Today was media day at the NISA Legends Cup and, via Zoom, representatives of the media got a chance to talk to players and coaches from every team at the tournament. It was quick-paced and professional, though all of us at Protagonist missed last year’s open mic shenanigans (Michael Lewis eating a bag of chips and burping. It was awesome). So here’s what we observed from media day and, if we didn’t cover your favorite team, we’re sorry.

John Prutch is looking for a few more good clubs. - Tons of speculation abounds about where NISA wants to be for sustainability as a league and Prutch answered during his opening remarks: 15 clubs. Prutch sees NISA as a disrupter of the state of soccer in the United States, primarily because they are proponents of an open system. But 15 doesn’t mean they stop there, as Prutch put it, “once we hit that, we'll hit 20.” League officials hinted at several team announcements around the corner and we’re privy to one of those clubs, who will announce tomorrow.

Grumpy Coaches Abound - We generally expect DCFC’s Trevor James and CFC’s Coach Peter Fuller to do the bothered coach routine, but it appears to have spread throughout the entire league. Every coach came to the press conference with furrowed brow and gruff voice, as if they had just been griped at by their GM. James was his usual outspoken self and, once questions had been exhausted, complained that the media hadn’t asked his players enough questions. He proceeded to interview his players before the media representatives came back with some player-specific questions.

Michigan Stars’ Politics - While the ownership of Stars have always been VERY outspoken about their support for Trump and red state politics, the question of how players saw that situation had never been broached until today. When asked about their experience under their hyper-political club owner, the players stated that they were unconcerned about the political stance of the club's ownership and they were professionals and were there to compete on the field. Whether that is a careful response to a question that could get them into trouble or the actual feeling among the roster is hard to determine, but we’ll take their word for it.

Detroit City is in it to win it - Hard to see what DCFC has to play for beyond pride this Spring. Having won the Fall season and guaranteed a spot in the year finale, winning either the Legends Cup or Spring Season would only mean watching the second place club play in the final. However, coach Trevor James was adamant that his club would approach every game to win, regardless. In his words, “the culture of Detroit City's club and supporters expect us to play the same no matter what.” Should be a fun season to watch!

John Travolta Looking Around gif - Yes, it’s self-serving to trash talk other outlets (so we won’t), but the lack of interest from any other outlets in participating in this media day was absolutely disheartening. Aside from Protagonist representatives, only local media representatives from Chattanooga and Charlotte asked questions of their respective hometown teams. It’s so disappointing to see such an amazing opportunity be squandered by so many. The doors are open, get in here! We’re proud to say that three Protagonist media members were present throughout the day (when all three of us were “working” our day jobs at the same time).

No fear detected. (Photo credit: Evan Raimist)

MD Bobcats Ain’t Scared - And why would they be? So what if their roster is primarily the same one they won UPSL with. In their words, why change the roster when they’ve got a winning club? The club is very confident that it can compete at this level and, when asked what success looked like in their first professional competition, assistant coach Paul Ngend responded, “winning the Legends Cup.”

Cal United Doesn’t Care about the Scoreboard - Well, maybe not that far, but certainly the club is prioritizing player growth over anything else. In their press session, Head Coach Ebert commented that while wins and losses are important, the club is primarily built to give young American players a place to play at the pro level and get exposure to clubs overseas. That process has been on display with the Strikers bringing in multiple YOUNG players into their pro team. Ebert pointed out that it’s very important for a coach to not burn out young players like Brady Treinen and Shane Kaemerle. Freddy Adu is a cautionary tale as to what can happen to young, gifted players who are thrown into the pro game too fast.

Stumptown looks to control play - From the beginning of the NISA Stumptown experiment, there’s been many questions about what the team would like and how they would approach the game. Well, Coach Underwood has spoken: Possession. He said the players on his rosters generally like that approach and it’s also his preferred style. When asked about his approach to roster management, Underwood also said that while he prefers possession build up play, he will adjust the style as necessary and its equally important that players enjoy their role and how they play.

NISA Nails It Again - Massive kudos to the league and Steve Johnson on another great media day with the league. It seems such an obvious thing to do, make your teams’ players and coaches available to the media, yet almost no one does it consistently. It doesn’t take a fortune to do it, it just takes the desire to do it and do it right. As a member of the non-traveling media (for the most part), the little things, like this media day, mean the world to Protagonist and our readers. Other leagues, please take notes.

- Protagonist Staff