If you didn't notice, USSF Division II kicked off last weekend. The odd forced reconciliation over the winter of the NASL splinter and the former organizers USL by US Soccer drew a significant amount of attention to the US and Canada's second division; yet, only a few months later the league has receded to its to its former level in the American soccer consciousness.
That's unfortunate, but understandable. As MLS picks up steam with attention-grabbing events like the opening of a $200 million stadium in New Jersey and the debut of a new team in front of 35k people in Philadelphia, the second division just can't really compete. Even with a momentary bump in attention, and the subsequent acknowledgment that the division is important to the growth of the game, NASL/USL/D2 lacks the national profile, television contracts, and market penetration to reap any benefit.
It doesn't help that two of the league's marquee franchises are headed to MLS next year, meaning that their play in the league and any off-field news happening in 2010 will always be viewed through that prism. Portland's renderings for the renovation of PGE Park are of more interest than their results, and Vancouver's efforts on the field mean more for building their 2011 squad than simply trying to win a championship this season. Lame duck teams don't make for interest-building, never mind the apparent lack of cooperation between the USL and NASL groups in anything other on-field competition.
Meanwhile, Montreal sits as the other MLS-club-in-waiting, further invalidating a league that seems to simply be a way station on the journey to first division glory for its biggest clubs. That trend may end with the Impact, but the damage will have been done; the most historically significant and well-supported teams will have departed, leaving behind a motley collection of franchises either just starting out, playing in high school football stadiums/minor league baseball stadiums, or finding their feet after moving up from a lower division.
None of that precludes what could be termed success, though the issues of organizational affiliation, and just who will be given second division status in 2011, will need to be clarified. The NASL group has a vision, that much is clear; what isn't yet is whether or not they will have the opportunity to full enact it.
And what for USL? They fought hard to maintain their leadership of the second division, and now find themselves marginalized with only a few clubs to their name; an ownership change in 2009 precipitated the schism, and the new owners won't likely go quietly. They bought a structure with a top division that was also Division II for the US and Canada, and shouldn't be expected to willingly back down, even if it might be "for the good of the game." Our only conclusion can be that almost nothing has changed since the winter's fireworks.
Tom Dunmore crystallized the larger issue with a simple question on Friday, just a day before the start of the season: What should the purpose of a second division actually be?
No one, least of all US Soccer seems to know. They have established that the division is important, and that they clubs needs to be stable; beyond that, without integration into a traditional pyramid that includes promotion and relegation, the second division is just American professional soccer on a smaller scale and with smaller budgets than MLS.
Combined, the United States and Canada represent a massive soccer market. MLS will never be able to fully sate the demand for the game, and there will always be massive gaps geographically. There's certainly room for a well-run second division to fill those gaps, and in that way, 2010 is important in determining the direction and ultimate footprint of whatever group takes over for good. Assuming that's the eventuality, of course.
The World Cup is coming, and the buildup to the planet's biggest soccer event always takes up the lion's share of leftover attention. The schism, the uncertainty, the World Cup, and MLS' big news have stolen any possible spotlight from Division II. Without scientific measurement, it seems safe to say that 2010 will represent a deep bottoming out of attention for the temporary league, and that 2011 will be a new dawn for second division soccer in this part of the world.
It will be intriguing to see what that new dawn brings.
