GM blog: Old Bhoys offseason happenings

Photo credit: Cardinal Ritter High School

The thing about leagues like the UPSL or NPSL — well, until next year — is that there appears to be an eternal offseason. On the surface, it seems like an eternity between the final whistle and next season’s kickoff, with significant periods of downtime between seasons. What we’ve found at Old Bhoys headquarters is that there is no slow time. We quickly dove into starting the offseason in August — just 10 days after we wrapped up our season with an away point, our first away result — by establishing ourselves as an independent club as opposed to how we operated during the 2018 UPSL season.

While we looked to engage with kit designers and sought a new crest design, long-term planning was central to our rebranding effort. And understanding that in order to do the most good, we need to be around more than one season. This point was driven home during our end-of-the-year cost recap. An example of how we’re looking to enhance our profile with sponsorship options is included at the end of this post. Additionally, our social media and attendance-based metrics are included to reflect current “eyeballs” on our club. While we’re currently Indiana’s only UPSL side, we’re hoping to reflect the competitiveness of the league in our play and create an atmosphere that supporters want to be an active part of as we grow.

As 2018 clicks by, we’re coming to a series of decision points with Old Bhoys Soccer Club. The biggest concern/area of need is driving and growing sponsorship interest and subsequently its financial support to help ensure that the Old Bhoys compete in the UPSL and build upon our inaugural season. We’ve cast a wider net than in spring, and have met with some truly tremendous people. While we still haven’t found that silver bullet to make 2019 magically safe from a financial perspective, we continue working on it.

We’ve also included exploring several other options around how we operate in 2019. Existing UPSL Midwest Conference conversations are positive, and we’re all collaborating to reduce travel impacts and maximize the competitiveness of the league. While this is progressing, we’re also working to build and develop our relationship with the Indiana Soccer Association. With one meeting held in November, we’re looking ahead to another sit down in early December. Again, our ultimate goal is to grow the game in Indianapolis and provide a platform for the competitive-minded player that has ties to the Circle City. We’ve been encouraged by the state looking at doing the same. How will this play out in 2019 for Old Bhoys? At this point we’re not sure, but we’re committed to working with the organization to grow the game.

Cardinal Ritter Stadium was home for the Old Bhoys. While we’ve not penned anything for 2019, we are in conversation with the great folks at Cardinal Ritter. They were tremendous hosts and great to work with. For our inaugural season, I felt the stadium choice was great for the Bhoys. With that said, we are committed to being within the loop, but we want to maximize our ability to promote the game and the platform we provide.

Should we remain in the UPSL and compete in 2019, ticket pricing will look to reduce a bit and move to a simpler format. We are also looking into reaching the community in better and more meaningful ways to grow the atmosphere at our home matches and drive up involvement with our club — both at matches and other events. We want to know what kind of interest there is in meeting with us and having soccer dialogue. Another focus will be how we continue to look at ways we can complement the Indy Eleven. My goal is to have another season without any home date conflicts. This is achievable but will take work. As we finalize our divisional alignment and fully comprehend our league requirements, you’ll see the schedule take shape.

Photo credit: Old Bhoys SC

Finally, we’re also looking to finalize player tryouts to build the team on the field. It is and will always be important to me to look at those from the Indianapolis area to grow something here locally. Whether that’s through collegiate ties to the area or someone’s hometown, I want this to be a club made up of its environment: Indianapolis. There is so much soccer talent here, it makes sense. Indy — and to a greater extent, Indiana — is a soccer landscape. Passionate supporters. Knowledgeable base. Talented players. It’s something that is important to me, and something the club will balance/manage as we try to grow into competing at the UPSL level.

Our proposed division is talented; a team that we may face at least twice has advanced past the third round of qualifying in the U.S. Open Cup. That’s legit. Our conference champ (Bavarians) won the UPSL 2018 spring title and 2018 U.S. Amateur Cup, and will be competing in the first round of the 2019 U.S. Open Cup when it kicks off. That is serious soccer. And from a product-on-the-field perspective, that’s the aim.

To get there, we’ll need help, a plan and time. It’ll be a fun ride.

As I closed on the intro blog, please hit me up with questions, comments or any feedback — positive or negative, we need it all — about the Old Bhoys and this level of soccer. We’d welcome any chance we can to talk about why and what the mission behind Old Bhoys SC is. As always, feel free to reach out directly to me on Twitter or send me an email: andyhayes1980@gmail.com. I always welcome the opportunity to connect. COYOB!

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Old Bhoys SC metrics

Digital media:

Twitter (2018 data only):

• > 405 followers
• Over 282,000 impressions through November (note offseason started July 22 for our club)
• ~4.4% engagement rate (note that 1% is considered successful, i.e., very high, in large business tracking)
• 677 URL link clicks
• 4,610 media views
• 4,100 media engagements (~89% media engagement rate)
• 733 retweets
• 2,112 likes
• 75 replies

MyCujoo:

• Live-streamed all UPSL home matches on this channel
  • We did not get the benefit of any away matches being broadcast on this channel during our regular season
• 3,600 views on our channel
• Each week, top five in viewership league-wide (~175 teams at time of spring season)

Website:

• TBD

In-person:

Attendance:

• Averaged ~80 fans per match, including friendlies
• Played all home matches in 2018 at Cardinal Ritter Stadium
• Travel footprint in 2019 is forecast to be smaller — should bring in more local away fans
• Forecasting ~105 supporters per match for all 2019 matches, subject to maintaining UPSL presence
• Home match season will be between Memorial Day and end of July
• Prospective opponents:
  • Carpathia FC (Sterling Heights, Mich.)
  • Toledo Villa FC (Toledo, Ohio)
  • Muskegon Risers SC (Muskegon, Mich.)
  • Ann Arbor FC (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
  • Oakland County FC (Clawson, Mich.)
  • League still expanding into Midwest with potential clubs joining from Cincinnati, Fort Wayne, Ind. and central Illinois

Follow Andy on Twitter: @Andy_H_1980.

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