While we were gearing up for a massive WPSL season preview, we reached out to several clubs, ongoing and brand new, to get a feel for the direction the 2020 season was going to go. Chris Davidovicz head coach of Savannah Spirit, was happy to respond at the first time of asking and provided a few answers for the piece. Unfortunately, a lot has changed since that first contact. However, Chris was kind enough to answer a few more questions when we decided to just make the whole piece a good old-fashioned Spotlight – so now we shed the light on the apparitions and ghosts of the WPSL’s South Regions, Carolina’s Conference, South Division.

Why did you choose to join the WPSL - has your club existed at a lower level or is this the organization's debut into the soccer world?

This is a brand-new club. The WPSL team is our debut into the soccer world. There were several elements that influenced the team's entry into the WPSL. Both owners (DJ Spisso & Josh McIntosh) have children that play youth soccer. DJ has 3 daughters, one of which plays at a pretty good level in our area. Josh has run a club (Savannah SC) in the area for a couple of years. They have a passion for youth soccer and love the city of Savannah. Their vision is to bring a first-class sports organization to Savannah that can engage the community. They want the team to be a pathway to help young women turn into positive influential leaders. With DJ having a daughter he wanted to provide an option for her down the road to continue playing the game if she has that as one of her goals. There was a huge gap in the market in our area when it comes to women's soccer and we want to fill that.

After doing the research it was evident that the WPSL was the perfect league to join. The leadership has a great vision for the league and they have shown over the last 3 years their commitment to putting together a first-class league and grow the women's game. With a strong presence in the south it allows us to create rivalries while helping to keep travel costs low.

Are there any teams in particular that you're looking forward to playing this season?

Our south division of the Carolinas conference is filled with a great group of teams. For sure playing last year's division winner, the Charlotte Eagles, is a team we are excited to play. They set the standard last year and we want to find out how we stack up so we know where we need to go to reach our goals. Of course, the local derbies with Beaufort FC are going to be matches that we have marked on the calendar. We are only 30 minutes apart and we have several players that come from the Hilton Head, Bluffton and Beaufort area.

Newcomers Savannah Spirit are looking forward to taking on conference powerhouse Charlotte Eagles (photo: Charlotte Eagles Facebook)

What will success look like in 2020? (Now 2021)

We will measure success several different ways. Top priority for us is that our players have a great experience, that our team chemistry and culture is strong, and that our players feel prepared for their fall seasons. We want to be a positive influence in Savannah through multiple community engagement projects. We want to get to July and have amazing stories about the people that felt loved, cared for and encouraged via their interactions with our club. Our fan experience and how connected they feel to our group will be something we will pay a lot of attention to.

We want to give Savannah a team they can be proud of. Another goal of ours will be to assist our players with moving onto the professional level. We have several players that have aspirations of taking their career to the NWSL or leagues in Europe. We want to provide these players with the training and environment to help them grow into a player that a pro team wants.

For sure we have aspirations of winning. For us the main talking point with the players will be how we approach each day. We want to be a unified group, compete to the maximum and do the necessary work every day in training. We will have ideas of how we want to play. As a coaching staff we will definitely measure ourselves against our vision and the tactics that we believe will put the team in the best position to win each game.

All across the lower leagues in the US, for women and men, clubs often either have their own youth organization or are affiliated with one; is this also the case for you? Do you have any plans on working with a youth club to create the adult end of a development funnel?

Right now, we do not have our own youth club or a direct affiliation. One of our owners (Josh McIntosh) has a small club (Savannah SC - formerly Chatham SC). Our other owner (David Speeso) has a daughter that plays for Tormenta FC. I work with the pre-Academy for Tormenta on Hilton Head.

As we have moved forward with putting the WPSL team together we have gained some momentum and interest from players and parents about starting a new club. I think this whole virus mess has actually opened the door even more for this. I don't see how clubs can keep operating on the same model of charging people crazy amounts of money to play soccer. So, we are looking at how we create a new model and deliver more value to everyone. I think the starting point for us will be to create a 04 girls’ team and possibly a 07 girls’ team. Making sure both teams are run extremely well then look to grow from there. As we develop this, I will keep you updated and will be happy to go on the record to share the vision and what we are doing.

Supporters help the world go 'round - has anybody in your community fallen in love with what you're putting together and started any sort of fanbase? Some clubs don't even have bleachers or stands for fans to show up and sit in - what's your stadium situation; is there room for fans if they want to show up?

We are pretty fortunate with our venue set up. We have an agreement to play at Memorial Stadium in Savannah. www.savannahsportscouncil.com/facilities/memorial-stadium/ Fantastic venue for our fans. In one of the end zones there is a hospitality room where we plan to host a VIP area.

We don't have an official fan base yet. I have connected with one individual thru Twitter that has taken a huge interest in us. He is keen on being part of our "Ultra" group. One of the names I have kicked around for our supporters’ group is "Ghost Protocol." A play on the Spirit name and the ghost stuff in Savannah.

Before all of the quarantines we had a group of players playing in a 6v6 league in Savannah on Sundays. The complex hosts a variety of adult leagues all day. Easily a 1,000+ soccer people out there each Sunday. Our plan was to tap into this group and work on generating interest among these people that already have a passion for the game. Once the quarantines are lifted, we will be back playing in the league. We also plan to use the summer 6v6 league for our reserve players to develop the younger players for the future.

Certainly, the coronavirus has had a deep impact on everybody's schedule - if the WPSL season is scrapped for the health and safety of everyone, will you be able to survive? Will you be back for 2021? Do you have a webstore where people can help out the club?

If the league is scrapped, we will still get our team together to train and help the girls get ready for their fall seasons. We are also going to work on reaching out to other WPSL teams as well as NWSL teams to set up exhibition games. We want to help our players stay active. We also want to try to develop some brand recognition in our market as we give people a chance to watch a live sporting event and feel normal again.

For sure we will be forging ahead to be even stronger in 2021.

We haven't set up any type of fundraising account yet. We have talked about that idea but have not added that to our program yet. Fortunately, our owners have done a great job with fundraising for us. We have a couple of sponsors that got on board early.