Minneapolis City SC Article Feature
The growth of the NPSL is hardly going unnoticed as more and more teams join the league this spring — the NPSL is very close to reaching their goal of 100 teams in 100 communities and is the Fourth Division on the U.S. Soccer pyramid.
Related Article: NPSL Expansion: Minneapolis City SC
NPSL Soccer News: MINNESOTA’S MINOR LEAGUE SOCCER CLUB – the
Minneapolis City SC: We are a non-profit, member-supported soccer club that provides a platform for Minnesota’s best amateur players to compete at a national level and uses soccer to make a difference in our community.
With the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) growing across all regions over the offseason, we catch up with the latest expansion clubs set to join the league for the upcoming 2017 campaign.
Minneapolis City SC is among the most recent clubs to join the league’s Midwest Region’s North Conference, as the conference has added multiple teams for 2017. Mpls City SC (Mpls is the colloquial abbreviation for Minneapolis) was founded as an extension of Stegman’s Soccer Club, 14-time Minnesota amateur champions and nine-time Minnesota Cup winners.
Minneapolis City SC is led by Managing Director Dan Hoedeman, a Minneapolis native and lifelong soccer player who thought starting a soccer club sounded like fun.
SoccerToday spoke with Managing Director Dan Hoedeman on the club’s inaugural season in the NPSL
Diane Scavuzzo: Minneapolis City SC is known as the People’s Club – Why did you choose to join the NPSL?
Dan Hoedeman: From the beginning, we wanted a league that would give us regional rivalries. With the MLS in our city, we needed to offer something different and the chance to play in a very WCHA-like league against nearby men’s soccer teams is great for our supporters.
NPSL helps our players too — because they’re playing more than they’re driving. And, of course, the budget benefit of manageable travel is huge.
On top of NPSL’s regional structure, the opportunity to play for a national championship and qualify for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is a big plus.
And finally, the NPSL Player Showcase is a great event — We are hoping that our players can move on to a higher level and the NPSL Showcase provides really meaningful exposure.
Diane Scavuzzo: When did your team form? How are you recruiting the best players?
Dan Hoedeman: Minneapolis City is an offshoot of Stegman’s SC, which has played in various forms in the state league for many years. This history gave us a strong platform to build on and credibility when we approached players about the City project.
Minneapolis City: We style ourselves as ‘the Athletic Bilbao of the North’, and field exclusively players from Minnesota.
Diane Scavuzzo: What type of players are you looking for?
Dan Hoedeman: In terms of players we are looking for, we’ll never say no to a goalscorer!
Diane Scavuzzo: When did you become in involved in soccer?
Dan Hoedeman: I don’t remember ever not playing soccer, kicking the ball around with my Dad and brother and joining the local youth team as soon as I was old enough.
Diane Scavuzzo: What is your background?
Dan Hoedeman: I was born in Minneapolis and moved all over as a kid before settling down here with my wife and three kids.
I played for a time in England, which was a fantastic experience, and now play men’s league with my childhood friend and Stegman’s co-founder Jon Bisswurm.
Diane Scavuzzo: How has soccer changed, if it has, since you became involved?
Dan Hoedeman: I can remember scouring the newspaper for soccer scores from Europe and looking up the teams I saw in this old soccer book I had picked up at a neighborhood garage sale — so soccer today is pretty much completely unrecognizable from what it was.
When I was in England, people would ask me about the game in America. I always responded that …
my generation was the leading edge, the ones who were going to establish the sport.
If you look at the growing interest, the fan bases for lower division clubs, the replica shirts every-where, I think that I may have been right.
Diane Scavuzzo: What influences you?
Dan Hoedeman: In terms of influences, they’re pretty broad. When we started Minneapolis City, the founder group committed to getting advice and ideas from as many people as possible — because we knew we didn’t know everything.
Diane Scavuzzo: Who is your favorite soccer team or player? Who do you root for behind closed doors?
Dan Hoedeman: Outside of Minneapolis City, of course, my favorite soccer team is Brighton & Hove Albion. My favorite player is the great Dennis Bergkamp. Bergkamp played soccer the way I wish I could.
Diane Scavuzzo: How do you plan on promoting your NPSL team to drive fans into seats?
Dan Hoedeman: We used social media, with an emphasis on Twitter, to build awareness of the club in our first year.
We’ve been called ‘outspoken’ on Twitter, and that is probably polite, but being on that platform with a point of view got us noticed, talked about, covered by media, blogs and podcasts and that is what we needed, to get the word out. We will continue this, for sure.
We will continuing to grow our charitable and community activities as well — growing our partnership with clubs and organizations in the metro area, and being better about activating in our immediate neighborhood.
Diane Scavuzzo: What is your greatest challenge as a new NPSL team?
Dan Hoedeman: In our conference, we are the team that the other teams want to beat, which is a little unusual for a new team, but is still puts a target on our backs.
We are going to have to overcome that and get results.
We will be disappointed with anything short of winning the conference.
Second to that is fixture congestion. It’s a lot of games in a short amount of time, and we are going to have to manage the players differently than we have before. It will be interesting, to say the least.
Diane Scavuzzo: NPSL has teams in approximately 80 markets across the country — is your area in need of more competition or are you concerned about future expansion?
Dan Hoedeman: I am a believer in the power of regional rivalries — fans and players get into it when you’re facing a club for nearby.
That said, it is important to avoid churn.
I am all for more clubs in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa but it is important that they have a proven ability to deliver on the field and off. There are some great ones out there and who knows? Hopefully they join the NPSL in years to come.
Diane Scavuzzo: Who do you think will be your greatest competition?
Dan Hoedeman: Expectations.
All the other clubs will be gunning for us. Their players will be up for it. Their coaches will prep extra, and have all the videos on us. Their social accounts will try to troll us — some already are.
We need to make sure that we’re fit, focused and ready — to be the biggest game for all the teams in our conference.
It will be a new experience.
Photo Credit: Daniel Mick
