Things are picking up...

Things are picking up in the Aztex office. Right now I am listening to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers/Foo Fighters and working on the player registration process, game day operations, launching our ticketing system and finalizing the details on our USL-1 open tryouts. In case you haven’t heard, our first tryout will be held in Ventura County California on January 10-11th 2009. Our second tryout will be held in Austin Texas on February 7-8th 2009. For further information please go to www.austinaztex.com and click on the USL-1 Tryout Link.

In 2009 I will be working with The University of Texas’s Sport Management Department on several projects. A lot of it will revolve around our future stadium plans and research on the soccer culture in the Austin area. I know this will evolve into a great relationship. We just need to take it slow to make sure we build a strong foundation. I will also be spending some time with the Houston Dynamo’s Director of Operations. This will be a great way for me to compare game day plans, pick his brain on some things and learn from past mistakes. Plus it won’t be bad to be there while they are hosting part of the InterLiga 2009.

The InterLiga 2009 will determine two Mexican club berths for Copa Libertadores known as "Mexico 2" and "Mexico 3". The other spot known as "Mexico 1" has been awarded to San Luis de Potosi due to the club's finish as SuperLider of the Mexican Torneo de Apertura 2008, or the regular season champions of the current Mexican season.

Group A - Toluca, UAG, Morelia, Pachuca
Group B - Tigres UANL, CD Guadalajara, Atlas, América

I hope all of you have a happy holidays and a happy new year!

Alex Wolf

Busy weekend...

It's quiet here in the office today - Phil and Adrian have gone to join Wolfgang and Bobby in Dallas for the 2008 NCAA Men's College Cup. There should be a good show of talent including Aztex alumni Austin da Luz playing for the defending champions, Wake Forest. The games are being televised on ESPN2. From there, Adrian will travel to Charleston for the USL Men's Player Showcase hosted by the Battery. From the USL website: "This year’s edition of the USL Men’s Player Showcase drew more than 250 applicants from an elite pool of collegiate and international talent. As with previous showcase events, the majority of selected players are drawn from USL’s Premier Development League with 68 of the 90 players having PDL experience.'

Back here in Austin, Ron Dennie and some of the Aztex PDL players will be making an appearance at the 3x3 Live Soccer tournament at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock tomorrow (12/13) See the website for details.

We are busy putting the final details together for the season ticket packages and we hope to have some t-shirts with the new logo for sale in both Soccer USA stores next week - just in time for Christmas!

Lastly, I just wanted to publicly thank Sarah Hawkins of Concordia University, one of our interns, for all her hard work these past months - we'll miss her!

Kay

Notes from the Coach

Well… it has been 9 months, 1 week, and 5 days since it was announced that I agreed to become the first-ever head coach of the Austin Aztex. What have I been doing since I arrived in the States, you might ask? Well, I have traveled the length and breadth of your beautiful country—north to south, east to west. “I’ve been everywhere, man.” I have watched youth football, college football, pro football, playoffs, showcases, combines, all in the pursuit of players to try and make our first season in pro football a great success.

As you are probably aware, last week we signed Kieron Bernard, making him our second signing after goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo. Two down, 25 to go! I can assure you all, Phil and I are extremely busy talking and negotiating with agents, college coaches and players to fill our roster with quality and motivated players.

With the USL and MLS seasons now done, it seems quite strange that we are just starting to get down to what I call “proper management,” signing players, organizing tryouts, travel arrangements, hotels, training ground equipment etc. You name it, we’re doing it! As you can see, we are extremely busy here but I could not be happier. This is what I do as a “proper job.” Last week we finally answered the question I have been asked most since I arrived, “Where are you going to play?” The answer is Nelson Field. We tried for House Park but unfortunately the locker rooms are being rebuilt and will not be ready until our 2009 season is well under way.

Adrian Heath

A smooth transition...

Since joining the Austin Aztex in a full time role as their Camp Director and Youth Club Liaison this past August, my daily routine has changed dramatically.

Before as a local youth club coach, I was in the home office throughout the day and at the fields every night and weekend. These days I'm a bona fide nine t0 fiver battling the Austin traffic! Instead of meeting nightly with the kids teaching them soccer skills, I'm now spending my days meeting with local youth club officials and coaches in an effort to build working relationships within our community.

Honestly, it has been a smooth transition and that is very much down to all the local club officials and coaches that have gone out of their way to set aside time out of their busy schedule to meet with me and the Austin Aztex. Yes, pro soccer has arrived in Austin and it is here for everyone to enjoy. I'm looking forward to continuing to have dialogue with all the youth clubs as we work together to grow the beautiful game in our community.

Finally, Aztex Soccer Camps begin this Holiday season. Our first camp will run December 22, 23, 24 out at the WAYA fields off Cesar Chavez near Town Lake, while the second camp will run December 29, 30, 31 out at The Quarries of Hyde Park Baptist Church off the Mopac turnaround just north of Braker Lane. Both camps will run from 8:30-Noon and all campers will receive first-class instruction from professional Aztex players and camp staff, a soccer ball, camp t-shirt, and stadium scarf.

Ron Dennie

New website, new partnership, and Tony Pulis

Hello everyone!

Just wanted to give you all a quick update about what's been going on in the Aztex offices. As many of you have noticed, we updated our web site yesterday. We're all very pleased with the new look. This will allow us to keep a much tidier website and hopefully it will be much easier for you to navigate. We're still tweaking it so bear with us and check back often for updates and the latest information on the Aztex!

Speaking of latest information, yesterday, in conjunction with our website relaunch, we announced our new partnership with Rayados from Club de Futbol Monterrey. This partnership will be very similar to our relationship with Stoke City in that we will serve as a feeder club for Monterrey. In addition, both teams will share players, best practices, as well as play exhibition games.

And speaking of Stoke, hope everyone had a chance to see Stoke City Manager Tony Pulis last night on Fox Football Fone-In on Fox Soccer Channel. Pulis, who pulled a latenighter (1 am UK time), was interviewed by the two show hosts and actually answered viewer questions for more than a half hour on the show. It was a great interview. We are currently trying to get a copy of the interview to post on our web site.

Kyle Dalton

Hope everyone had a happy and peaceful Thanksgiving - we had Head Coach Adrian Heath and his family at our house for lunch. It's a holiday we wholeheartedly embrace - we all have something to give thanks for and it's great to spend time with family and friends.

We also wanted to wish two of our Aztex players from this season, Andy Taylor and Chris Spendlove the very best of luck tomorrow in the NAIA Championships in Fresno, California. Go OCU!! One of the interns at the Aztex office, Jordan Hills, has been updating the website each week with news of this season's players - we love hearing how well they are doing.

We have also been active in the community, making appearances at soccer and golf tournaments, and going out to schools and youth clubs. I'm very proud of the way the players have responded to requests to be available, although the free lunch at County Line for one event didn't hurt!

We are currently seeking entries for our mascot design competition so if you have any youngsters that are interested in participating, let me know.

Look for lots more entries, the whole back office team will be blogging soon!

Kay

USL League Meeting

The Aztex Front Office team have just returned from a long weekend trip to Tampa for the USL annual meeting. The meeting was very successful and gave us all a chance to connect with fellow USL colleagues and to forge new relationships. I am always pleasantly surprised by the amount of genuine cooperation that goes on between "competing teams" off the field, where people are only too happy to offer advice and tips.

The climax of the weekend is always the compilation of the new season's schedule. It took several hours to complete but I am delighted to say that we have a schedule that I am sure all our fans will be pleased with. We cannot publish the schedule just yet but should have permission from the League to release all the details in the next couple of weeks. What I can tell you is that we kick-off the new season at home and will feature on Fox Soccer Channel a minimum of 4 times during the summer! Full details as soon as we have permission to publish them will be found on our website.

Talking of websites, expect to see a new "all-singing, all-dancing" Aztex website unveiled in the coming weeks. We have taken the time to incorporate our new logo/badge and update a few things. We hope you like it.

Finally, we hope to announce our new home for 2009 after the Thanksgiving holidays and to have Season Tickets on sale before Christmas.....they will make a great Christmas present for someone you love : )

Phil

4 out of 6

This week has been a great week in so many ways. Just eight days ago I was in Stoke to watch them win the point they needed to move up to the Premier League. It has been 23 years since Stoke last played at the top level of English football. It's been a long wait but on Sunday it was all worth waiting for!!!

The celebrations went on well into the night and I was starting to regret the fact we had booked an early morning flight home the next day. However, we needed to come home, as there was lots to do if we were to be ready for the Aztex home opening game on Saturday. Once back in Austin the week was pretty much a blur, concession vendors came and went, programs needed printing, tickets needed collating and distributing, volunteers needed contacting but somehow it all came together on Saturday evening against the Leones.

It's early but not too early to put ourselves through a self-analytical report card, feedback and reflection are an important part of improvement. I have to say that right now I would give us 4 out of 6 as an organization both on and off the field.

4 out of 6 reflects our current points total, with a win and a tie in our first two games, we are top of the Division and must be pleased with how we have started our first campaign. The players and coaches have done a great job, settling into a new team isn't easy and they have performed well. Yet they know and feel there is more to come. The roster is starting to gel, the teamwork is beginning to flow, the understanding is starting to develop. As the College year wraps up we are still waiting on a couple of players to join us. All of this bodes well for the future.....there is more to come!

We had a successful first home game on Saturday and were delighted to see a crowd of almost 1,500 enjoy the game. Most of our planning and hard work paid off but there is still much more we can do to improve our performance off the field. We have received lots of compliments and we really appreciate them and also some constructive feedback. Behind the scenes we know we have lots more we can improve on. So, off the field, while we don't have a points total to rely on to give us feedback, 4 out of 6 feels about right.

Thanks to all of you who came out to support us, spread the word, tell your friends and bring them out to our game next Saturday. It promises to be another exciting game against local rivals from Dallas. Come out to Dragon Stadium, support your Austin Aztex and make some noise!!!

Coaching Team

It feels really good this week to have announced both our Head Coach and U 23 Coach. I am delighted we have been able to secure the services of two such experienced and capable guys as Adrian and Wolfgang. My goal from the outset has been to put together a coaching team that complemented each other and give the Aztex diverse expertise and reach. I think we have more than accomplished this with our two recruits.

Adrian has a first-class playing background in Europe and deep experience in coaching in both the English Premiership & Championship. He also has a network of contacts in both the UK and in Europe which will be invaluable to us as we further develop our links with European clubs. He has a great eye for a player and a record of developing young players, both of which will be important to us in the first few years. The one area he will need most help is in building his knowledge of US soccer. But Adrian is an avid student of the game and will have time over the next 12 months to learn the strengths of the US game and develop his own network of contacts.

To assist Adrian in both these areas we now have Wolfgang on the coaching team. He is a Coach that needs no introduction to most soccer people either in Austin or nationally. He has a tremendous track record across all age levels, right up to the National Team. It goes without saying that Wolfgang also brings the ultimate soccer Rolodex with him - his contacts and knowledge of the game will be invaluable to Adrian.

The U 23 tryouts look like being extremely busy! We have players registered from as far afield as Africa and Europe and expect a really high quality turn out.

Along side our coaching appointments I have been working around the clock on securing a stadium for us. I have now reviewed and met with organizations representing more than 16 stadium alternatives. Many of the options are not available in '08 due to scheduling conflicts, field reconstruction or policy issues but I am determined to find us the very best option. That means a stadium we can call home for the whole season, that has a good location and is the right size for us to create a good atmosphere. We have a couple of great options and I am confident that in the next few days/week we will have good news to share. I am sure we won't please everyone but then again who can?

Finally, thanks for all your continuing encouragement and support, our fan club now stands at over 100, the Founders Club is over 25% taken and I continue to get dozens of emails and positive feedback from y'all.

Phil

Busy Times

Since the launch of the Aztex in late January times have been busy in the Rawlins household!

The response to our announcement bringing professional soccer to Austin has been phenomenal. We have been deluged with emails of support, offers of help, job applications etc, etc. And I am extremely grateful for all the support we have received.

Aside from answering everyones emails the big jobs on the agenda have been to secure a stadium, hire our coaching team and secure a couple of major sponsors. I will share more on the stadium and sponsorship fronts in the next few days, for today I would like to focus on the coaching team.

When we launched I had a view that we could utilize the Head Coach in 2008 as the Coach of the U23 team and said as much. However, after interviewing candidates and listening to experienced people around me I decided we should modify the plan and appoint BOTH a Head Coach and a dedicated U23 coaching team.

So, on Thursday of this week we will announce the first ever Austin Aztex Head Coach. I am over the moon about his appointment, I think it will be obvious that we have attracted a very well qualified and talented guy to lead us on the field. His experience and contacts will be invaluable to us, as will his infectious enthusiasm for the game. He has great eye for spotting talent and for developing young players.

His first and major task in '08 will be to scout and recruit the players we need for our '09 roster. Freeing him up to do that is one of the primary reasons we have also appointed a dedicated U23 coaching team. The U23 Coach has years of experience locally and has had a hand in developing most of the talented young players that have graduated from our City over the past ten years. We expect to announce the U23 Coach and his support team early next week.

I believe both announcements will send a message both nationally and locally that the Aztex have arrived and that we mean business!! I hope you will be as excited as I am about their appointments and join me in welcoming them to the Aztex team.

Phil