Q/A: Union Boss Nick Sakiewicz Lays Out the Details on New Minor League Team
By Kevin Kinkead
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- No question, this is a significant step forward for the Philadelphia Union.
Beginning next year, the club will operate its very own minor league team in the United Soccer League. The team will practice at Union headquarters in Chester and play its games at Goodman Stadium on the campus of Lehigh University in Bethlehem.
For all intents and purposes, the previous relationship with the Harrisburg City Islanders is over.
The biggest positive of this arrangement is the full ownership and assimilation of the club into the Union setup. That means that every single rostered player is a Union player. The days of sending three or four rookies to Harrisburg are over, and each Lehigh Valley gameday roster will be comprised entirely of Philadelphia's players.
That allows anywhere from 11 to 14 players to get quality minor league minutes on a weekly basis, with a technical staff that will be put in place by Union manager Jim Curtin and club owners.
Think of the new team as the Union's version of the Iron Pigs. Similar to the Phillies' setup, the Union will be able to move players back and forth between the clubs. Rehab minutes and youth development are staples in this kind of setup.
This team doesn't have a name yet, but it's probable that the iconic name of Bethlehem Steel will pop up on the ballot from which fans will choose the team moniker.
Union CEO and Operating Partner Nick Sakiewicz spoke with media following the event, and shared some of the finer details of the arrangement with Philadelphia-based reporters.
CBS Philly: From a development standpoint, the difference between Harrisburg and Bethlehem is that you can get 11 guys, 18 guys, Union guys meaningful minutes on the field. How important was it to have a partnership where the full roster was occupied by Union-affiliated players?
Nick Sakiewicz: Massive. It's a huge component to our whole youth development system and a missing piece, really. It's not just 4 or 5 guys (getting minutes now), it's probably 24, or 25, or 27 guys. It'll be a mix. There will be some older players on the team that will be more seasoned, kind of like player-coaches. The large majority will be under-23s, but professional players. There will be a sprinkling of academy players that are the very best, that have earned their right to be a professional. A handful of those guys will make up this roster. It's crucial because we haven't had this. With Harrisburg it was great because we could send four, whatever number of players, to recover from injury, or younger guys who weren't quite starters. But with this, it's a whole different ball game, because we're managing the thing from top to bottom, and that's why it's important that the team trains next to Jim Curtin and his guys down at PPL, so they're side-by-side every day; they're scouting players together, they're drafting players together, they're looking at the college system and other players in USL. This is done in a coordinated fashion and that's really important.
CBS Philly: At what point did you know this was the route you had to take? What were the discussions like with Harrisburg owner Eric Pettis along the way?
Sakiewicz: They were great. Listen, Eric and Harrisburg have been an awesome partner. We struck that alliance six seasons ago, right when we launched the Union. Actually, that was I think a lot of the impetus for the two leagues (MLS and USL) to align. They learned a lot through our alliance, both leagues. Then if you remember, shortly after that, the two leagues formed an official partnership. Things started snowballing. So Eric and I like to think that we can take a little credit for that in the early days, and they've been awesome. Harrisburg has helped us offer opportunities to players who aren't playing for the Union, to get professional games in. One player I'll point to, who has been a fantastic result of that partnership, is Richie Marquez. He played 30 games there. He got drafted out of college, small school, we identified him through our scouting network, and drafted him, and because he got 30 professional games in a real, professional environment, he's a starting player for the Union. We want to replicate that more, but in order to replicate that, we need scale, right? We need more players through the system, we need more players through our academy, we need to draft more players and sign them to professional contracts here, have them player here (in Bethlehem), whether it's a season, or two, or three, and then move to the MLS level. That's really, really crucial.
Matt DeGeorge, Delco Times: Was there ever a question of moving forward with this USL team, whatever it's going to be called, by bringing in Harrisburg?
Sakiewicz: Yea. Up until maybe March or so, we were in discussions with Harrisburg to find a venue for them and partner with them, to integrate them into our system and either move the team or get a stadium solution for them in Harrisburg. That was the key. I don't know if you've been to a Harrisburg game, but that stadium is just not good. I mean, it's just not good. We couldn't 'get there' on (the stadium). Down the road we really started to explore opportunities elsewhere, and I think Harrisburg has found a stadium solution there, I'm not sure. But right around March we decided to go our separate ways and do it on our own and invest in it ourselves.
CBS Philly: Who owns the Bethlehem Steel trademark and copyright? Would you be able to use that as a name for this USL team?
Sakiewicz: Since the naming contest isn't rolled out yet, I have to defer off of that question (laughs). We're still in an analyzing stage. In the next ten days we're gonna roll out this 'name the team' contest and I think we'll be prepared to talk about names by the end of September. Like I said, I want to preserve the right of the fans to name the team.
Matt DeGeorge, Delco Times: It seems like there's a groundswell of support for Bethlehem Steel already; we're seeing it on Twitter. Is it something you would like to pursue and is it a viable option if fans decide that's the direction they want to go in?
Sakiewicz: Yea, again we're gonna leave it to the fans to name the team. I have my own theories on which name will win. But you never know, it's going to be up to them, like we did with the Union. We didn't think we were going to name the Union the Union until fans told us they wanted a team named the Union. So we're following the same path. Don't know where we're gonna land, but the fans are going to tell us a lot.
John Rossi, Brotherly Game: Back to the partnership with Harrisburg – does that still exist at any level?
Sakiewicz: Yes it does, and we will play them later this month in our inaugural annual game. I think we're playing in a baseball stadium, and we're going to fulfill our contract to the fullest with them through the end of this year and then launch this team in March of next year.
Editor's note: Harrisburg posted this press release on their official website
CBS Philly: There might be a portion of the fanbase that would travel to both PPL Park and the Lehigh Valley. Is it just too far for them to go back and forth and be able to watch both teams play?
Sakiewicz: Actually, it's 60 miles, you know? We left the office I think at nine in the morning and we were here at ten, or 10:15. So it's not a bad jaunt. I hope that does happen (fans traveling to both games). I think that would be really cool. Maybe these guys will have their own version of Sons of Ben. That would really be cool.
John Rossi, Brotherly Game: You said you'd have Jim Curtin preside over filling a roster, selecting coaches, or working with coaches..
Sakiewicz: Well we're going to hire a head coach and full professional coach. Timeline, obviously within the next seven months (laughs). That's the timeline, when you're just kicking off in 7 months, the timeline is yesterday. So we're in that process, we're interviewing, Jim is very much engaged in this process and the two of them will work side-by-side. Because when you think about it, between the Union and USL team, we'll have well over 50 professional players in the catchment (area).
Matt DeGeorge, Delco Times: What do you estimate the increases will have to be on your side? These guys will be using the resources used for the first team. What do you see as the expansion in terms of staff?
Sakiewicz: Back office staff, probably six to 12 hires over next few days, few months, sell tickets, communications, marketing, sponsorship, all of that stuff. And then on the technical side, probably another half dozen people over between head coach, assistants, to kit man, trainers. That will be fully functional. They will be headquartered on the campus at PPL Park. They will train on the fields that we've built. The first team of course is moving into the annex building at the end of the year. The new staff will move into the stadium. They'll have their own locker room, their own offices and all of that.
CBS Philly: Was there a point in time, even during your partnership with Harrisburg, where you had spoken internally with ownership and said hey, 'this 3 or 4 players back and forth isn't working, we need our own roster'. Can you point to a specific time where that decision might have been made?
Sakiewicz: Well we knew that years ago, in our master plan. As you guys know, the ethos of our club is about developing American players, developing players. And that was all part of the big plan that we had when we started the academy. We first had to build PPL Park and first had to launch an MLS team. Then we had to build a training ground for our first team, we had to build a training facility for our youth academy. We've got the infrastructure in place at YSC. So this was always talked about, whether it was in the partnership with Harrisburg or separate and apart, but we've always talked about it for years as part of the master plan.
