I had the opportunity to discuss several questions with Med City FC manager Frank Spaeth for this week’s Spotlight. Med City is one of the top clubs in the NPSL Midwest-North Conference, finishing fourth in both of the conference’s seasons while earning the respect of its fellow clubs on and off the pitch. Check out the interview below to find out more about one of the Midwest’s great lower league clubs, how it came to be, and what it’s up to now.

1. When and how were you founded? What leagues have/do you compete in?
Med City FC was founded in late 2016. It was actually two years ago today that I was approached about the team and getting involved. Things developed over the next month and the NPSL announced Med City FC as a new team in the league on December 21, 2016. We have 2017 on our crest to recognize our first season of playing. We've only ever played in the NPSL.

2. What are the key elements of your badge and what do they mean to the club?

Funny story on our logo. There was another one that had been started, but it wasn't a very strong look. I asked a designer friend of mine if he'd be able to create a logo for us in 48 hours. He did, and it turned out great. The blue color represents Silver Lake at the heart of Rochester. The green represents the many parks throughout the area. The building on the crest is the Plummer building, an iconic building at Mayo Clinic. The cross in the middle connects to Rochester's strong medical community.

3. What is your club short- and long-term goals?

Our short-term goals are to continue to grow our fan base, improve our squad and continue on the competitive team we've created. We want to create pathways for our players to reach the professional level and we've been making connections that we hope will ultimately do that. Long term, we would like to get to a place where we can have our own field/stadium and continue to prepare players to reach their goals. We have a lot to do before that happens, but hopefully we can get there.

4. Who have been your most prolific or important players in recent seasons?

We've had a number of players who have been important to us in recent seasons. In terms of local players, we've had several play key roles the past two seasons, including Nate Levy, Tiernan Talbot, Alan Schembri-Wismeyer, Ayo Adebayo and Jonny Loera. We've also had several foreign players who have been valuable for us including Claudio Repetto (Italy), Ignacio Milla (Chile), Matias Pazos (Spain), Niklas Roessler (Germany), Nicholas Itopolos (South Africa), Finlay Bloodworth (England), Francisco Neto (Brazil), Thilo Wilke (Germany), Alexis Tahet (France) and so many others. We've had players go on to play third division in Spain (Javier Gomez) and fourth division in Sweden (Ludvig Hordegard and Fredrik Mansson), as well as the lower divisions in England (Jake Turnbull). We've been fortunate to offer players a great place to train during the summer and had some really high-quality players involved in our team the first two seasons.

5. Do you have specific rivalries; how seriously do you think the club takes those matches?

We have a lot of great rivalries in the league already. We have a lot of competitive teams in the conference and there have been a lot of good games. I'd have to say our biggest rivals would be Minneapolis City SC and Duluth FC. We've had some big, important games against those teams and we always play them close. I know our club takes those matches seriously and I believe they do, as well.

6. Lower league soccer is full of clubs that want to grow large brands and take on the spotlight, but also full of clubs that are only focused the pitch. How does Med City FC fit into that comparison?

We would like to continue to grow our brand by putting a great product on the pitch. We've had great support and we want to continue to grow that support and build relationships in the community. Time will tell how big we can become...

- Dominic Bisogno