INDY ELEVEN ROSTER FOR 2016 NPSL SEASON

Indy Eleven Announce Roster and Ticketing Details for Upcoming NPSL Season

NPSL club Indy Eleven prepares for the upcoming 2016 season as they name its finalized roster and announce ticketing details. The roster includes ten returning players from the then-Indiana Fire Juniors squad that won the 2015 NPSL Midwest Division title last summer as they prepare for its home-opener against AFC Cleveland on May 14th.

Soccer News: Indy Eleven has finalized the 38-man roster that will compete in the National Premier Soccer League’s (NPSL) upcoming season and the 2016 edition of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the national championship tournament of US Soccer. This year’s Indy Eleven NPSL roster, which consists only of players that hold amateur status, includes 33 players with collegiate eligibility remaining and five performers that are untied to professional clubs.

“The coaching staff has spent a lot of time compiling a roster for 2016 that can not only defend our Midwest Regional title, but go a couple steps further and compete for the NPSL championship,” said Indy Eleven NPSL head coach John Simmonds, who returns for a third season on the club’s sideline. “The team is very deep at every position, which lends to a competitive training environment. We are eager to get started in May and look forward to preparing this talented squad for both the U.S. Open Cup First Round game and our league opener soon to follow.”

The squad is heavy with Indiana roots, as 25 players suited up for nine schools located across the Hoosier State last fall. That list includes six current and recent performers from national powerhouse Indiana University and another nine players combined that represented Indy-area institutions Butler University (3), Marian University (2), the University of Indianapolis (2) and IUPUI (1). In addition, Holy Cross College of South Bend (2), the University of Southern Indiana (1) and Wabash College (1) are also represented on the squad.

Ten players are returning from the then-Indiana Fire Juniors side that captured the 2015 NPSL Midwest Division title last summer, including 2015 Second Team All-NPSL forward Nago Mbengue, goalkeeper Cody Schweitzer and midfielder Jared Bleah.

Notable newcomers to the squad include defender Christopher Lavie, who helped Chattanooga FC to the 2014 NPSL Final, and forward Lukman Ahmed-Shaibu, Holy Cross College’s leading goal scorer each of the last two seasons. Another newcomer with a name familiar to local sports fans is midfielder Addison Luck, as the West Virginia Gatorade Boys High School Player of the Year – and brother of Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck – will train with the squad starting in July before heading off to his freshman year at Yale.

In addition to the player roster, Simmonds has also finalized his coaching staff for 2016 with the additions of assistant coaches Peter Baah and Andy Swift. Baah brings vast credentials from both his days on the field with the likes of Blackburn Rovers, Fulham FC and Columbus Crew SC and time on the sideline with Minnesota Thunder, Indiana Blast, Carmel United and, currently, the Park Tudor High School Boys program and the Indiana Fire Juniors. Swift is plenty familiar with the collegiate game after spending more than a decade on the sideline as an assistant coach with Clarion (PA) University, the University of Akron, Jacksonville State and, currently, Marian University. Indy Eleven veteran goalkeeper Jon Busch will also assist with the training of the Indy Eleven NPSL netminders as part of his Director of Goalkeeping duties with the organization.

Upon reporting to the Indianapolis area for the start of training on May 1, the squad will prepare for its first official game of 2016, a U.S. Open Cup First Round affair on Wednesday, May 11 (opponent and location TBA by U.S. Soccer in April). The Indy Eleven NPSL regular season begins on the road Saturday, May 14, at AFC Cleveland, followed by the home opener at Westfield’s Grand Park on Friday, May 20, against the Rochester River Dogz.

Both season tickets and individual game tickets for the team’s 2016 schedule at Grand Park will be available in the coming weeks. The seven-game season ticket package, including the team’s five NPSL regular season games against Midwest Conference foes and two exhibition matches against NPSL opposition, will be available in two packages – $20 for tickets only or $40 for a package that includes an limited-edition Indy Eleven NPSL scarf. Individual game tickets will cost $5 for adults and children, while groups of 10 or more will be able to purchase tickets for just $4 each. For more details, including on-sale information in the coming weeks, visit here.

See below for the full listing of 38 players, and visit here for more details on the squad’s upcoming third season of play.

Source/Photo Credit: Indy Eleven