Shaffer is listed as a midfielder, but it is expected that he will see some time at left back as well. Though, I think he will be providing depth in that position based on subsequent signings.

Lovel Palmer - Signed 01/12/2016

Lovel Palmer comes from the Chicago Fire as a hard-working, fan-friendly defender. He's played for the Jamaican National team, has played for a Jamaican Premier League winning team in Harbour View, and was a frequent starter for the Chicago Fire last season. Palmer will likely be the starting right back for the Eleven, meaning Franco will be working to provide depth at the right back position. There's also the possibility that Palmer could play in that defensive midfielder position with Franco on the right back. I think he's going to make some fans for his play on the field, but off the field, I have yet to hear an interview with him where I didn't think to myself that this guy is going to make a ton more fans for his eagerness to interact with them.

Colin Falvey - Signed 01/15/2016

Colin Falvey continued the Indy Eleven trend this off-season of signing Ottawa Fury players. The team has said that nobody is a lock as a starter, but I don't see any way that Falvey doesn't make the starting lineup. He's an organizing defender whose unafraid of tackles and was part of the stout Ottawa defense that gave up a paltry 15 goals in the entirety of their games in the Fall Season, which included 4 goals in the Championship and only 23 goals overall. Since I believe Janicki is the other center as the front-runner for the center back position and that Coach Hankinson thinks Janicki works best with someone else organizing, I hope this pairing gels quickly.

Justin Braun & Nemanja Vukovic - Signed 01/19/2016

Justin Braun and Nemanja Vukovic both join the Eleven from Sacramento FC of the USL, further adding to the Eleven's plan of buying in bulk. When the team signed Eamon Zayed, that's when I knew that my limited knowledge of the available soccer players was going to be drastically challenged this year. While Braun and Vukovic are at least a part of the American soccer scene, I honestly don't know a lot about them, but coming from a winning team like Sacramento can only help the culture of the Indy Eleven, which is desperate to get over that hump of competing, but not getting good results. I think both of these guys are going to be providing the depth needed to keep the team healthy through the entirety of the season.

Jon Busch - Signed 01/22/2016

A 5'-10", 165 lb goalkeeper who will turn 40 before the end of the year may not seem like a very sexy choice to anchor the defense, but Jon Busch has carried a chip on his shoulder his entire career because of the opinions of his size and it has not let him down. A 40-year old goalkeeper doesn't bother me and the team summarized exactly why Busch is a great addition to this team when they wrote his bio. "The 39-year-old Busch racked up a 113W-92D-101L record in MLS regular season play and ranks fourth in league history in goalkeeper games played (309), shutouts (83) and saves (1,151) and fifth in wins. The native of Queens, N.Y., helped Columbus (2004) and San Jose (2012) to MLS regular season Supporters Shield titles, won the 2002 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with the Crew and earned the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year award and earned a spot on the MLS Best XI Team with the Fire in 2008."

Nicki Paterson - Signed 01/26/2016

The Indy Eleven have a 1W-0D-5L record against the Ottawa Fury in the team's two years in the league and have been outscored by them by a 2 to 1 ratio. Nicki Paterson completed the Indy Eleven's off-season motto in regards to the Ottawa Fury of "if you can't beat 'em, sign 'em." So now the Indy Eleven have the backbone of last year's runner-up Ottawa Fury. Winners who have a hunger to get back to the Championship and experience it with better results is going to be what drives these guys this season. I hope all of them come into this season with a chip on their shoulder and that fire in the belly.

Gorka Larrea - Signed 02/10/2016

I'm going to be honest, when the team announced this signing, I immediately thought that Gorka Larrea looked like he could be related to Cory Miller. The team agreed with him and tweeted this image later. I expect Larrea to be providing depth in the midfield, but he's another player that is going to be able to provide a seasoned voice to the team.

Stephen Deroux - Signed 02/12/2016

The signing of a left back has been teased by the team for a long time and the Eleven's signing of former San Antonio left back Stephen Deroux filled an obvious gap in the team's roster. I feel like I could write this about all of the team's former players and new signings (and that's a testament to the team that Coach Hankinson, Coach Regan, and out-going President and GM Peter Wilt), but Deroux fits the bill of being a warrior and has been a staple to the San Antonio defense the past three years. Deroux is the last piece in what should be a very formidable backline this season.

Dino Williams - Signed 02/23/2016

Today, the Eleven made official what has been rumored for about a month and is expected to be the final signing unless something comes of any of the trialists that make the trip with them to Arizona next week. Dino Williams joins the Eleven from Montego Bay United where he was recently coached by the Eleven's newly hired Coach Hankinson. Williams was previously also a trialist with the Eleven in 2014 before getting injured so he's been on the Eleven's radar for awhile. He leaves the Jamaican Premier League having scored 14 goals in 16 games so he comes to the team in good form. Whether that form translates from the Jamaican Premier League to the NASL will be determined. Williams' signing brings the official number of forwards on the team to 5, but I anticipate that in the 4-2-3-1 formation that Coach Hankinson has previously indicated would be how the team starts (at least on paper), four of the forwards are chasing Eamon for that role. Coach Hankinson has indicated that Williams is "a dangerous performer on the wings" so Williams may find his way onto the field in that role.

While I made several jokes about the Indy Eleven signing multiple players from the same team, I think it's a wise move. For starters, it means that there are guys on the team that are already familiar with each other and so it reduces, even if ever so slightly, their need to learn the habits of one more guy. They have a base to start. With a 23-man roster where only 11 of them are returners from next year, there are still a lot of connections between the other 12 players that should help make this a smooth transition for them all. I think I'm correct in saying that only Shaffer, Zayed, and Larrea are the only players who don't have some kind of direct experience with one of the other players or coaches. 

This could be said about a lot of the positions, but the off-season signings have provided a lot of depth at all of the positions with guys who are capable of playing in multiple roles and locations. This will serve the team well during the 32 game season (plus whatever comes of the U.S. Cup and any international friendlies that might get added between the Spring and Fall Seasons). Before Larrea, Deroux, and Williams became official signings, the team posted the below graphic showing the possible combinations of the players as they might fit into Coach Hankinson's 4-2-3-1 formation.

Looking at all of the players that have now been signed, and without any knowledge of how the practices are going and who is clicking with each other, my best guess on the starting XI is as follows:

---------------Zayed----------------

Mares----Ubiparipovic----Smart

----Paterson-------------Ring----

Deroux---Janicki---Falvey---Palmer

---------------Busch---------------


Though like I said above, I think Lacroix's speed is going to be help him get into games late to exploit opposing team's tired legs. Stojkov is going to get minutes because he personifies Coach Hankinson's warrior mentality, as will Miller for the exact same reason. In fact, I think if Miller can become a more effective header in the offensive third (and we all know his ability in the defensive third), I would like to see him late in games as an aerial option, particularly in dead ball situations.

On paper, I really like this roster. The average age of the returning players is 25.6 years old, while the average age of the new signings is 30.75 years old. Dino Williams at age 25, is still older than more than half of the returning players from last year. This team has some really good young talent that is now being led by older, experienced, winning players. I think the backline has the potential to be one of the best in the league, with the ability to bring in two of the more consistent players from last season in Miller and Franco. Combine that with a Goalkeeper of the Year winner in Busch behind them and the defense is going to be tough to beat. If Zayed and Williams can provide anywhere close to the production that they have had through their careers and recent season, respectively, then one of last season's problem areas will be highly upgraded.

I want to go into this season gung-ho optimistic, but I'm not there yet. Let me see how some of this pre-season games go before I remove the cautiously optimistic label.

An Airport Stadium?

I wasn't planning on writing about this because it seems so speculative, but there was an article in today's Indy Star that was enough to push me to write. The article by John Tuohy, was titled "Developer wants to draw pro sports team to airport stadium" in the online edition, but was titled "If he builds it, will pro team come? in the paper edition. I'm going to pull from the online edition text as appropriate. Today's article was proceeded by an article yesterday titled "$500M sports medicine complex chosen for airport site".

The first article stated:

The developer, the Athlete's Business Network, said its development would employ 3,000 workers. Built on 130 acres south of Washington Street near High School Road, the complex would have five medical office buildings that specialize in sports performance, substance abuse sports medicine, and orthopedics and sports medical technology. The centerpiece, called the ABN Global Center for Brain Health, would focus on brain trauma.

Plans also call for two 250-room hotels and a 20,000-seat stadium. The project would be built in two phases.

Like I'm sure many Indy Eleven fans, the words "20,000-seat stadium" has become the de facto number of seats for soccer specific stadiums and so the words jumped off the screen at me. However, it's vagueness was enough for me to dismiss it as not worthy writing a post about it. The concept of a stadium at the airport isn't new. I even did two versions of it (again using the Chicago Fire's Toyota Park as my basis), but never discussed it because of the Indy Eleven's repeated desire to be in Downtown Indy. The first option I did had it located in the place of the old terminal, which is a location that the City and the Indianapolis Airport Authority would desperately like to have developed again.

Airport Option at the old Terminal site

The second option moved it to the other side of High School Road because of my perceived difficulties with placing a soccer stadium directly within the airfield.

Option across the High School Road, east of the old Terminal site

There is more space than the Eleven have indicated they would need, but it is close to transportation, is a part of town that the City would like to have look like more than a massive amount of concrete parking lot, and has available hotels in the immediate vicinity, making it a reasonably desirable site. Though, can you imagine spending two hours at the game and having a fly-over every 90 seconds?

One other clarification quickly, the first article and the subsequent articles refer to "developing the former terminal site at the Indianapolis International Airport." I don't believe that the developer has plans to develop the terminal site WEST of High School Road, when you look at the rendering provided in the article.

Rendering taken from Indy Star article

To me, that looks like the complex is being wedged between I-465 on the East and High School Road on the West. The right side of the rendering looks like the On/Off ramps for the Sam Jones Expressway.  Coincidentally (or not), the area between those two thoroughfares is 130 acres.

So I think the plan is more similar to my second alternative. The facility is being proposed by a developer, the Athlete's Business Network, in partnership with:

developers The Pataki-Cahill Group of New York; Walsh Construction Co. of Chicago; construction company The Hagerman Group of Indianapolis; real estate consultant Johnson Consulting of Chicago; investment bank Ziegler and global design firm Gensler of Houston.

Two of those are construction companies that are likely in frequent competition with Indy Eleven's owner Ersal Ozdemir's company, Keystone Construction. This piece by itself was enough for me to feel that this venture did not include the desires of the Indy Eleven, but was something that I would continue to watch progress to determine the realistic possibility of the stadium component to the complex.

I didn't expect that only a day later, more details would be provided that were even more confusing. While the first article didn't provide many details of a stadium, the follow-up article was much more explicit.

The developer of a $500 million medical complex on the site of the old Indianapolis International Airport terminal said he is talking with out-of-state professional sports organizations about moving to a stadium on the city's west side.

Included in Athletes Business Network Holdings’ plan for a five-building complex is a 20,000-seat stadium or arena to host entertainment and sports events year-round and be the home field/ice/court for a pro team.

ABN co-founder Craig Sanders said he has had serious talks with representatives of pro sports teams about locating at the new stadium.

“We are having very active discussions with sports organizations outside of Indiana, professional and amateur," Sanders said, though he declined to name which organizations.

There's a lot in that little segment that could be both good or bad for the Indy Eleven's hopes of getting their own stadium. First the bad. Is Sanders in discussion with another soccer team from any of the three higher tiers of American soccer, MLS, NASL, or USL? I limit it to those three tiers because I don't believe any teams in lower tiers have attendance figures that would necessitate a 20,000 seat stadium. If he has had those discussions, a privately funded stadium would certainly hamper the Indy Eleven's current legislative route of helping to pay for the stadium. The article implies that the stadium could be used by the Indy Eleven, but that isn't any more advantageous to the team than its current arrangement, where it would still be paying rent to play there and not be able to control the money that is made there for other events. Plus, it means a direct competitor for supporters.

The good news is that it would seem unlikely that an existing MLS team would relocate here because that would have made the rumors by now. It makes absolutely no sense for a NASL team to relocate here because there is already a team here and the NASL wouldn't expand in that fashion. So that leaves a USL team. A league that mandates that all teams have a soccer specific stadium by 2020. I'm sure if I dug deep enough, I could find a USL team unhappy with their current location, but enough that they would risk moving to a new city to directly compete for fans of an existing team? I don't think so. The Indy Eleven may have the highest attendance in the NASL, but I'm not convinced that it could support two professional soccer teams.

It just doesn't seem to make good business sense to build a stadium for a relocated soccer team in a city that already has a team. That extends further down the major professional sports market for Indianapolis.
NFL team? Check.
NBA team? Check.
WNBA team? Check.
Professional hockey? Check.
Professional baseball? Check.

Professional soccer?
Men's team? Check.
Women's team? Not checked. Could it be a NWSL team with the hopes of bringing in the Eleven as a partner to use the facilities. Possibly, but I don't see a team relocating within the league. A new team maybe, but I still think that an explicit partnership between the Indy Eleven and a NWSL team would be beneficial for both teams, not just them using the same facilities. I don't think those conversations have occurred based on the rest of the article (see text below).

Indianapolis loves sports and have built a reputation as such, but with the exception of possibly adding a women's soccer team, supporting multiple professional teams within the same sport/league seems a bit much.

Then the article went off the rails for me:

"but Sanders said he had not been in contact with team owner Ersal Ozdemir.
...
A spokesman for the Fuel could not be reached, but the minor league hockey team  is in a long-term agreement to play its home games at Indiana Farmers Coliseum at the State Fairgrounds. Likewise, baseball's minor league Indianapolis Indians recently signed a 20-year lease extension to stay at Victory Field Downtown.
...
A spokeswoman for Mayor Joe Hogsett said the mayor had no advance knowledge of the medical center plan or the sports stadium.

Barry Levengood, executive director of the Capital Improvement Board, which oversees the city-owned pro sports venues Lucas Oil Stadium, Bankers Life Fieldhouse and Victory Field, said that in his 25 years with the board, it never discussed getting another sports team.
...
Sanders said his stadium also could host top-level amateur events, such as the NCAA’s Final Four, without stealing thunder from Lucas Oil Stadium or Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

"Our objective is to be a collaborative partner and help elevate the city as a whole,” Sanders said. “Especially as various other entities seek to develop sports infrastructure Downtown.”

So you want to be a collaborative partner and you haven't talked to a single entity within the City (or State?) that runs a sports organization or doesn't already have a long-term agreement in place for their home games? The stadium portion of the proposal seems completely unrealistic to me now and there's a reason why it's included in Phase 2 of their plan. I don't know to whom Sanders has been discussing the plan, but I don't think it's anybody in Indiana willing to tell him the plan seems flawed.

I assume they haven't gone into this concept completely haphazardly, but my two day old evaluation of the plan has me wondering how anybody would take the rest of the proposal seriously. Particularly when the rest of the plan includes hotels totaling 500 rooms in a part of town that can't routinely fill the hotels that are already located there. While the articles continue to reference the Indy Eleven, including providing a photo of Woj in the second article, I firmly believe that a stadium near the airport is not in the team's plans and Indy Eleven is only being mentioned by the Indy Star because of the recent stadium discussions with the team.

The Politics of Soccer

In a couple of months, I will have been writing this blog and about the Indy Eleven for two years. In that time frame, I have written about wins, losses, players, coaches, tactics, and the business of soccer. I hate writing about the losses, but even more so, I hate writing about the business of soccer. Even though the predominant topic of the writing is about a professional team in the Indy Eleven, I still often think about soccer in terms of the child-like joy it brings me and not the business of it. Men getting to play a game. A game that I have loved since I was a little kid. Men getting to do what I wish I could do.

Player signings and releases, coach firings, the departure of Peter Wilt so that he can work to get a competitor into the league, the hiring of a new President, and a future hire of a General Manager to replace all of Wilt's duties; all of this constitutes the business of soccer.  All of this is what takes the child-like joy out of writing about my favorite team.  Yet, I recently became aware that there is an aspect of writing about soccer that I enjoy even less than the business of soccer.

The politics of soccer.

It's always been there as I've been writing about the Indy Eleven, but it's been more of an unspoken player.  I think it was because it was more wrapped into the business and economics of soccer that I let myself gloss over the politics of it. Yet, the way that the club has pursued the funding of a new stadium through the Indiana Legislature makes it clearly a political venture and a piece of the puzzle since before the team ever played a single game. The politics of soccer has always been there, it's just now more apparent to me.

There was an article published in the Indianapolis Business Journal, dated January 20, 2016, entitled "State lawmaker tells Indy Eleven owner 'be a man,' pony up for stadium". In the article:

Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, told IBJ on Tuesday he’s not expecting any movement on a soccer stadium during this year’s legislative session—and not ever unless Ozdemir, the Eleven’s owner, agrees to kick in significant funding for the project.

“I keep telling him to stand up and be a man,” Kenley said. “If you’re a real capitalist, you should have money of your own in this. He’s one of those developers who’s had a little success and who realizes if he can get government to pay for this or that, then that’s a good deal for him. He acts like that’s pro forma.”

Obviously, this made a lot of noise with the Indy Eleven fans. Some have questioned where Senator Kenley stood on the $870M funding of Lucas Oil Stadium. Well, it turns out that he was part of the process that put together that deal.

According to the agreement negotiated between city and state officials, taxpayers were responsible for funding 87 percent of the stadium. That makes Lucas Oil Stadium the most heavily taxpayer-subsidized stadium in the country.
...
State Sen. Luke Kenley (R-Noblesville) helped put together the final deal and says city officials knew they were responsible for finding money for the operating expenses.

I have been told that Senator Kenley has indicated that part of the difference between the Lucas Oil Stadium deal and any Indy Eleven Stadium deal is that Jim Irsay put in money himself and that Ersal Ozdemir has not stepped up to any extent in his proposals.  While I disagree with that since the versions that went through last year included using one of Mr. Ozdemir's hotel properties to make up any shortfall each year that was not achieved through the use of the stadium, let's also look further at the Irsay piece of the pie. The other 13% beyond the 87% that the taxpayers  were responsible was contributed by Jim Irsay...

Colts owner Jim Irsay was able to cover his 13 percent portion of the cost when he sold the naming rights to the Lucas Oil company for $120 million.

So isn't that Lucas Oil that put the money in?  Couldn't Ersal Ozdemir do the same thing for the soccer stadium? Just for simplicity and talking purposes (and for those not wanting to do the math), 13% of the $85M that the team originally suggested as a starting point is $11M. Indiana Farmers Mutual Insurance agreed to a 10-year $6M naming rights deal for the Coliseum at the State Fairgrounds. I have to think that the team could find somebody willing to do at least that, maybe all $11M. Has this not been part of the discussion and when did Irsay acquire the Lucas Oil money in the process of that stadium funding?

Put all of that politics in your memory bank for now.  Three days after that IBJ article, there was another one that seems to have gone completely unnoticed by many Indy Eleven fans, but I think speaks volumes. That article was titled, "Key lawmaker wants state to buy GM site for green space". I'll give you three guesses which lawmaker wants the space. That's right, Senator Luke Kenley,

One of the most-powerful members of the Indiana Senate wants the state to buy the 102-acre General Motors stamping plant site on the western edge of downtown and turn it into an expansion of White River State Park.

Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, wants lawmakers to allocate funding for the purchase when they craft the next two-year budget in the spring of 2017.

“For the long-term benefit of the state and Indianapolis, it’s better to have the whole 100 acres and dedicate it to White River State Park,” he said. “You only get one chance at a piece of property like this. It would be silly not to try to consummate that deal.”
...
Kenley’s proposal would not necessarily derail the widely discussed plan to build a $30 million, 10,000-seat amphitheater on the eastern half of the property. He said he’s open to using some of the land for a concert venue, but doesn’t want any restrictions on the state’s purchase.
...
Local developer REI Investments Inc. last year agreed to buy 51-1/2 acres on the east side of the property for the $30 million concert venue. It would build the project in partnership with White River State Park, Live Nation and the Indianapolis Zoo.
...
Construction of the amphitheater can’t proceed without the state’s blessing, however, since it hinges on the state’s ponying up half the $30 million cost.

Kenley said he has discussed buying the site with Gov. Mike Pence and REI President Mike Wells. He expects the purchase price would be well under $15 million.

Under REI’s plan, it would develop the venue, White River State Park would own it, and Live Nation would run it. Live Nation also runs Klipsch Music Center in Noblesville and the Old National Centre downtown.

There's a lot there that's interesting to me, but the old GM stamping plant locale has always been one that Indy Eleven fans have thought would make for a great location for a new soccer specific stadium and was one of the first that I discussed in my first potential stadium location posts, but had to eliminate because it appeared to have other uses. It's also a site that I believe Mr. Ozdemir made a bid to get at the time. It's close to downtown, access to major roads and transportation, and plenty of space for the stadium (and practice facilities?), parking, and other development. What's interesting to me about Senator Kenley's proposal is that a business would develop the site, but it would be owned by the State, and another business would run it. How are those businesses being paid for their efforts? Isn't that from the taxpayers, as well as the $15M for the site coming from the taxpayers too? Will 100 acres be able to generate any income to the state or will it only be taking from the taxpayers?

I find it interesting that the same politician that tells a businessman to "man up" and put some of his own cash into a venture turns around three days later and suggests that the state provide $15M to fund a public park on a piece of property that would seem like it could be used by other businesses, including by the same businessman that he told to "man up."

It's been the general consensus among many Indy Eleven fans that the new President of the team, Jeff Belskus, was brought in as much for his past experience with navigating the political landscape in Indianapolis from his time with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as he was for his business ability. Mr. Belskus is here to run the business side of Indy Eleven with the departure of Peter Wilt, but that likely includes the creation of a new stadium as one of his highest priorities. That's my assumption...

Which may be why 7 days after Senator Kenley told Ersal Ozdemir to "man up," and 4 days after indicating that he wants the State to purchase the 100 acres of the GM stamping plant for $15M, Jeff Belskus tweeted this:

At an event for State Senator Luke Kenley. A great Hoosier! pic.twitter.com/8T5ovlHWaE

— Jeff Belskus (@Indy11_Jeff) January 27, 2016

I officially hate the politics of soccer more than I hate normal politics. Shaking hands, kissing babies, and seemingly playing games with my childhood love.

The Soccer Life - John Koluder

Indy Eleven's Public Relations Director John Koluder takes part in this edition of the Soccer Life, which I hope with his help becomes a more frequent occurrence this year with other Indy Eleven staff and players.  By the nature of this questionnaire, this provides a relatively surface level introduction to John and his way into the Soccer Life, but if you have an hour and a half, I would highly recommend listening to the Bloody Shambles boys' podcast interview with John from a few weeks ago. Good stuff.

Oh, and if anybody can locate a 2006 episode of What's Wrong With...Soccer? that includes an appearance by John, please point us all to the link.  Yes, our favorite PR flack has an IMDB listing.

1. Name:
John Koluder

2. Role (Player, Parent, Coach, Referee, General Spectator, All of the Above, None of the Above, Other):
- Indy Eleven PR Director

3. Soccer-specific Nickname (and any story behind it):
- Never been given one, but if I did it would probably be “Gimpy” as I tend to injure myself more than I should when I attempt to play!

4. Age started playing:
- 9 years old … and retired by 11

5. First recollection of the game:
- Running around the fields of Marion playing for the PAL league’s team sponsored by “Keep it Simple Photography”

6. Highest level of play achieved:
- Said Police Athletic League team in Marion, which is to say not very high

7. Last competitive match – Date (if known) & Level of Play
- If you don’t count the IUPUI Rec League a couple of summers ago, the D.C. United Media Game in 2002 (winning goalkeeper in a 7-6 battle on the RFK Stadium pitch).

8. Position:
- Usually play fullback, although I fancy myself a true #6 in my dreams

9. Jersey number:
- #15 (when possible)

10. Most memorable moment(s):
- During my youth soccer days, I got hit in the face with a free kick by Tricia Streeter (the best player in our league) right before halftime. At the start of the second half, I immediately went and kicked/tripped her off the kickoff and got a yellow card. Well worth it!

11. Least memorable moment(s):
- Two-footing myself and doing a ligament in my foot during a pick-up game in Salt Lake City (don’t ask how one can two-foot himself … it’s possible, believe me).

12. Favorite team:
- Indy Eleven obviously, but back-up would be Real Salt Lake

13. Favorite player:
- Historical: Chris Armas

- Current: Michael Bradley

14. Indoor vs Outdoor:
- Outdoor, always

15. Grass vs Turf:
- Grass, always

16. Coaching experience:
- Was assistant coach for a U-10 team in Chicago for about 4 months … that was enough for me!

17. Refereeing experience:
- None, although I always thought I had the temperament for it

18. Favorite World Cup moment(s):
- Tie - Landon Donovan goal vs. Algeria in 2010 and watching the USA-Belgium 2014 game with thousands of folks on Mass Ave

19. Honors/Awards:
- Won the 2010 MLS PR Department of the Year award when at Real Salt Lake … and the local weekly arts rag out there gave me a “Best of Utah” award in 2011. I hold both in equal regard. Also lucky enough to have been on staff for RSL’s MLS Cup run in 2009 and for the Chicago Fire’s 2003 & 2006 U.S. Open Cup titles … didn’t help them win, but I got rings and medals anyways!

20. Other sports played (and to what level):
- Let’s see … played baseball (2-time little league all-star 2nd baseman!), basketball, and football on organized teams … none past elementary school!

21. Other Comments:
- Weeks before I started my internship at D.C. United in 2002, MLS had contracted both Florida teams and there were severe doubts as to whether professional soccer in the USA would go the way of the dinosaur. I’m glad to see those fears were horribly wrong and to have played a very, very minuscule part in helping the sport grow, especially here in my home state with Indy Eleven the last three years.

Indy Eleven hire a new President; Wilt leaving

Less than three months after hearing word that Peter Wilt may be taking a consultant role to get a NASL team for Chicago, today Indy Eleven fans found out that Peter Wilt's consultant role is now already with the Indy Eleven. The Indy Eleven announced that they have hired former Indianapolis Motor Speedway President and CEO Jeff Belskus as the new President for the team, while "founding Indy Eleven president Peter Wilt will continue his general managerial duties with the club on a consultant basis into the 2016 NASL Spring Season."  From the Twitter discussion following the announcement, it is currently unknown (at least to the fans) how far the "into the...Spring Season" implies. Will Peter be around through the entirety of the Spring Season or will his replacement be hired soon, thereby allowing Peter to depart for Chicago? Will Peter be around long enough for the fans to give him a proper send-off? Only time will tell, but given that the team has begun each of their previous seasons with around 20 players and that the team currently has 14 players signed with another 4 or 5 potentially announced this week, the team might be nearly to the point where it is expected to be for the start of the season. How much more work is necessary from Wilt to get the team started for the new season may factor into his departure date. That may mean that roster building for the off-season may be nearing an end. Especially since Peter indicated that:

At least three of the five have served as pro team captains, four of the five have MLS experience (3 with 6 or more years) and all are starter caliber players with NASL Best XI potential.

On the other side of this coin, there's no mistaking Belskus' credentials when looking at his resume on the Eleven website:

An experienced businessman and sports and entertainment executive, Belskus comes to Indy Eleven with a variety of industry experience including banking, insurance, real estate, broadcasting and food, but most of his focus has been in motorsports and professional auto racing in the United States.

He joined the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1987 as the corporate controller. Rising through the ranks, he was named President and CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation in 2009. On October 1, 2013, Belskus was appointed to serve as president and chief financial officer of Hulman & Company, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation’s parent organization.

During his long career with the Hulman organization Belskus served in a variety of executive roles, including CEO of the IndyCar Series, CEO of Hulman & Company and CFO of all of the Hulman affiliated organizations. After a successful career in the auto sports industry, Belskus retired from the Hulman organization in early 2015.

That's a lot of business experience. Business experience that has dealt with the highest levels of politics in the City of Indianapolis and the State of Indiana. Given the success of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, I think he's more than qualified to take over the business aspects of the Indy Eleven. The new President for the Indy Eleven is a businessman. What he is lacking, however, is any real knowledge of the American soccer scene. Which is why I fully expect that the President/GM role that Wilt has been filling by himself will soon be filled by two people and we'll hear that the team has hired a new General Manager. It's impossible for me to know who that person might be, but despite Belskus' business acumen, the team is going to need somebody who knows the soccer scene too. Given that the team would not make such a move of hiring a President with no soccer experience with Peter leaving relatively soon, I would think that they already have candidates narrowed down. It's just a matter of time before it gets finalized.

While it may be a moot point, this exchange came to my mind today about the potential names for the Indy Eleven before they became the Indy Eleven.

@thejoshbaker Intellectual property issues.

— peter wilt (@PeterWilt1) January 17, 2013

I wondered on Twitter today, both to the team and the BYB, whether Belskus was in charge during this time and the irony of that now that he is in charge of the Eleven. My question was met with silence. So either I hit an old wound that nobody wants to reopen or Belskus wasn't part of the IMS group dissuading the Eleven from using the "intellectual property."  I guess it doesn't matter either way, but it still made me wonder.

So a lot has happened since the end of the second season. The roster was reduced down to 11 players from last season, 3 more have been added, an interim coach became an assistant coach, a new coach was hired, a new President was hired, likely a new GM will be hired, and current President/GM Peter Wilt is moving on to start another NASL team. Despite the rumors about Wilt's potential departure, I had still hoped that they were wrong and that Peter would be around longer. He's a rare force and asset to teams that can't be duplicated. That's why it's going to take two people to replace him.

This whole off-season has been one example after another on why I hate the business of soccer. Watching players go has been hard enough, but watching it become official that Peter Wilt will shortly be leaving Indy just seems unfair. I have faith that Belskus will do a good job moving forward, but that doesn't take the sting out of losing Peter any less (pun intended).

However, as I worked to write this, it was announced that the NASL has suspended the operation of the the Atlanta Silverbacks. Combine that with the San Antonio Scorpions move to USL, the departure of the Minnesota United to the MLS in 2017, and brand new teams in Miami, Puerto Rico, and Oklahoma (that latter two of which that haven't shown a lot of movement ahead of their inaugural seasons), maybe the departure of Peter to Chicago is exactly what this league needs right now to help keep it moving forward.

Or maybe that's just rationalizing the departure of a good man. I don't have any say in the matters, but if the team ever has desires for a "Ring of Honor", I nominate Peter as one of the first recipients. Anybody want to second?

Indy Eleven begin the changes for 2016

I'm not a journalist and I write here because I love the Eleven (as evidenced by my stress-relieving creation of an Indy Eleven bandanna because that seemed like a natural and enjoyable way to spend a bit of time in the off season...see the end of this article for said bandanna concept).  Since I'm not a journalist, I'm not obligated to meet any strict deadline nor rush to get something out the door and into the interwebs. As a result, I decided to wait to write down my thoughts on the coach and player changes until two things happened despite all of the rumors swirling around for both: 1) the official announcement from the team about the coach and 2) the official announcement from the team about which players were staying or leaving.  Luckily, those two things happened in back-to-back days.

I wanted to wait because I felt that those two pieces together would provide a much more coherent picture on where the Front Office (FO) and ownership want to go with this team in 2016 than each piece individually.  Now that the team has officially announced Tim Hankinson as the new Head Coach and released the list of the returning players, a vision for the future is starting to gel in my mind of where I think the team is going.  First, let me reiterate some of those details first.

Here's the list of player movements (including Games Played, Games Started, and Minutes for a discussion below):

Re-signed

• Franco (27, 26, 2377)
• Janicki (20, 16, 1495)
• Miller (20, 19, 1746)
• Mares (21, 17, 1548)
• Smart (25, 11, 1219)
• Stojkov (21, 18, 1393)
• Lacroix (18, 7, 846)
• Wojcik (21, 12, 1148)

On-going Contract Discussions

• Ring (21, 16, 1379)
• Cardona (10, 10, 900)

Contract Expired

• Hyland (18, 17, 1550)
• Keller (15, 11, 946)

Options Not Picked Up

• Dawson (0, 0, 0)
• Nicht (20, 20, 1800)
• McKinney (2, 1, 103)
• Norales (25, 25, 2135)
• Ceballos (12, 6, 583)
• Cuevas (1, 1, 56)
• Kleberson (1, 0, 7)
• Pineda (20, 17, 1467)

Loan Agreements Expired

• Frías (12, 12, 1040)
• Pena (12, 10, 844)
• Richards (15, 13, 1033)
• Steinberger (12, 11, 965)
• Brown (24, 15, 1410)
• Rugg (19, 13, 1271)

New Coach Hankinson is certainly well traveled.  He's coached in the amateur system in the United States at universities, MLS, NASL, Brazil, India, Iceland, Guatamala, and most recently in Jamaica with Montego Bay FC.  I'm not sure I got them all correct so I apologize to Tim, but here is his team's records at each location (chronologically, oldest to newest):

• 1979 Oglethorpe
• 1980 - 1981 Alabama A&M 37W-4D-5L
• 1982 - 1983 DePaul 0W-1D-15L
• 1985 - 1990 Syracuse 69W-18D-40L
• 1990 - 1991 UMF Tindastoll
• 1992 - 1994 Charleston Battery 22W-12L
• 1994 - 1995 Raleigh Flyers  14W-6L
• 1998 - 2000 Tampa Bay Mutiny 42W-50L-4D
• 2001 - 2004 Colorado Rapids 39W-30D-45L
• 2007 - 2008 Fort Lewis College 33W-4D-8L
• 2009 - 2010 Salgaocar SC 8W-9D-9L
• 2012 - 2013 San Antonio Scorpions 20W-11D-18L
• 2015 Montego Bay FC 7W-4D-2L

"Whoopty do. What does it all mean Basil?"

First off, Hankinson does bounce around, but while he's at a team, he tends to get good results. That's a good sign for a team that has struggled to get consistent good results the past two years. When the initial rumor came out about Hankinson being the next Eleven manager, the word that I remember being used to describe the hiring was "underwhelming." After research and conversations with the man by others, there seems to be a growing opinion among many of the supporters that maybe this could be a successful hire. I think that Tim Regan being retained as an assistant on Coach Hankinson's staff could be an ideal move to both shake-up the team while also maintaining some consistency.

Consistency.  The Eleven's biggest problem this past season.

So what about the roster moves?  Hankinson has repeatedly said in the interviews that I have heard the last two days that the team needs experience and game changers and "warriors." He also wants players that build the attack from the back and defend from the front. In other words, the defense needs to help get the attack going, but the forwards are going to be expected to be the first line of defense.  So keeping Mares, Miller, Stojkov, Smart, and Janicki fit one or all of those characteristics. I had all the guys that were re-signed as priorities or as legit possibilities in my 11/11 post describing the Eleven's off-season To Do List. So it's good to see that my thinking was correct.

It's not much of a surprise to see Kleberson not retained given the significant portion of the budget that he was using and only managed 7 minutes of playing time this year. The Eleven put a lot of their eggs in that basket and it came back to bite them so there wasn't much chance they were going to continue that trend once his 2-year contract expired. The other players released means that they didn't think those guys fit into those characteristics or, I suspect in a couple cases, were also because of money and loans expiring.

Maybe the most interesting aspect of the roster moves to me was all of the international players that were shown as not returning; Nicht, Norales, Pena, Brown, Ceballos. Only Stojkov remains. It makes me wonder if we see any Jamaicans from Hankinson's recent stint in Montego Bay that he liked and think would be a good fit here in Indy.

The one player that I had as one that I would like to see back and wasn't included in the re-signing or continuing contract discussions was Kyle Hyland. I hope that he finds his way back into the roster, because I think he falls under that "warrior" label that Hankinson wants in this team. I personally think Jon Dawson might also find his way back into the squad. He was released after the first season as well and as long as he wants to come back (which I think he does from this interview), he's looking to get better and work his way into a starter role, but could return as a back-up who is familiar with the re-signed players and assistant coach.

Back when Sommer was relieved of his duties, I evaluated the success of teams in conjunction with the amount of the team that was retained from the previous year. What I found was that there was some connection. It wasn't a hard rule, but the team's that retained the players who played the most minutes, that had the most consistency from year-to-year, started the next season with more success. If you look at the breakdown of the players, there is a definite pattern to who is returning and who aren't returning. The ones who played in the most games are likely the ones who were re-signed. The ones with fewer games, aren't returning. While the team is still early in the player signing process, right now, they are only retaining 34% of last year's roster. If Ring and Cardona do get signed that moves up to 41%. Including Hyland would push it to just under 47%. Returning almost half of the team's minutes from this season to next would be consistent, but on the lower end, with the teams that were successful to start the 2015 Spring Season.

Given the multitude of factors that go into the selection of a team, I do not envy the task that these three men did and are doing. There are so many external factors that can completely derail a season and turn a great season into a good season and turn a good season into a mediocre one. What would have happened with a healthy Kleberson orchestrating the offense? Or even a healthy Mares for the entire season? We all want the team to be successful, from the supporters to the players to the front office and owner and even the sponsors, but it takes a lot to achieve the team goals. It was said on Twitter that the above black and white photo made it look very somber. I replied that these three men hold the livelihood of a couple dozen men in their hands. It is somber.

Today it is somber because we have to watch a lot of really good guys try to find new jobs. Guys that we have grown to like over the past few months or past two years. Guys that just didn't gel on the field the way that we had all hoped. So today the business of soccer takes precedence and we get to celebrate the ones that we will get to cheer for next year and wish the best of luck to the ones that, hopefully, find new teams to continue that dream of playing professional soccer.

Today, we get to see a glimpse of what a new coach envisions for the Eleven and imagine what puzzle pieces will be added in the upcoming months. Today, we started down the path to next year. And next year, the Eleven are going to win it all.

Right?




Bandanna concept: Simple, but I think attractive.

Indy Eleven 2015 Goals

Soccer teams need to have goals. No, I'm not talking about the "make the playoffs" or "win the Championship" variety of goals, though those are good to have too. I'm talking about the "put the ball in the opponent's goal" type of goals. Defense may win championships (and the two stingiest defenses in the NASL played for the Championship on Sunday as proof), but scoring goals is good too. If you never let the other team score, you can have a string of "undefeated" results, but if you don't score, you'll never go on a "winning streak" either. Goals are good.

The Indy Eleven goal scoring was not what it needed to be this year. Indy Eleven didn't score in 7 league games, but were also held scoreless in the U.S. Open Cup game versus Louisville FC and the international friendly against Monarcas Morelia. That means that in about 25% of the games this year, the Eleven went home without gathering at the corner flag or ripping off their shirts or jumping into the stands in celebration.

In the entirety of the NASL, 453 goals were scored by the 11 teams. That comes out to an average of 41.18 goals per team with Minnesota United as the high with 54 goals scored and Atlanta Silverbacks on the low end with 31. Thirty games for each team means that, on average, the teams scored 1.37 goals per game.

How did the Eleven compare to those numbers?  The Eleven were below average in total goals, scoring 36 goals for the season putting them in 8th place. That comes out to 1.2 goals per game. The Eleven also gave up 48 goals on the year putting them in 8th place. Coincidentally (or not), the Eleven finished the combined table in a tie for...wait for it...8th place. It was only because of a poorer goal differential that pushed them to finish officially in 9th place.

The Eleven had a -12 goal differential, which was second worst in the league, ahead of only Jacksonville with -13.  The 7-goal onslaught by Fort Lauderdale in the 7-1 loss in late August didn't help this statistic, but they would still be one of the worst in the league even if that had been a "reasonable" defeat. Though a 3-1 defeat in that game would have meant that the Eleven would have finished tied with Atlanta, but with a better goal differential moving them up a spot in the table.

The Eleven were in the lower half of the league in goals scored and goals allowed and goal differential. That's how you finish in the lower half of the table.

Sidenote: Amazingly, the Indy Eleven's stats for 2014 were quite similar. 35 goals scored for 7th place; 46 goals against for 8th place; and a -11 goal differential for 8th place. The Eleven finished tied for 8th place, but the negative goal differential pushed them to officially finish in 9th place. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Let's look at some of the specifics of the Eleven goals though. Who scored? How many different players scored? What position on the field were the shots taken? How many were of the Penalty Kick variety?

Throughout the season, I saw a couple of other teams that created a Goal Scoring graphic and I hoped that the Eleven would do the same thing. If they did and I missed it, I apologize for duplicating their effort, but here was a graphic I created showing every single goal scored by the Eleven and its approximate location on the field, highlighting the goals that were scored from outside the 18-yard box in a different color.

The Eleven's 36 goals came from 15 different players plus 1 Own Goal that came in the April game against Carolina on a deflected cross from Charlie Rugg. It's in the graphic, but I'll duplicate it here. Goals were scored by:

• McKinney (1)
• Frias (1)
• Ring (1)
• Norales (3)
• Mares (5)
• Smart (3)
• Brown (5)
• Ceballos (2)
• Lacroix (2)
• Hyland (1)
• Wojcik (2)
• Pena (2)
• Richards (3)
• Steinberger (2)
• Pineda (2)

Brown and Mares were the team's leading scorers with 5 goals each, meaning those two players accounted for 28% of the team's scoring. Here's hoping they both are back next season.

It's interesting to see some of the clusters.  Mares scored 4 of his 5 goals from the PK spot or left and all of his goals came from inside the box. All of Smart's goals were from straight out. Richards liked the right side of the field. Two of Norales' three goals came from headers at the 6-yard line. Pena, unsurprisingly, has the largest distance between his goals though it helps when one is from the center circle.

Counting all those red dots on my graphic shows that the Eleven scored 12 of their 36 goals from outside the 18-yard box. 33% of their goals came from long distance strikes. I don't know what is typical, but that seems like a significant percentage of a team's goals. If you count Steinbergers' first goal against Jacksonville where he chipped the goalkeeper from the 18-yard line and hustled to finish the attempt in front of a retreating defender at the goal line, that number gets even a little higher.

I saw this photo recently linked on Reddit (thanks for letting me use it Yazbremski):

Considering that two of those twelve goals from outside the box were in the running for the NASL Goal of the Year, that might be a fairly accurate assessment. They didn't score a lot, but they certainly had some dramatic goals this year.