Ypsilanti Yetis FC has been the first expansion club announced for the Midwest Premier League for 2024. We spoke recently with Roland, the founder of Yetis, to find out why start up a club in the soccer-rich state of Michigan and why choosing the MWPL was the right move.

Yeti Set Go

What is your background with soccer before starting Yetis?
I have played almost my whole life and that’s how I got into what I am doing now which is coaching at Michigan Tigers, which is a youth club in Ann Arbor. I have been doing that for a couple years and before that I played club growing up, played college and played a little semi-pro a couple years ago.

How did Yetis FC start?
After trying out for a couple teams and being around how teams run things, I was not super thrilled with hey way things were being run. So, I figured why not make my own team. So I started looking into it a little bit more and just went from there, that was about 6 or 7 months ago.

Is this a “one man” operation?
One person who has helped me quite a bit, her name is Haley Donovan, she used to play soccer at Madonna University. She has been helping with Marketing & sponsorships, things like that. I have an assistant coach who has been helping me with the smaller details, his name is Cameron. It’s mainly been me and Haley helping me out.

What was the inspiration for the Yetis branding?
Honestly, I wanted to do something kind of fun. I think it is a little easier to get more than the players’ parents to come. My mindset was I am going to get parents of these college players that will come over but how do I get people in the Ann Arbor area that don’t want to watch soccer. For me, I felt like an easy lead into that would be how can I get kids involved. I went with the fun branding route, let me try and something that can be taken seriously when we are playing and for the kids: Oh Yeti! That’s pretty cool!

Are you aware of your cousins down south with Appalachian FC?
I didn’t even know about that team. I looked more into their pages, and they do a lot of similarities with the Sasquatch. I do see people on Twitter tagging me saying that we’re the cousin club.

What are your impressions pre-Yeti?
I have been in and around MWPL teams for a couple years. I really like how it is organized, has structure, and higher standards for the amateur/semi-pro environment. I like how there’s plans for promotion and relegation, I do like that aspect as well.

What has been your favorite part of the launch process so far?
The freedom to be able to make decisions as I see fit. If there’s something I want done, I can get it done quickly and I don’t have to ask or convince somebody else. Aside from talking with Haley or Cam, there’s not a lot of unnecessary dialogue.

Can you explain the personality your club will have?
One that is family oriented. One that grandparents and kids can come out to game and not have to worry about consistent obscenities launched and distasteful behavior. To have fun branding and to be competitive on the field, we are going take that aspect very seriously. Kind of having that balance where there’s a time and a place to have fun as well as a time and a place to get down to business.

What are your goals in your inaugural year in 2024?
We establish ourselves in the community as an actual soccer club and not one that’s just “We are going to makes a soccer team”. Can we establish that we are playing in a nice venue, are we actually going to have sponsors, are we going to have players that compete and not just getting them from Sunday leagues. Things are really very important to us; can we get a good foundation for year one. Can we get our name out there to the greater Ann Arbor area which is a very big area for soccer.

How can fans help support Yetis in its infancy?
If you are interested in checking out a new club we would love for you to come out and see what we are about. Until that point, following us on social media would be a big first step.

Want to know more or get involved?
Follow Ypsi Yetis FC on Instagram HERE
And give them a follow on “X” Twitter HERE