USL PRO Feature
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Since his arrival at the Wilmington Hammerheads in 1998, it’s unlikely Coach David Irving has seen an offseason quite like the one the club just underwent.
There’s a new ownership group led by businessman George Altirs. There are upgraded offices, a new club crest, and a new general manager to work with in Jason Arnold. Last but certainly not least, there is the club’s new partnership with Toronto FC, which had its own transformative offseason.
All things considered, it’s an exciting time to be a Hammerhead and Irving is ready for the season to arrive.
“We need to get started,” Irving said recently. “It’s been a long offseason, a lot of changes, but it’s an exciting season. Obviously, with the relationship with Toronto, getting players from them changes the whole complexion of the Wilmington Hammerheads. Getting four or five players from Toronto helps us considerably, and we’ll be more competitive than we ever have been in the past.”
The theme of competition is one that has appeared frequently this offseason, with 10 MLS teams now partnering with USL PRO teams as the partnership between the two leagues continues to grow. Toronto FC coach Ryan Nelsen is enthusiastic about the partnership and the fact that his players will be competing in an elevated environment compared to the MLS Reserve League.
“That’s really important, when there’s something on the line,” Nelsen said. “You can play games, you can get minutes and that, but when there’s a few-thousand watching, and there’s three points, and jobs are on the line, Dave wants to win and Wilmington wants to be successful, and there’s pressure.
“That’s why I like this over, no disrespect to the Reserve League, but it was a bit of a relaxed kind of atmosphere. Here there will be people playing for jobs, and our boys have got to stand up and make a good account of themselves.”
After the Hammerheads narrowly missed out on the playoffs a season ago, a return to contention in both the regular season and the playoffs is the priority at Legion Stadium. The side will be without some key cogs from recent years including Gareth Evans, now with the OKC Energy FC.
The return of players such as Cody Arnoux, Paul Nicholson and Mickael Oliveira, however, should provide a good backbone for Irving to build his squad around. The Hammerheads also recently received three of their loanees from Toronto, with midfielder Daniel Lovitz returning to the state where he starred for Elon University and the PDL’s Carolina Dynamo. Also joining Irving’s squad are a pair of Homegrown Signings, with goalkeeper Quillan Roberts and midfielder Manny Aparicio both bringing youth international experience with them to Wilmington.
Despite the additional pieces, however, the veteran coach is under no illusions as to how tough a competition USL PRO will remain this season.
“It was disappointing, but that’s football sometimes, and sometimes you have to take a couple of steps back to move forward,” Irving said of the club’s 2013 season. “Everyone’s on the same page and looking forward to the season, but we know and we realize this is a difficult league, USL PRO, to play in, and anyone can beat anybody on any given day. It is a tough league, and very, very competitive.”
That level of competition will be an important factor in helping quicken the development of the players Toronto FC sends to Wilmington. Another factor, and one which Nelsen welcomes, is the distance between the two cities. While there were some eyebrows raised when the partnership between the two clubs was announced, Nelsen believes his players will also benefit from being away from Toronto and getting the chance to learn alongside the seasoned veterans in the Hammerheads’ squad.
“Sometimes, when you’re at other places - when you’re at home they get a lot of comforts, we give them a lot of comforts - and it’s good when they’re away and they see a bit of the real world as well, and experience life,” Nelsen said. “They have to grow as human beings, not just as footballers, and that’s really important for their character.”
Nelsen added that he also hoped the players would help the Hammerheads put a winning product on the field. As the saying goes, winning is a habit, and it’s a feeling that Nelsen wants his players to get used to that feeling no matter whether they are wearing the red of Toronto or the blue of Wilmington.
“I know they’ll get minutes, I know they’ll play, and I hope they’ll win for Wilmington because that’s important,” he said. “We can’t be selfish and think that it’s just on our side, we need to help Wilmington win games and hopefully get them to win the league.”
All of which is music to the ears of Arnold, formerly the Operations Manager for USL PRO. One of the drivers behind the club’s revamped look on and off the field since his hiring by Altirs, Arnold is aiming to bring a new mentality to the club and build on what has been an established name in its local market.
“I think it was time to re-ignite, re-energize what we were doing there,” Arnold said. “With the new ownership coming in we’re going to try and take things to the next level on everything we’re doing across the board, so the new logo, the new website, the affiliation with Toronto - there’s a lot of good things coming into the club right now.”
With Arnold’s new colleague more than ready to get back into action, the Hammerheads could be set for a strong start to the club’s new era.
“You have new expectations and you just want to get back at it,” Irving said. “I’m a soccer coach and it’s been a long offseason, so let’s get up and back in the saddle and let’s get working and looking forward to April 5 when we play Harrisburg at home.”