The PDL Announce that FC Boston Bolts Complete Field of 67 Teams
FC Boston Bolts are the latest team to be welcomed by the PDL as they are set to gear up for the 2016 season. The Bolts have been part of New England soccer community in recent years and surely will provide further influence on player development as they join the PDL for its inaugural season in the league.
Soccer News from the PDL: The PDL announced on Friday that the FC Boston Bolts are joining the PDL for the 2016 season. Boston completes the PDL field of 67 teams participating in this year’s campaign.
“The PDL is excited to bring in the FC Boston Bolts, who have been a part of New England’s development landscape in previous forms for the past three decades,” PDL Director Todd Eason said. “We anticipate some strong rivalries among the Northeast Division, and the addition of the FC Boston Bolts to the mix will further contribute to the division’s and the league’s high caliber of play.”
The club will be owned and operated under the leadership of FC Boston Bolts President Jonathan Price and the team will hold its home games at Mount Ida College in Newton, Mass.
FC Boston also announced that its head coach will be Brian Ainscough, who has an extensive managerial background in the area. Ainscough spent nearly a decade as Northeastern University’s head coach and was previously an assistant coach at Boston College.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for FC Boston,” Ainscough said. “The Bolts have developed some of the best players in New England, and this is a much needed pathway in our club development pyramid.”
FC Boston joins the PDL’s Northeast Division, which also features AC Connecticut, FA Euro, GPS Portland Phoenix, the Long Island Rough Riders, Seacoast United Phantoms, Western Mass Pioneers and Westchester Flames.
The highest level of amateur soccer in North America, the PDL has a history dating back more than two decades that has helped top-level players rise to the professional ranks. Among the PDL’s alumni are players such as U.S. Men’s National Team members Brad Guzan, DeAndre Yedlin, Gyasi Zardes and Geoff Cameron. More than 200 PDL alumni competed in the 2015 Major League Soccer season.
The PDL has provided a major development platform for future professional players, with 12 of the league’s current membership being owned and operated by an MLS or USL club, or holding a partnership with an MLS or USL club. Seventy percent of the players selected in the MLS SuperDraft over the past eight years are PDL alumni.
The PDL has received strong support from both Major League Soccer and the USL as it provides a proven pathway to the professional ranks for top college-aged players in North America.
Source/Photo Credit: PDL
