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
Friday, December 12, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
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
Thursday, December 4, 2008
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
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
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
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
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
Friday, November 28, 2008
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
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
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
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
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
Sunday, May 11, 2008
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!!!
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!!!
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