Tuesday, April 7, 2009
United Soccer Leagues represents the sport in the truest, purest sense. The league searches for talent in the furthest corners of the world and affords every talented player the right to pursue their dream of playing professional soccer. It is gritty, unrefined, urban, rural, and unadulterated. And somewhere between genuine simplicity and determined complexity. It is pure devotion.
USL is proud to welcome you to the new design of USLsoccer.com. The redesigned look of the website stems from USL’s new branding platform, Play with Passion.
USL provides opportunities for males and females, youth and adults, professionals and amateurs. There are teams from four federations spanning three different official languages. Players come from all different areas and many are from outside of North America. Fans are treated with a wide range of playing styles and show their support in a variety of different ways. With such a diverse constituency, identifying a motto that resonates with fans and players at all levels of the USL family proved to be challenging. However, throughout the entire process, there was one prevalent theme that continued to stand above all else – the passion of those involved with USL.
This passion can be seen at every level of USL through countless examples. Youth players travel for hours to play matches so that they can develop by competing against elite competition. PDL and W-League teams are dedicated transitioning players from the youth ranks to professional careers at the grassroots level. Players from the USL First Division Puerto Rico Islanders and Montreal Impact travel thousands of miles to represent their country and USL in competitions like the CONCACAF Champions League.
And they don’t just show up. They play their best. They play with passion.
Fans attend matches, post content to blogs, travel to other cities, watch games online and track every word of news they can see or hear. They attend matches and vocalize their support for their team, and sometimes vocalize their dislike of the opposition. This kind of passion has been behind the success of every team since its inception and is being brought to the forefront as it so deserves.
The Play with Passion platform is intended to embody not only the spirit of the organization, teams, players and, most importantly, the fans, but also capture the one ingredient that has been consistent since the day USL was founded. Originally created as a regional indoor league back in 1986 because of one man’s passion and vision for what the sport could become in North America, USL has grown into an organization that now boasts more than 120 franchises and 500 elite youth teams competing in six different leagues.
USL will continue be a driving force in the growth of the game in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean by encouraging and promoting the passion that has fueled soccer’s rise to prominence over the past three decades. Please join us and our fans as we Play with Passion.
