PDL Feature
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
While the team’s name has changed, much has stayed the same for Orlando City U23 this season. The Lions have the same coach, Joe Avallone, and have continued the success the club had as the Central Florida Kraze prior to this summer. Making their sixth playoff appearance in the past nine seasons, dating back to the club’s 2004 PDL Championship, the Lions have been one of the more consistent clubs in the PDL in the past decade.
But the most noticable change, with the club being incorporated into the development structure of its USL PRO older brother, has been a big boost for Avallone’s side as it seeks its second championship.
“I’m very thankful to have Orlando City, and the umbrella,” Avallone said by phone. “To us, from day one, we’ve wanted a pro structure and a fully integrated club, so when Orlando City came in at the top, it was a no-brainer, that was my exact quote, to put the PDL reserve team underneath that, and now to have a youth club, so just like USL has its pyramid, we have our own little pyramid within the USL.”
While Avallone continues to recruit players to join the club each summer, with the U23s now being part of a larger system, they also have access to players that the senior side has its eye on. The most notable of these this season is, Adama Mbengue, who was with the USL PRO side in preseason, joined the PDL side when its season began, and recently signed professional terms to join the senior side.
The structure has also helped Avallone, with Lions coach Adrian Heath often present at the club’s PDL games and practices, as he was this past Sunday in Ocala when the U23s claimed the Southern Conference Championship.
“There’s no doubt, I’m actually working very closely with Adrian,” Avallone said. “It’s been a fantastic learning experience in football for me, to watch it grow, for a coach to be able to be around Adrian has been absolutely fantastic.”
The links between the teams have also been present, with Jamie Watson also attending Sunday’s championship game and players such as Rob Valentino and Matt Luzunaris offering their congratulations on Twitter following the game. With the U23s getting to watch many of the senior side’s home games around their PDL schedule, Avallone believes the USL PRO side’s level of success has created an awareness in his players of what it takes to reach the professional level.
“It’s been very positive,” Avallone said, “just from a structure standpoint, and really giving the players on the PDL team a vision for something to aspire to for the future.”
This U23s haven’t been as prolific as their senior counterparts in front of goal this season, but the side’s defensive prowess and ability to score from different situations has stood them in good stead so far. The U23s have six players who have scored three or more goals this season, meaning seemingly every game someone else has stepped up to help the side claim victory with an important goal.
Against a side like Saturday’s opponent the Carolina Dynamo, who finished tied for the best defensive record in the PDL with only 10 goals against in 16 regular season games, having multiple attacking options will certainly be necessary. The depth of the Southeast Division has proven to be useful for the U23s, with the tough competition preparing them to take on and beat the best the Mid South had to offer in their wins against Laredo and Austin this past weekend. Avallone adds that because of their ties to the professional club, the Lions have faced the best from their opponents throughout the season, which has proven important for his players.
“Especially wearing that Orlando City emblem, when you’re playing Orlando City in the Southeast Division, the players that are playing against you are saying, hey, I know they’ve got a pro club above them, and teams seem to play that much harder against us,” Avallone said. “I think that’s been a very good learning curve for our players.”
As for winning the club’s second PDL Championship, Avallone isn’t going to look beyond this weekend until the conclusion of their game against the Dynamo. Make no mistake, though, it would certainly mean a lot for the club’s new era to begin it with a championship.
“We’d love nothing more than to bring a championship to Orlando, a second national title for me as a coach would be very gratifying,” Avallone said. “For the organization, with all of their goals and ambitions, it would be fantastic, but again, I look at the players, and for the players it would be a big thing for them as well.
“I often talk about how important at this level winning is, because at the next level everyone wants to be a winner, everyone wants to be involved with winners, and we have players who are very ambitious to move on to the higher levels, to move on to the pro ranks at some point, and so I tell them how important that is. They’ve been acting and training like pros from day one, it’s gotten better, certainly in the last month I’ve seen a huge improvement in their motivation and their bonding and their understanding of team, and so I just want to reiterate how wonderful it is to be part of a structure that is supportive, and that’s what we have at Orlando City.”