For most of social media types, Athletic Club of Sloan’s Lake didn’t enter their sphere of knowledge until they exited the UPSL, loudly. It was big breakup and it all unfolded publicly. However, ACSL has continued to exist and thrive outside of the national spotlight and we sat down with their CEO and Director of Football, Max Fowler, to get an update on what’s going on in Colorado.

What is the story of your club?

Athletic Club of Sloan’s Lake is essentially a tangible manifestation of my personal values and an attempt affect my environment in a positive way. It’s a reaction to specific non-soccer personal, national, and global events around 2016/17 as well as the creation of what I’d always wanted to be a part of. It’s also fair to say it’s a bit of a real-life test of a hypothesis.

The questions that really drove the process were: How is my community a better place for having me in it? What legacy am I leaving behind? What do I value, and do my actions reflect that? Why isn’t adult soccer more like adult rugby, why don’t teams really socialize all that much. And, what is it that I miss most from my playing career?

One of the main pillars of our hypothesis is that the reason clubs in Europe and South America are so long lived and stable is that they began not as vehicles of the entertainment industry, and not as engines for profit, but as pillars of the community. It is our belief that if your main focus is sporting achievement, then that alone isn’t enough to drive interest, for the community at large to care. Sport isn’t enough, and to think so is akin to contemplating your own belly button, the only one who cares is you.

So, we are very much of a specific location, a community. We also never want to be a fully professional side. We choose to be a club where we display and celebrate the good we’ve done in the neighborhood, the players who’ve we developed, the values we stand for far more than any trophies that may or may not come our way. They are nice, but very temporary, and nobody really cares.

Finally, this club is in essence, my personal love letter to the sport that has given me so much. It’s the culture, the supporters, the learning of lessons on the pitch that have far more consequences off of it. It’s art, music, atmosphere, and sharing what I believe make the world a better place for having football in it.

People love the Crest, who designed it, and can you explain the elements?

Ahhhh, the crest. First off, thank you so much for your kind words. We’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback from it, and each time we’re well chuffed.

Our crest was a collaborative effort between me and my incredibly talented wife who is a professional Senior Graphic Designer at Genesis Inc., a high-end graphic design and brand strategy firm here in Denver. ( http://genesisinc.com/beliefs/be-a-catalyst-for-excellence ) I came up with the basic idea and elements, she executed that vision far beyond anything I was capable of. The basic shape is similar to AS Roma’s badge, purely because I think it’s an appealing shape. The overall concept is the view one gets from the eastern shore of Sloan’s Lake at dusk with the sun sliding behind Mt. Evens. The highlights in the mountain form the letters SL for Sloan’s Lake. In the bottom field of the shield is a modern stylized version of the traditional heraldic waves representing water (i.e. the Sloan’s Lake itself). Our colors are based on the actual sky and water colors at dusk here in Colorado, but also a nod to historical Spanish and Catalan flags.

You’re currently number 1 in the Colorado Premier League, how has the season been so far?

Actually, we’re top of the table in the Elite division. CPL has a pro-rel structure, and all new teams enter the Elite (2nd) division and fight for promotion to the Premier (1st) division. But to get to your question, the season is going well, and results have gone our way, but we’re still in the process of learning. I’m most impressed with how the playing staff have embraced the values of the club and their growing professionalism. We are headed in the right direction.

What is the level of play in the CPL?

The level of play has been generally good. Far stronger than when we last played in the league. But the division is also bigger. If I were to compare it, the league as a whole is comparable to most competitive amateur sides. All the players can play, and most have had college or lower division professional experience. The top sides had more former D1 and D2 NCAA athletes, but each team presents a unique challenge.

Who’s a player (or two) from your club we should know about?

I think all of them, but I may be a bit biased. Up front D’vonne Williams is in a rich vein of form with 4 goals and 6 assists (out of 19 total team goals). In the back, people should know about Center Back Lucas Prolow aka Thor. A former NAIA Academic All-American Player of the Year (2017), he has a maturity and calmness I wished I had possessed at his age.

Your club famously and loudly exited the UPSL, how has the transition been since?

The transition has been very smooth. The timing of it put some unique pressures on some decision making, but the playing staff and our partners believed in the club and its values and processes. I feel it has worked out for the best for each of the parties.

Any regrets on how that went down?

We can only speak to our actions, as that is all we have control over, but… No. No regrets at all. The decisions and choices the club made were based on its core values and we are very comfortable with each of those choices.

How do you rate the importance of national leagues vs local/regional ones?

We don’t believe they are actually opposing forces. To speak plainly, we rate the importance of an actual interconnected national pyramid with promotion and relegation from top to bottom. Clubs will decide for themselves what their ambition is, and players will seek out clubs that match their personal ambition. The importance being that we all play the same rules, and all have the opportunity to be as ambitious as we wish to be.

Currently, however, we do value national leagues, as they seem to be the only ones who play by FIFA rules (limited substitutions) which we value, and they provide us a greater opportunity to raise money via publicity for our main goal, which is to donate back to improve our community. But instead of raging that the world isn’t exactly how we think it should be, we will operate in the environment we find ourselves in, and look to push for improvements that we believe in.

What are the pluses and minuses of both?

That really depends on how you define yourself and what you find important. So, they aren’t really in opposition. But I do believe, for the fan and the player, the professional setting and standards, shouldn’t be cost prohibitive, or exclusive to large budget national (continental) leagues.

Fellow CPL side Denver FC has qualified for the Open Cup after a solid run in the qualifiers. Do you see value in the Open Cup? Do you plan on attempting to qualify in the future?

We absolutely see value in the Open Cup, perhaps even more so than USSF does. We view that it has the potential to be the FA Cup with all its romance and history. We believe its vital for the game and a true statement of sporting values. It is awful business (all risk and no reward) if you want to protect your investment as a franchise in a closed, artificially elite, system but brilliant for the sport as a sport.

We, even though we’re Denver FC’s noisy neighbors, think their run is brilliant for the entire Colorado soccer market. We’re actually hoping for them to progress to play the Rapids. We want to be them, but we have to earn it. And we think it’s a shame they haven’t gotten more press here in Denver from newspapers or TV news.

So, yes, we absolutely plan on entering qualifying.

Anything else we should know about your club?

Yes, we’re glad you asked. We’ll even give you an exclusive. We are planning to become a C-corp this summer with actual ownership shares, not just memberships, being made available to our fans, members of the community, our players, and to local businesses. With this we are planning on launching a women’s first team that will play in the same stadium as our men’s 1st team and train alongside of them. And we are announcing our goal to help raise money to build a quality ground for use by the local high school and community.