USL News Release
Monday, January 16, 2012
TAMPA, Fla. – United Soccer Leagues is pleased to announce that the Panama City Beach Pirates will join the PDL for the 2012 season. The club, co-owned by Dr. Eehab Kenawy, Jill Holt and Amy Dalton, will bring an elite level of soccer to the Florida Panhandle.
The club has hired Greg DeVito, who played eight seasons in the PDL and USL Professional Division, as its first head coach. DeVito, a prominent local youth and Florida Olympic Development Program coach, played collegiately at Georgia State and Georgia Southern and has coached college, high school and club soccer for the past seven years.
DeVito has been instrumental to youth soccer in the area by assisting high school athletes from Tallahassee to Pensacola in advancing to the collegiate level. As a local resident, he has a strong interest and commitment to the area and the desire to help develop soccer at the highest levels of play.
“We’re excited to have the Panama City Beach Pirates join the PDL representing an area with such a strong soccer history as the Florida Panhandle,” USL CEO Alec Papadakis said. “We look forward to the team kicking off this summer and adding to the PDL’s growing presence in Florida.”
The home venue and tryout dates for the Pirates will be announced in the near future. The club will also provide numerous opportunities for players of all ages through camps, clinics, tournaments, and special events.
The Pirates will play a 16-game schedule between the months of May-August. The top supplier of talent for professional soccer in North America, the PDL saw another large group of its alumni make the move into professional soccer in 2011 with 37 of the 54 players selected in the 2011 Major League Soccer SuperDraft having previously played in the PDL.
An impressive 26 of the 38 players selected in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft, including six of the top 10, had PDL experience, including No. 1 overall selection Andrew Wenger, who previously played for Reading United AC and the Carolina Dynamo. The PDL has now had 111 alumni selected in the past three years of the MLS SuperDraft, an average of more than 70 percent of the selections made.
For additional information regarding the Panama City Beach Pirates including upcoming tryouts and sponsorship opportunities, contact info@PanamaCityBeachPirates.com or visit www.PanamaCityBeachPirates.com.