As many of you may have read by now, a rumor that had been kicking around a while was verified Wednesday, December 23rd regarding the status of the Austin Aztex PDL squad for 2010.  When the USL announced the PDL alignments for 2010, Aztex fans found a massive gap in the Mid-South Division.  We saw the normal players such as El Paso, DFW, etc.  Unfortunately, of the 6 teams announced, there was no evidence of an Aztex squad.

Personally, I'd heard rumors going back 2 months ago regarding the termination of this team for 2010 from someone very close to the organization.  I was hoping that this was not true, as I fondly remembered going to matches in both the 2008 and 2009 seasons.  In fact, in 2009 while the USL1 side was struggling, the PDL side seemed to provide me some of the feverish football that I was needing.  Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of time to spend on this possibility as the discussions around the USL v. NASL were in full swing.

So when I read the article last week at USLSoccer.com, I had to read and re-read the team alignments several times to make sure I'd not missed something.  It was at that time, that I sent an email to Aztex President & Owner Phil Rawlins and CEO Djorn Buchholz, hoping to get some feedback on the status of the PDL side.  As it was two days prior to Christmas, I wasn't expecting to hear anything for several days.  Again though, Phil was great in getting me a response back quickly.  Below is my question, followed by the response from Phil...

CA ::   Either before disconnecting totally for the holiday, or when you return, can you confirm the elimination of the Aztex PDL squad from the organization?  I'd heard rumors of this a month or so ago, and when the USL announced the 2010 PDL alignments, the Aztex PDL squad was not in the Mid South.  I've assumed that this is officially the demise of the PDL organization, but wanted to make sure I confirmed with someone in the front office.

Phil  ::  We have not registered to play in the PDL in 2010, although we continue to reserve the rights to the franchise for coming years and will continue to review our decision of whether we play in the PDL in future years. Our hope had been to replace the U23 team with a U20 team in the Super 20 League. A Texas division was being formed and we felt it was a long term better fit for the Aztex. At the last minute a couple of teams dropped out of the Super 20 League and without a viable core the Texas division was put on the back-burner for another year. By the time the decision was taken, the PDL registration window was long closed.

For those of you who are not familiar with the USL's Super 20 Men's League, join the club.  I had to look at the USL's website to get an idea of what this is. 

However, I did spend quite a bit of time thinking on the results of this decision.  There were many thoughts from folks around the reason for this move.  To my knowledge, and based on conversations with the FO for the Aztex, this is not a preliminary move to the NASL for the Aztex.  I've had many conversations with the Aztex organization, and although not out of the realm of possibility, they remain committed to the USL both on the professional and the amateur levels.  For me, there has always been a "romance" surrounding the thought of a Texas League.  We'd discussed this after the 2009 PDL season, when re-organization moved the Mississippii Brilla and the New Orleans PDL squad to other Divisions.  The Texas League idea was even one proposed by Mitch Howard in a recent blog at "The Kartik Report", albeit is a possible solution for soccer if all hell breaks lose in the the MLS CBA discussions and the Division II fiasco.

I like the idea.  There's been in the Texas PDL squads a real rivalry that has been built up in the past couple of seasons.  I've seen play on several occassions, several for both home and away matches, Houston, DFW, Laredo, El Paso, and the Rio Grande Valley.  There are teams I respect (Laredo).  There are also teams I really hate (RGV, which is hard since my sister live in McAllen and I sooo want to go see a match).  Add in the possibility of San Antonio and Waco squads on some level, and Texas could easily have 9 teams...

2010 is going to be a very turbulent year for soccer in the US.  The MLS is going through collective bargaining agreement negotiations that, in the worst case scenario, could result in a work stoppage if not resolved.  The continuing Civil War between the USL and NASL for Division II supremacy drags on like an Aunt's bad roast beef.  Although looking good so far, there is a lot of concern with how the USMNT will do in South Africa in June.  Will we see the 2002 squad or the 2006 squad.  I can understand why certain organizations feel that it would be best to hold on and see what happens.  In Texas, it's even more difficult seeing as football here is played with an oblong ball.

One thing that I'm confident of is that the Aztex are going to continue to do what is best for their stated goal of developing players for both our professional side and our sister clubs (Stoke City and Monterrey).  Evidence to this can be seen in the desire to go with a younger style squad in a Super 20 league, the time that Phil and Adrian Heath have spent on international scouting, and the recent announcement (by way of Inside Minnesota Soccer's Brian Quarstad) of Brian Pederson's hiring as the Aztex Camps Director (as of this writing, there is no official word from the Aztex).

I will continue to watch for any information on the Aztex amateur squad developments for now.  As I hear anything, I'll let you know, and as always, throw in your thoughts!