It’s the time of year when the amateur sides around the region are prepping for the spring season: holding tryouts, getting their schedules together, budgeting – all that good stuff. But with the COVID pandemic still very much present, there’s the added challenge of playing while keeping everyone as safe as possible.

The United Soccer League of Pennsylvania has not yet announced its spring schedule, but its clubs are getting prepared. One of those clubs is Danubia SC, one of the founding members of the USL of PA. The club is working to get back to the level of success they enjoyed back in the late 1980s and mid-1990s. I recently had the chance to ask Aaron Sexton some questions about Danubia’s off-season so far. What does Sexton do? He’s Danubia’s Director of Football and social media director. He also plays fullback and serves as an assistant coach (having a D license) under Brian Coulter. He might even work the concession stand at halftime, for all we know.

“The preparation for this spring is going very well, all things considered,” Sexton told me. “We have teams competing in the top divisions of CASA's indoor league and at YSC Wayne (indoor league in Wayne, Pennsylvania) to allow some of our returning players to continue to compete over winter.”

Danubia has also been hosting open sessions on Fridays at The Proving Grounds in Conshohocken since January. “We recently finished a two-weekend tryout which over 40 players attended, and we still have a few prospective players who couldn't make those dates that need to be evaluated at our next open session.,” according to Sexton. With the number of trialists, Danubia plans to field a team that will play in CASA this spring - with the ultimate goal of having reserve team playing in the Mens Major II division in USL of PA this fall. “I'd say we've been very active in a period where most teams in our league are not,” said Sexton, “which we are hoping will give us a leg up going into the Spring season.”

Like most clubs, COVID created significant challenges for Danubia last year. The uncertainly of the schedule last fall caused the club to lose players who would have otherwise played. “From a more personal standpoint the virus has affected a few of our players over the last year,“ said Sexton. “However, we are glad to say that all cases have been contracted outside of our soccer environment due to our insistence of wearing masks as much as possible at indoor games and sessions as well as getting outdoors as much as possible.”

(Note: a day after Aaron responded to my questions, he sent an update that Danubia had to shut down operations for a week due to an attendee at Danubia’s most recent trialist session showing COVID symptoms.)

The COVID restrictions placed by the City of Philadelphia forced Danubia from being able to play on their home field at the Danube Swabian Association in the Great Northeast section of the city. “Financially, this impacts us as we have to find other fields to play and train at, typically at a cost to us, and denies the opportunity for the club to make money, as they would sell drinks and food during our games,” said Sexton. Lots of maneuvering and adjustments had to be made to cut costs. Bur Sexton did see a bright side. “COVID has allowed us the opportunity to take a step back and re-evaluate some of what we do and revamp our roster and ‘backroom’ setup over the past year, which has led to a shift in the culture and atmosphere around the club.” Competing in e-sport events and donation drives have been part of building team comradery.

While looking at a possible return to action mind-March, Danubia is looking to get in a few friendlies before the season begins in earnest.

NESL Super League

So the big battle happened last month. I know, but it deserves to get mentioned. And one club emerged as top of heap in the NESL Super League. Christos FC withstood a strong first half from West Chester United – not to mention the strong winds that were a-blowin’ in Conshohocken during the game – and scored twice in the second half to take the match 2-0. The offense was brought to you by Jamie Merriam and his brace. The club was not at their best in first 45 minutes, but in the second half they pulled it together and showed their quality.

Now we wait for the rest of the schedule to come out. And even when it does, with Christos up by six points, is the season all over but the shouting?

EPSA Amateur Cup

The good news for West Chester United was that they could quickly overcome the loss to Christos thanks to the West Chester United Invitational Cup, aka the EPSL Amateur Cup. The final on January 12th was a contest between WCU’s first team and their reserve team, with the first team coming out on top.

As an added note for West Chester, two of their players ended up being drafted just over a week later in the MLS SuperDraft: Aiden McFadden went to Atlanta United, and AJ Marcucci going to New York Red Bulls.

NPSL

The big news so far out of NPSL is the realignment of conferences in each region. In the East Region, Philadelphia Lone Star gets moved into the Mid-Atlantic Conference with clubs from Maryland and Virginia, while First State out of Wilmington, Delaware ends up in the Keystone Conference. That leaves us with an eight-team Keystone Conference and a wonky five-team Mid-Atlantic Conference.

UPSL

The American Division is getting pretty darn crowded as new clubs keep on getting added. New clubs that have been announced so far this offseason include:

Hudson Valley Hammers (aka The Club that Tyler Adams Got Started)

Salone FC (based in Philadelphia)

Valley Stars FC (based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania)

Sierra Stars (based in Philadelphia)

Lancaster Elite (based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania)

By my count, that’s 17 teams now in the American Division – assuming every one returns from the fall. And in the UPSL, that’s always a big if.

USL League Two

I usually do not discuss USL’s summer amateur league, but with the movement of clubs taking place this offseason, we should be keeping eye on things there.

In the Metropolitan Division, an influx of Jersey clubs has invaded as FC Motown (Morristown), FC Copa (Metuchen) and Morris Elite SC (Madison) will field clubs in 2021. Real Central New Jersey from Mercer County will be playing in the Mid Atlantic Division this year, joining Philadelphia Lone Star and West Chester United (both had intended to play in 2020).

Cosmopolitan Soccer League

We don’t have a spring schedule yet, but we do have cup competitions! The Kilby Cup has made it through two games so far, and to the surprise of no one the clubs leading the way in the CSL are leading the way in their respective groups. NY Shamrock SC (Group A), Hoboken FC 1912 (Group B) and Manhattan Celtic (Group C) have won both of their games so far. Also two for two in wins is Borgetto FC (our first mention of this club – hello, Borgetto FC!), a club based in Astoria, Queens and founded in 1962.

In the Saunders Cup, it’s Sons of Queens (from the CSL Metro Division) leading in group A, while Brooklyn City FC and NY Ukrainians Reserve team share the lead in Group B.

Both cup competitions will be back in action next Sunday, February 21st.

CASA

We don’t have a spring schedule yet, but we do have a cup competition! The CASA League Cup will start March 15th with the draw to seed teams taking place on March 7th (live of the league’s Facebook page). Clubs have until March 6th to sign up. The finals of the cup competition will be held at Subaru Park in Chester.

We do have an anticipated start to the spring season currently at March 13th, so we’ll be keeping a watch on that.

- John Howard-Fusco