It is in this state of constant anticipation that the allure of soccer becomes so real. It is in the build-up to a goal that the height of soccer excitement is experienced. Your team intercepts a pass or corrals an errant volley and begins a counter-attack. A crisp pass to a streaking forward brings the entire crowd to their feet. They stand and hold their collective breath as the ball hooks and bends off the striker’s foot, snaking past the goalkeeper and rippling the back of the net.

Euphoria.

And yet the goal itself is only a release, a denouement to the prose that takes place on the pitch. The real drama happens in the in-between moments, in the anticipation of the game-winning goal.

We, the Crocketteers, believe that our own euphoric moment is coming. We believe that San Antonio will soon have a world-class soccer team to call it’s own. And as lovers of both the “beautiful game” and San Antonio, we are dedicated to doing our part to bring that team home. We wait then, appropriately, in anticipation of that day. We wait on area soccer fields. We wait around televisions in area pubs. Hundreds of us, Crocketteers… Our numbers are growing every day, a virtual army of supporters just waiting for a team to stand behind.

And we wait imagining that day when our anticipation is realized, when the game of Pele and Ronaldo and Beckham and Maradona finds itself home in San Antonio. That day will come and our anticipation will find itself transformed into absolute euphoria. And we’ll say we were there at the very beginning. We’ll remember when we, San Antonio’s premier soccer supporter’s group, stood in anticipation.

So the question is…

Will you stand with us?

On March 5, 1836, standing inside the Alamo, Colonel William B. Travis drew a line in the sand asking all his men if they were willing to die for the cause. Each and every man but one chose to stand and fight. While the facts surrounding the siege of the Alamo continue to be analyzed and debated, there is no doubt about what the battle came to symbolize – a heroic struggle against overwhelming odds — a place where men made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. For this reason the Alamo remains hallowed ground and the Shrine of Texas Liberty. The words “Remember the Alamo” are still spoken today.

174 years ago has passed on by and today, we as soccer fans in San Antonio face a different challenge; a challenge to bring and support a professional soccer team which is only as strong as the group that supports them. Therefore, as members of the Crocketteers I ask you to take the next step; join me as a member of the Travis 250.

This exclusive group will be the charter members of the Crocketteers who will represent the nearly 250 people who died during the “thirteen days of glory” back in 1836. As a member of the Travis 250 you will forever be a part of the original Crocketteers. No additional members will be added beyond the first 250.

For only $25 you can become a part of the Travis 250 and will receive a Crocketteers scarf, a membership card denoting you as a member of the Travis 250, along with other privileges in the future such as advanced ticket pre-sales, “meet and greets” with team players and staff, discounts on merchandise, etc. (contingent on team commitments and obligations to be determined upon securing of a franchise).

But most importantly you will be one of the original 250 who paved the way for professional soccer to come to San Antonio. The Alamo defenders remind us why people fight for a cause.

It’s time for San Antonio soccer fans to take up this cause to bring and support a pro soccer team. The line in the sand has been drawn. Will you stand with me?

REMEMBER THE ALAMO…. VICTORY OR DEATH.

Membership in the TRAVIS 250 is $25. Limited to the first 250 members. Renewals are $10/year. Renewals will begin upon the official announcement of a professional soccer team being allocated to the San Antonio metro area. Travis 250 members not wishing to renew at the $10 rate retain their status in the TRAVIS 250 as inactive members minus membership privileges. Limit 1 Travis 250 Membership per individual. If you purchase more than 1 membership, please provide names of each distinct individual.

Its time for our monthly meeting again! We will be meeting at the Lion & Rose British Restaurant & Pub on Sunday February 21, at 7:00 PM.  We will be using the Dungeon room again, and will be discussing a variety of things. Please bring friends who are interested in becoming part of the Supporters Group.

It would be appreciated if you would RSVP to the event with Facebook by clicking here.

Lion and Rose British Restaurant & Pub

842 NW Loop 410 (Park North Shopping Center),
San Antonio, TX 78216
Maps & Directions from MapQuest

I also ordered our jerseys last week at Soccer World Plus (http://www.soccerworldtx.com). Thanks to our lead sponsor (shown) Northwestern Mutual Financial Network and our supporting sponsor Spitfire Auto Electric for providing us with these great looking jerseys.

Original Post:

Are you interested in playing organized soccer with the Crocketteers?

The Crocketteers are planning to field a team in the upcoming Fall 2009 season of the San Antonio Soccer Association.

Details: We are hoping to have 16-18 players (or more).  Games are typically played Sunday mornings (9 or 11 am). Our team will play 10 games. Once we solidfy our team, we can make a team decision on what divison we should play in. So far the majority of interested people have been male and we have one female inquiry. I will call SASA to see if they allow 1 or 2 girls in the Men’s team or how many females are needed to qualify for Co-Ed. The season starts August 30, 2009.

Cost: To field a team it will cost us $750.00 plus $45.00 a game for referree fees ($45.00 x 10 = $450.00). In addition to that, our team must give a $200 refundable team bond. We will get the $200 refunded to us granted we are not involved in fighting incidents. That totals to $1400 to field a team. 

If we have 16 players, each player will have to bring to the table $88.00 ($12.50 refundable at end of season). If we have 18 players, each player pays $78.00 ($11.00 refundable at end of season).  When taking into account the refund and with 18 players, in reality the player fees are $67.00. If we choose to play the following Spring season and if we are all in agreement, we can apply the refunded money back toward the following season.

I’ve spoken to a few people about the cost. We want to explore getting sponsored to help cover some costs. Maybe putting company logos on the uniform. One person is going to ask his employer about doing such a thing. I think its a great idea and the team can explore this.

Practices: Once we get a significant amount of interest, we can think about getting together to practice. I have a pair of good size pop up goals for our use. I also have some venues in mind where we can practice.

Uniforms: TBD. I would like for us to have some decent uniforms but at the same time affordable. I know on ebay we can get pro style replicas (jersey and shorts) shipped at about  $23.00 per player. This includes custom name/numbering. Example: Chelsea replica . Again let’s explore getting sponsored to help cover costs.

If you want to be a part of our team, please e-mail me at michael.macias@crocketteers.com with your information (full name, phone number). If you haven’t already, please Join the Crocketteers Supporters Group.

If you want to discuss anything concerning our team, you can do so on our facebook group page, bigsoccer forum, or simply comment on this post.

You have joined the group at an early time in our existence. Our website is just about 3 months old and we started out as 6 friends. It was at the Lion and Rose at Park North that we decided to put the group together. We all felt the same passion for the game of soccer and we all agreed how great it would be if we could see and support a professional soccer team locally. After seeing the immediate success in Seattle (in an NFL stadium too), realizing we are the 7th largest US city, and knowing what a great urban atmosphere downtown San Antonio offers, we knew in our minds there was no question that San Antonio could support a Major League Soccer franchise. Today we are roughly over  80  95 people in total (combination of unique people on facebook or directly signed up on Crocketteers.com).

With that said, we are fully aware that the USL is looking at the San Antonio market for another team in their first division. Although we strive to bring the highest brand of professional soccer to San Antonio, we agree that we, the Crocketteers, will also support a USL-1 franchise making an immediate rival with our friends to the North, the Austin Aztex.  A few weeks ago 11 of us joined Chantico’s Army (Supporters Group of the Aztex) in watching the World Cup Qualifying match between the United States and Costa Rica and later in the week watching the Aztex host the Charlestion Battery.

For a nice recap of our time in Austin, please read “Big Night for the Crocketteers!” by Sergio Macias and Sam’s “My First Live Soccer Game”. We were fortunate to hang out with Chantico’s Army after the game and meet the owner of the Aztex, Phil Rawlins, and their manager, former Everton star, Adrian Heath. Subsequently, the Crocketteers received a friendly e-mail from Kay Rawlins, Head of Client and Community Services, recognizing our efforts in attending their match. She has invited us to attend the Copa Aztex July 18th at the University of Texas in Austin. Cruz Azul and Tigres will be playing a match that day along with other soccer related activities on the grounds of UT. I invite you all to join us in another road trip up I-35 and see some top-notch futbol action.

Again I want to thank all of you for joining our group within the last week. I got a chance to speak to a few  of you briefly and I know some of you plan to encourage your friends to join our group. I want to reiterate that nothing is required of you as a member of the Crocketteers. When we do get a team to support, then we can make simple requirements to maintain membership but nothing too significant. For those of you who want to contribute more, feel free to ask how you can help. We are always open to new bloggers for the website. With that said, I hope you all can at least spread the word about the Crocketteers and help drive our membership numbers up. One member, James Hope, had the great idea of getting business cards made for the group to hand out at soccer events, get togethers, etc…

Lastly, we will plan to have a meeting for anyone who would like to help come up with various ideas and strategies to discuss making the Crocketteers a real success and taking the group to a new level.

Again, Welcome to the Crocketteers!

Single Flier (jpeg)

Double Flier (pdf)

We have created a thread in our forum for you to submit ideas, and discuss the submitted ideas.  We would just ask that you remember that we are all sharing a goal, so don’t attack other Crocketteers (anyone else is free game).  Arguing about the merits is one thing, but saying an idea is just stupid isn’t acceptable.  We would also like to try and find people willing to put some of these ideas into motion, as the work required to bring our dreams to fruition is beyond what any handful of individuals can do.

“Let’s find inspiration in a bunch of SoBs.”

Over two and half years ago, a group of guys came together to form Philadelphia’s Official Soccer Supporters Group, The Sons of Ben (SoB). They officially formed on Benjamin Franklin’s birthday, January 17th of 2007.

The Sons of Ben began during a flurry of rumors regarding Major League Soccer’s negotiations with investors regarding a team located in the Philadelphia region. – Wikipedia

Funny… We, in San Antonio, as of late have been reading about similar rumors, albeit for the USL.  A little over 13 months after the founding of The Sons of Ben, the city of Philadelphia was awarded the 16th team in Major League Soccer.

They started out as 6 individuals and two and half years later, they are over 4,000 strong.

With the announcement of Philadelphia’s team name, crest, and colors arriving yesterday, I raise my glass to a bunch of SoBs for showing the way for a soccer supporters group to reach success, even if it is still a year away before the Philadelphia Union take the pitch.

Let’s look to the SoBs for inspiration my fellow Crocketteers. With dedication and some patience, we too will have our day in the sun.

If you are in the San Antonio area or if you are tied in any way to San Antonio and have a little passion for the sport of soccer, we encourage you to Join San Antonio’s Premier Soccer Supporters Group. Like The Sons of Ben, membership is free.

Relevant links:

http://www.sonsofben.com/

SoB Facebook Group

http://www.philadelphiaunion.com/

We officially have a forum thanks to BigSoccer. We chose to take advantage of BigSoccer’s offer to host our forum for multiple reasons. One of those was the added traffic that BigSoccer could bring to us.

In addition to being a medium for our members to interact with each other online,  we hope our forum on BigSoccer will allow us to recruit more people.

So please use this forum to discuss anything soccer (San Antonio related or not) as well as ideas and suggestions for the group.

From our site, you can access the forum by clicking the ‘Forum’ link on the navigation bar (up top). To post on the forum, please register through BigSoccer at http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/register.php.

Thanks.

San Antonio Back In Expansion Race?

As one of Texas’ Major League Soccer teams struggles to remain viable in the face of poor results on the field and even worse ones in the stands, another city in the Lone Star State could be stepping back into the debate on future MLS expansion. San Antonio, the city that flirted with landing a team of their own back in 2005, could again be throwing their name back into the ring, depending on the outcome of the upcoming mayoral election…

…San Antonio has several things going for it that could make it a good fit for an expansion franchise, in my opinion. The estimated 2007 population is 1,328,984, making it the seventh-largest city in America, just behind Philadelphia, a city who was granted an expansion team for the 2010 season.

MLS Expansion Candidate: San Antonio

As long as the ownership group is solid, and the team and city can come to an agreement on getting a SSS built as soon as possible, San Antonio has all the making of a fantastic MLS market…

… Match Fit USA hereby bestows upon the City of San Antonio the rating of five “MFUSAs” (that’s pronounced “ma-fu-sa”) as a potential MLS market.

Would, Could, Should MLS go to San Antonio?

As a former resident and frequent visitor to the Alamo City, I have to say I find the idea appealing to say the least. For all the reasons TJ and Jason cite, San Antonio would be an ideal market…

…It’s (San Antonio) a wonderful place to be. I would love for the place to have an MLS franchise, because its size, Hispanic identity and geographic location make it ideal. So, you go SA. Get that team.

MLS To San Antonio: Version 2.0?

This news is big to me since I was born and raised in San Antonio and I know first hand about the politics that goes around in the city. So it took me a while to think about this and I feel that San Antonio is more suited for USL-1 at this moment instead of MLS due to these factors…

…Besides, USL-1 need new teams to replace Portland & Vancouver in 2011 and San Antonio would be perfect for Texas to have 2 MLS teams & 2 USL-1.

And I for one as a member of Chantico’s Army, the Austin Aztex supporters group, would love to have The Crocketteers on the pro soccer bandwagon rather if it’s MLS or USL-1.

“I like to ask each of you what it is you value so highly, that you are willing to fight and possibly die for? We will call that Texas…

…If, however, we force the enemy to attack, I believe everyone of you will prove himself worth ten in return.

We will not only show the world what patriots are made of, but we will also deal a crippling blow to the Army of Santa Anna.

If anyone wishes to depart, under the white flag of surrender, you may do so now. You have that right. But if you wish to stay here… with me… in The Alamo, we will sell our lives dearly.” – William Travis (as portrayed in The Alamo, 2004)

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