GM blog: Preseason prepping, roster taking shape

March just flew by. It’s been admittedly quiet on these pages from Old Bhoys HQ, but the work has continued behind the scenes. With several player signings already announced, as well as the addition to our coaching staff from 2018, the pitch side of the product is coming along. We are looking to build roster depth through the addition of local college players when they are eligible ahead of our regular season. Until then, we trek towards our preseason and the opening round of the U.S. Amateur Cup with a solid group of high-character, high-caliber talent, most of whom are connected to the Hoosier State.

PRESEASON PREPPING

Alongside Steve Bushre, who is returning for his second season to lead the Bhoys on the pitch, the club recently announced the addition of Samadhi Fisher as an assistant coach. This is a tremendous step forward for both the club and on-pitch product. Steve and Samadhi are committed to pursuing this season in accordance with the three core values of the club: community, integrity and respect.

A team meeting on March 29 unofficially kicked off our year, with preseason training starting April 2. At the time of this writing, the Bhoys are less than 10 days away from facing Livonia City FC in the first friendly match of 2019. April 7 at Cardinal Ritter Stadium, the Bhoys host LCFC at 2 p.m. Tickets are available at the gate on the day of the game, or ahead of time through contacting us at oldbhoyshq@gmail.com, and are just $5!

PREVIEW OF THE SEASON AHEAD

Looking ahead to the season, our league play opens with RWB Adria. As mentioned in prior posts, this club is absolutely a favorite to compete for the Midwest Conference title – not just the South Division. With two new clubs and only two opponents that have played each other before in a league match, this will be an exciting season for the UPSL in Indiana. Regional league rivalries are bound to bloom, and continuing our intraleague play with FC Indiana will be an exciting competition. Hosting non-UPSL sides such as Livonia City FC and Fort Wayne Sport Club will push us forward as a club. Along with our city and cup plans, 2019 is going to be a big year. We want you along for the ride!

The Old Bhoys have also added an additional friendly away from home. The Indianapolis-Cincinnati rivalry extends to the lower tiers of U.S. Soccer this summer, as the Bhoys will travel on June 1 to face the Cincinnati Dutch Lions of USL League Two. The inclusion of this midseason friendly will create quite a busy end of May/start of June for the Bhoys, with three away games over an eight-day stretch. The other two games will include Springfield FC on May 25 and FC Diablos on May 30. While the UPSL league season is definitely tight, the opportunity to compete against a USL League Two side really rounds out the amateur competition and prepares the Bhoys for the back half of the league slate. The schedule now has matches against NPSL, MPSL, USL and UPSL clubs.

TICKETS AND MERCH

With the non-cup schedule set, season tickets are available. A recent update to the website has delayed the launch of the tickets being available there; however, we are working behind the scenes quite frantically to get this rolling. Season tickets are $30 and include the choice of a T-shirt (pictured atop), hat or scarf as part of the package. As always, kids aged 10 and under are free! Single-game options are also available. Noticeably absent from the graphic is our scheduled match with Fort Wayne Sport Club. We are actively finalizing that fixture, and will follow up with updates via our social media platforms and through here. We are huge fans of that club, and look to work with them on confirming and announcing the fixture when firmed up.

Additionally, we’ve updated the merchandise to include snapback hats and new scarves — which are due in this week — to provide several options for those looking to rep the club. To this end, we’re also updating our online store presence and have plenty of merchandise to offer anyone looking to be a part of our little community club. We’ll have more info on that very soon; we’ve reached out to a UPSL league partner to fully incorporate all of these functions on our soon-to-be-updated site!

FINAL THOUGHTS

To close out, we want to highlight the players and staff we’ve added ahead of the 2019 season. We have signed more players, and are working on the social media announcements in the near future. Our roster is still filling out, but we’re excited to announce this group of Bhoys!

While we’ve ordered our kits and training gear, we’d be remiss if we failed to mention that Old Bhoys HQ continues to welcome any and all organizations, businesses and individuals to join us in bringing high-level amateur soccer to Indy as sponsors and partners for the 2019 season (and beyond!).  We want to be — to borrow a line from a well-respected UPSL club (looking at you, DeKalb County United) — united through soccer^*. It’s through the sport we at Old Bhoys so dearly love that we aim to grow our community; it’s important.

As we’ve said before, soccer at this level depends on this relationship. If you want to help, want your company logo on our gear or believe in what we’re trying to accomplish at Old Bhoys, drop us a line. We’ll respond as soon as we can! We’d love to be able to give back in a relevant and meaningful way that raises interest in your organization as it does ours. The benefit of working at this level is that we can frankly customize any approach. If you have an idea for getting your organization’s name out in the community, let’s talk!

Like what you’re reading? Please let the Soc Takes folks know, or drop me a line — andyhayes1980@gmail.com. Look forward to hearing from you!

As always, COYOB!

Follow Andy on Twitter: @Andy_H_1980.

Support Soc Takes on Patreon for access to exclusive content and supporter benefits. Click here to become a patron today.