USL Focus Part IV: Real Maryland looks to move past growing pains

By: Charles Boehm, Potomac Soccer Wire Sr. Staff Writer

Real Maryland F.C. kicked off its inaugural season in the United Soccer Leagues with ample optimism and excitement last spring. Keen to tap into the multicultural soccer communities of the Washington, D.C. suburbs, club owners Victor Moran and Thaddeus Tatem had assembled a talent-laden roster and worked to craft a family-friendly game day atmosphere in the cozy confines of the Maryland Soccerplex in Germantown. Early on, there was plenty to smile about as the Monarchs found themselves in possession of a respectable 3-3 record after the first month of play.

But the new club’s high hopes would be dashed by the same school of hard knocks that has traditionally bedeviled expansion teams of all shapes, sizes and sports. USL-2 competition proved far more cutthroat than expected and a seven-game losing streak saw Real plummet down the standings – the squad would fail to win another game all year en route to a 3-15-2 record – and their crowds at the Soccerplex dwindled accordingly.

“We started with a lot of passion and started very strong, and as we went through the season we realized that we had made a number of mistakes,” said Moran in an exclusive interview with Potomac Soccer Wire this week. “You’ve got to call them something: why not call them mistakes? Your first year, obviously you are eager to win games and provide growth for the fan base and so forth. But quickly we realized that the composition of USL-2 had changed in the last few years…We had hired players and had good expectations, but they did not grow as we expected.”

Meanwhile, the business side of the club produced one trying challenge after another. Many fans from the inner suburbs were turned off by the Soccerplex’s remote location, wicked summer thunderstorms wreaked havoc on the match schedule and a nationwide economic slump complicated the already-daunting task of making ends meet.

“Times are difficult for the sponsors,” noted Moran, “and also the location perhaps was not the best for the fan base to show up, because of the distance between what we believe is our fan base, especially Takoma Park, Silver Spring and perhaps some of Virginia. It was really too far for them to get up there to Germantown…Although it’s a great venue, it’s not realistic for some of our fans.”

Real coach Silvino Gonzalo built his diverse squad around two Salvadoran internationals at opposite ends of their careers: promising youngster Dennis Alas and grizzled striker Ronald Cerritos, a longtime veteran of Major League Soccer. But once again, after a promising start the duo fell on hard times and neither they, nor their coach, would finish the season in Real colors. Alas returned to his homeland thanks to an escape clause in his contract triggered when his former club L.A. Firpo was relegated from El Salvador’s first division, Gonzalo was fired after an 8-0 loss to Charlotte on July 19 and Cerritos was released soon thereafter.

 “We had told Dennis Alas at the beginning when we signed him up, that it was going to be difficult for him to adjust to the soccer in the States – not only because it’s different, but because he had become an immigrant. He had left behind a pregnant wife, family, friends and a way of lifestyle. So I believe it was very, very difficult for him to adjust,” said Moran.

Once again, natural growing pains had been exacerbated by chronic underachievement.

“[Alas] played very, very well for the first three, four games and then like everybody else, he started going down,” continued Real’s owner, who could not resist a chuckle as he added, “We [were] looking towards him and Ronald Cerritos to carry the team, and what we found out was these two players basically were looking to the team to carry them.”

So clearly, 2008 offered up many examples of that most dreaded euphemism, the “learning experience,” for Real Maryland both on and off the field. But Moran and company have quickly rededicated themselves to their task, making sweeping changes designed to improve the team and reach out to their fans in equal measure next season. A new general manager, David Noyes, has been lured away from USL-1 side Carolina RailHawks and next year’s team will be led by young Englishman Anthony Hudson, who is stepping into his first pro head coaching job after serving as an assistant with the Wilmington Hammerheads last year.

The infusion of fresh blood is likely to continue with a revamped roster and playing style. Hudson, whose father Alan built a glittering career over nearly two decades with Chelsea, Stoke City and other top English sides, has already watched hours of game tape to explore the 2008 team’s shortcomings, and is eager to gather a more diverse assortment of players capable of handling the league’s physical demands.

“In the USL it’s a very physical league, it’s a very competitive league, a very direct league. If you don’t have the players who can compete in that type of game, it’s going to be very difficult,” said Hudson this week. “I felt we had too many players last year that were similar in that they weren’t those type of physical players. You need to get the balance, and I don’t think last year that they had that balance of the physical and the technical side.”

The 2009 Monarchs will also have a new stadium to call home. Real is leaving Germantown in favor of a more central location at Rockville’s Richard Montgomery High School, adjacent to Metro’s Red Line as well as the redeveloped Rockville Town Center. Noyes also hopes to increase attendance by incorporating lessons from the RailHawks and other successful USL sides like the Rochester Rhinos and Vancouver Whitecaps, focusing in particular on canny marketing and strong relationships within the local community.

“In Carolina we were averaging 5,000 [fans per game],” noted Real’s new GM. “It depends on how you focus your market. You want to continue off your original fan base, where we had a large Latino community that was following us. We’d like to build on that, and I’d also like to branch out to the [youth] soccer clubs, because they play soccer, they have dreams of being a professional one day…But then also just the people of the area. It’s an inexpensive form of entertainment, it’s convenient.”

A year older and wiser, Real Maryland still sees opportunity all around. But will challenging circumstances allow the club’s new brain trust to succeed in 2009?


NEXT WEEK: How do Moran, Noyes, Hudson and company carve out a niche for Real Maryland and build a winner, both on the field and in the community?

Editor's Note - enjoy all the stories in this series:
Thriving in the shadows: The survival, and success, of the United Soccer Leagues
USL Focus Part I: DC United exes find greener pastures in Vancouver
USL Focus Part II: Season of success cues bullish outlook
USL Focus Part III: MLS expansion leaves United Soccer Leagues wary
USL Focus Part IV: Real Maryland looks to move past growing pains
USL Focus Part V: Real Maryland hoping to find rhythm in year two
USL Focus Part VI: Super Y-League provides foundation for USL’s “pyramid”


Charles Boehm has covered D.C. United and the rest of the Washington-area soccer world for more than four years. A native of Dallas, Texas, Charlie made D.C. his home following a hard-working -- but hardly spectacular -- NCAA Division III college career and subsequent Peace Corps stint in the small, soccer-crazed, island nation of Grenada, where he also coached and played in the Grenadian Premier League (such as it is). He welcomes feedback at cboehm@potomacsoccerwire.com.