To our readers,

With yesterday’s news that MPLS City has joined USL2, just the next name on a long list of clubs that have joined the banner of the USL amateur league, it has become abundantly clear to our staff that we have to make a change.

What clubs and leagues we cover as an organization has changed over the years. When we began our site, we had the stated goal of covering amateur soccer. For us, that meant the NPSL, UPSL, and as many regional leagues as we could fit into our waking hours. We’ve also covered the US Open Cup, as we value the competition (much more than the federation, apparently). Our focus has expanded to soccer history, a passion of several of our staff, and soccer-tangential subjects. When NPSL Pro was announced, we debated and then decided to cover the league (for the short time it existed - Hell Yeah, Brother! NPSL PRO!). When NISA sprung up from its ashes, we assessed the league’s values and decided to make it a priority. We think we have a healthy appetite for writing subjects and eat whatever appeals to us at the moment.

Due to the mess that is Soccer Wars, we’ve generally avoided the USL entirely, though the league has an amateur league (USL2). Due to the many rumors and claims of poaching, unethical practices, and the general assumption of organization evil, we kept our hands off the league. We are, after all, lower league soccer fans and just as guilty of biases and taste preferences as the next person. Certainly we try to avoid and weed those out of our coverage, but some persist.

Some of our team have watched their clubs exit “the leagues we like” and join “the leagues we hate.” It creates a lot of tension for our staff members, as the clubs they are most passionate about are now playing in leagues that are off-limits. That same dynamic has affected our relationships with fans, as the fervor around hating USL or MLS has infected social media interactions. MLS fans are often given the cold shoulder by the vast majority of lower league social media even if they might be interested in amateur leagues also. Purity tests have created walls that can’t be climbed by love of the game. “Be perfect, be pure, or get out” has become the lower league approach to fandom for the loudest of voices online.

I’m not pretending that I don’t have preferences for leagues or even a sense of which leagues are more fair. I’m not saying fans can’t be critical of the system, the federation, or even the leagues themselves. I’m just saying that giving space for fans, regardless of which league they support, is an approach that will grow the game and maybe expand the fandom of lower leagues. Purity tests merely extend the height of the walls dividing us.

So all that being said, next year, Protagonist Soccer plans to extend our coverage to USL2. The league has become the home of too many clubs we respect and appreciate. We have no intention of covering any other lower league less, only to add USL2 into our realm of coverage. Our site will carry articles about USL2 in the same vein as our coverage of other amateur leagues. We also have plans to launch a USL2 podcast to recap matches as well as interview league personalities and experts. If this offends you as a reader or listener, I’d suggest rereading this article and yesterday’s article about MPLS City’s decision. We aren’t being tricked, haven’t given up the fight to grow the game, certainly haven’t been paid for this, and definitely are still promotion/relegation. This is about covering the sport we love, no matter the league. If that’s not good enough (or pure enough), we wish you well. We love the game and think this is the right thing to do.

As always, this view does not reflect the view of every writer of this site, merely my own and a majority of the writers.

- Dan Vaughn