In a previous life I posted a sequence of photos of a soccer ball against the steadily cooling weather.
This winter has been, and continues, to be brutal. If I'm using my Fusion scarf (by far the warmest scarf I've ever owned) as Snowligan gear, I can't see through the misted lenses of my prescription shades or glasses. The path has also been inconsistently shovelled by the City of Moorhead.
I would use the Paratransit but you have to pre-schedule that AND it's only a couple of bucks cheaper than an Uber.
(Fun fact, my phone keeps wanting to type Über. Sehr toll!)
Thankfully, Uber drivers are on the roads, however crappy they are and with Tryouts in the schedule for Fusion and professional leagues in preseason, soccer season is genuinely coming closer in the North.
In the off-season I have added website posting to my social media duties with DFFC so I know that Fusion is running a Tryout for men on March 30th and 31st and one for women, but only those not attending college, on April 27th and 28th.
No such distinction for men. No idea why.
With the snow piling up outside, I'm just happy for a whisper of spring.
Fusion face a much changed landscape. MapleBrook has apparently taken over TwinStars but publicly, they are still just TwinStars, in NPSL at least. The TS website has been down for a while though, and what was TwinStars Dragons in WPSL is listed as MapleBrook Fury on that league's website. The colorful Viejos Son Los Trapos organisation are on hiatus from the NPSL.
Milwaukee Torrent has gone fully pro, having previously run a pro club within the amateur NPSL and WPSL.
Salvo Soccer Club have joined MapleBrook and Fire 98 as Cities based WPSL clubs, Mankato United has also joined. I probably missed others.
NPSL has announced a professional league for 2020, foreshadowed by a pro tournament - the Founders Cup - and Torrent are in that competition.
With no similar move in WPSL (yet), last year's WPSL North has instead been reshuffled. The aforementioned new clubs join Fusion in a division much more closely tracked by the I-94 corridor and mirroring NPSL North, and a new division has been created with Milwaukee Torrent (whose players may be paid, but I don't know) and Chicago Red Stars Reserves (whose players are paid) facing Chicago City (whose players are not paid)
In short, the Fusion portion of the North got a lot snugger and the eastern portion just began to resemble to mismash of pro and amateur that the NPSL at a national level has been.
Apparently, the USASA (who govern both leagues) are looking into a women's national amateur cup for 2020. That's certainly preferable to the current situation with no Open Cup or USASA Cup for women.
That's it for now.
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