Dayton, December 5, 2019 – Dayton Dutch Lions FC and Cincinnati Dutch Lions FC’s management traveled to Tampa this week for the annual AGM of United Soccer Leagues. Besides updates on the League and several workshops, the scheduling process will take place for the 2019 season. The final schedules are expected to be released in January 2019.
We will have more info on players returning and new signings in the upcomimg months. Houston Dutch Lions FC’s U13 Boys team won the championship in a strong Division 1 without losing a single game. Congrats to the boys and coach Leroy Zuidam! Florida Gulf Coast Dutch Lions FC Women’s team player Vesna Voltrop was selected for the Dutch National Futsal Team. They beat Czech Republic this weekend with 4-0. The Youth Academy is celebrating the Dutch tradition of “Sinterklaas” on December 5, meaning kids have to write a rhyme for one of thei teammates and buy a (small) gift. The Academy players also had their Fall evaluation session last week. The Academy teams are playing their last tournament this weekend in Naples before a three week break for the holidays. General Manager Vincent de Weger is currently in Spain, where he is spending a week with Levante UD. New York Dutch Lions FC has targeted the June 14/15 weekend for their 2019 events. More info will be announced the coming weeks.
FC Cincinnati is preparing for their (fast approaching) MLS debut in 2019. They wrapped up the 2018 USL PRO season winnning the regular season championship, but were eliminated in the semi-final of the Eastern Conference play-offs at home vs New York Red Bulls II. The team received several honors though, with Head Coach Alan Koch being awarded Coach of the Year and Emanuel Ledesma being recognized as USL PRO Most Valuable Player. Ledesma scored 16 goals and had 16 assists on the season. An interview with Ledesma regarding his election can be seen here. Ledesma was also selected to the All-League First team. He was joined by Forrest Lasso, who was also awarded USL PRO Defender of the Year. Corben Bone was selected to the All-League Second Team. Bone recorded 11 goals and 4 assists on the season. The club is also making a lot of progress on their new training center. An update can be seen here. The club also launched their new logo for the MLS and already sold over 18,000 season tickets for the upcoming MLS season.