THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 6, 1996 TAG: 9604060426
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
The Hampton Roads Mariners will be one of two primary farm teams this season for Washington D.C. United, a member of the newly formed, 10-team Major League Soccer.
The Mariners, along with the Richmond Kickers, are part of a group of eight teams that will work with the United to develop talent. The Mariners and the Kickers are the only two teams among the eight that will play in the USISL's 22-team Select League this season.
The other six teams include the East Pro Division's Baltimore Bays and Reading Rage, the East Premier Division's Roanoke Riverdawgs and Nashville Metros, the Washington Mustangs of the South Atlantic Pro Division and the Lexington Bluegrass Bandits of the Central Premier Division.
The United will have the option of picking up a player from any of those eight designated teams at any time.
``The player will then have the option not to go,'' said Mariners general manager/head coach Shawn McDonald. ``But they'd be crazy not to go.''
While McDonald said United head coach Bruce Arena, a former University of Virginia head coach, has promised to work with the Mariners in sending them developmental players, that doesn't leave the Mariners exclusively locked into getting players only from United.
Other teams McDonald said he might expect to pick players up from include the New York/New Jersey MetroStars and the Columbus Crew.
``I feel we have a network in place through friends and associates throughout the league,'' McDonald said.
If an MLS team sends a player to the Mariners, the assigning MLS team will pay that player's contract while he's with the Mariners.
The setup resembles that of the Hampton Roads Admirals ECHL hockey team. The Admirals have working agreements with the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL, the Cleveland Lumberjacks of the IHL and the Portland Pirates of the AHL. Those teams can assign players to the Admirals and normally encourage players they release to attempt to play for the Admirals.
``We feel we could get as many as six or seven players who were in MLS training camps by the time we start putting our team together,'' McDonald said.
The Mariners already have two former players who were picked up in the 160-player MLS draft earlier this season: goalkeeper Garth Lagerway (15th round, D.C. United, since traded to Kansas City) and midfielder Brandon Ward (sixth round, Columbus Crew). by CNB