USL Feature
Thursday, May 12, 2011
By NICHOLAS MURRAY
Now entering thier fifth season in the USL Premier Development League, the Mississippi Brilla have had a pretty simple method for building the club into the success it has become, earning back-to-back Southeast Division titles in the past two seasons.
Coach Dave Dixon, in fact, points towards just a pair of factors that have allowed the club to thrive.
“I think that the staff has done a really good job of recruiting players and taking their time to actively go out and attend college games all throughout the fall and follow up on every lead of every player that has been thrown our way,” Dixon said. That’s helped to create a really good network of coaches at who will recommend two or three players to us and two or three players from their league who have the quality to play in the PDL.
“Then I think our overall staff and our city, our fans here do a really good of making the guys feel special and making a real, as best as we can, professional atmosphere to play in, and I think that’s really fun for the guys. They like to play in front of fans and have kids come and cheer them on, so that’s a big part of it as well.”
Creating that sense of community hasn’t been hard for the club. Thanks to its association with the Brilla Soccer Ministries, the club has been able to develop deep roots in the community, giving players an atmosphere they enjoy being part of. Of course, the fact the Brilla have also been able to develop players to move on to the professional level hasn’t hurt either, with the club providing as close to a professional atmosphere as it can with its approach to training and player development.
“Our goal is obviously sending these guys on to the next level and get them hooked up with pro contracts as much as possible, and we were able to do that with a few of our players,” Brilla President and GM Rusty Bryant said. “It’s great for the fans because even if a player isn’t from around like, for example, [English-born player] Nick Rich, it’s just like he’s one of us. The fans, the kids have grown attached to him, they enjoy seeing him every summer and this will probably be his last summer because hopefully he’ll get a pro contract, but that’s kind of the idea.
“If we can get these young players in and give them a great experience so they want to come back, bring their friends with them, they want to bring the best players because they want to be on a winning team, and that means a lot when they return.”
The Brilla’s regular season success hasn’t yet translated into the playoffs. Last season, with the team battling late-season injuries, it was eliminated in the Southern Conference semifinals in a penalty shootout by the Houston Leones. While that defeat was a frustrating one for Dixon, it gave him a better idea of what the side would need this season in order to make a run at the PDL championship weekend and even the league championship.
“I think one thing that we’ve tried to address this year, which we haven’t the last two years, is our depth,” Dixon said. “We have to have more competition for spots so as the season goes on we’re sharper and fresher, and that’s a big key going into those playoffs, it’s compressed in a short amount of time and it’s how fresh your team is and how healthy and your depth, so we wanted to address all of those things. … We have a great blend of young players and experienced players, so we’ll see.”
But as with all PDL teams the biggest source of pride for Dixon and Bryant comes from when one the team’s players does get to the next level, especially those who might not have received a chance unless they were playing for the Brilla. This season both Lucas Paulini and Willie Hunt are playing their rookie professional seasons with the Atlanta Silverbacks, while others like Debola Ogunseye, now in the Turkish First Division, and David Lilly have preceded them in entering the pro ranks.
“It’s unbelievable, a great feeling,” Bryant said. “I actually got to go this weekend over to Atlanta to see Willie and Lucas play, and Lucas is the captain of the team, Willie is the starting center back and to me, I know I’m a little biased, but I thought they were the two best players on the field and they’ve really done a great job.”
Almost as good as the job the Brilla have done in building a strong PDL club both on and off the field.