NPSL Welcomes Pittsburgh Hotspurs as New Club
Pittsburgh Hotspurs will suit up for the 2019 NPSL season as the youth club provides an extended pathway to the professional ranks for its players. The NPSL is a member league of the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) and sanctioned by U.S. Soccer, the governing body of soccer in all its forms in the U.S.
NPSL Soccer News: The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) announced on Tuesday that the Pittsburgh Hotspurs have joined the league as an expansion club. The club will compete in the Midwest Region’s East Conference starting in 2019.
“The Pittsburgh area is home to one of the top soccer markets in the entire country,” said Cindy Spera, NPSL Managing Director. “We are excited for the NPSL to have a strong presence there thanks to the Pittsburgh Hotspurs. We are confident that this club will have great success on and off the pitch this season.”
The Hotspurs was founded in Sewickley, PA, in 1988 as the first club in Pittsburgh to organize youth teams. The club was one of the founding members of the PA West Classic League. During the early 2000s, the club restructured to provide youth programs at all age levels in the Pittsburgh area.
The Pittsburgh Hotspurs are led by Club Director Tom Ovenden, head coach Tom Campbell and Marketing & Operations Director Marikaye DeTemple.
“We want to enter this league and create something special for our youth team players to aspire to, while also influencing as many youth programs as possible to start adult teams to further the league’s growth in and around the Pittsburgh area,” said Ovenden. “Our goal is to provide a team which is at least 50% homegrown talent by the year 2023.”
Ovenden has helped the club grow to 450 players in the span of just three years.
“We are a progressive club and the fastest growing competitive club in PA West,” said Ovenden. “We hope to use this entry to the league to showcase a brand of football that is exciting and attacking — not forgetting that the sport was created to entertain. We strive to constantly evolve and drive the game forward in the Pittsburgh area with competitive team programs as well as through community-based development centers offered to athletes of all skill levels.”
Campbell, a coach with a UEFA “B” license, will lead the team in its inaugural season. Campbell is a native of Manchester, England, and is currently earning a degree in football coaching through the University of South Wales. He moved to the Pittsburgh area in 2013 and has nearly 10 years of coaching experience.
“I’ve focused my career on this game that I love, so to take this next step in leading the Pittsburgh Hotspurs men’s team in the NPSL is a great opportunity that I’m honored to take on,” said Campbell. “I have high expectations of the team we’ll field — the style of play, the level of competition in this first year, and, overall, how they represent the city.”
DeTemple, also a youth soccer coach, has nearly 10 years of experience in marketing and business management.
Home matches for the Hotspurs will be played at the Ellis School in the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh.
“The league is thrilled to be keeping a presence in the Pittsburgh market and we look forward to working with the Pittsburgh Hotspurs,” said Dina Case, NPSL Director of Membership Development. “Keeping a presence in Pittsburgh was important to the league and a lot of hard work occurred behind the scenes to make this happen. This new organization will provide both stability to the East Conference and help to maintain a bridge to expanding the East Conference’s geographical footprint.”
More information about the club can be viewed here or by following the club on Facebook (@hotspurssoccerclub), Instagram (@pittsburghhotspurs), and Twitter (@HotspursClub).
