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Pro soccer team coming to Dayton

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By Greg Billing, Staff Writer Updated 11:46 AM Wednesday, December 23, 2009

DAYTON — Former professional soccer player Mike Mossel doesn’t expect soccer to pass football and baseball in popularity in the United States. He does expect to help make a dent, though, especially in the Dayton area.

Mossel and co-owner Erik Tammer will field the Dayton Dutch Lions FC, a professional outdoor team made up of eight Dutch players and 15 American players that will compete in the United Soccer League starting in spring of 2010.

The Lions will play in the USL’s Premier Development League, which is mostly an amateur division, then gradually move up to the USL’s highest-level First Division. A venue has yet to be announced.

“I see it as an opportunity. You guys have 18 million people playing some kind of club soccer. We have one million in Holland,” said Mossel, who played soccer at Xavier University and the USL’s now defunct Cincinnati Riverhawks. “I think in 10 to 15 years the U.S. could be dominating in soccer. It will never win it from football or baseball. Those sports are too strong. But in two or three generations it will be between there.”

The Dayton Dutch Lions FC will also run a Premier Youth Academy at Athletes in Action in Xenia. The academy is modeled after FC Twente’s award-winning academy. FC Twente is one of the premiere clubs in Holland. Mossel said he’s impressed with this country’s physical ability and skill, but that the U.S. lacks game tactic development compared to other countries.

“People in the United States probably don’t know FC Twente, but in Holland it’s a very well recognized youth system,” Mossel said. “Our elite academy only has one team per age category. We’re only trying to get the top 150 players in the region. Yes it’s elite, but if you get the top 150 and educate them for 10 years with the top coaches from Holland, something must come out of that.”

The Lions have two preseason games planned for April. One is against the Major Soccer League’s Columbus Crew. The other is against Global United, a team of former players that brings an environmental message. The Lions hope to turn the Global United visit into learning programs with schools.

A maximum of eight foreign players are allowed on the Lions. One player already signed is former Dutch National Team goalkeeper Oscar Moens. The remaining 15 players will be made up from a Jan. 30 tryout at Athletes in Action. Mossel said he’s already been contacted by players as far away as Texas and Oregon.

“We can only have (college) seniors because we’re going to be a pro team,” Mossel said. “We’re focusing only on guys who are finishing school or don’t want to go to college to join those eight Dutch guys and make it a quality team.”

Mossel said the players already signed are more advanced than the average PDL player, but the Lions wanted to make an impact before joining the upper-level First Division.

The PDL’s Great Lakes Division also includes teams in Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, Forest City (Ontario), Fort Wayne, Kalamazoo, South Bend and Toronto.

“To be honest, I think the guys are too good for the (PDL),” Mossel said. “The minimum that they’ve played is First Division and most have played Premier League. For us, since we want to market ourselves and get a lot of people at the games I’m very comfortable with people saying, 'This is fantastic and those guys can play.’ These guys have played at the highest level.”

“We want to start small and grow fast. I definitely feel Dayton is a market that’s growing and there is big potential there.”

One thing the Lions don’t want to do, Mossel said, is compete with amateur teams already in the area.

“We don’t want to be a threat to the teams already there. We only want the best 150 players. To be honest we might get one or two of your best players from you, but we don’t want to take the whole market,” he said. “We’re looking more for a relationship between the clubs than a battle. We’re looking to partner with the local amateur clubs so they can learn from us and vice versa.”

The Lions will be Dayton’s first in the USL since the Dayton Gems (2000) and Dayton Gemini (2001-02).

“The market has never let us down. We’ve just not found the right combination of ownership and management. We think we have that,” USL President Tim Holt said. “We think the top players in the area are going to be attracted, especially collegiate, and the top youth players are going to be attracted because there’s a direct pipeline to European soccer. I can’t remember being this excited about a new PDL franchise in quite some time.”

For an application, e-mail Roy Beerens at: r.beerens@dutchlionsfc.com.

For more information on the club visit: www.dutchlionsfc.com.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2400, ext. 6991 or gbilling@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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