Barons Kick Off Season Tomorrow

This weekend, the South Jersey Barons men's soccer team will begin their quest for a national title in the country's largest Senior Men's league, the Premier Development League (PDL). The Barons are the only franchise in the South Jersey region, and they have signed many young local players to this years team.

Last season the Barons swapped their professional status in the USL Division 3 pro league for the nation’s biggest soccer league--the Premier Development League (PDL). This was no drop in standards--the PDL was home to 29 of the 45 players drafted in the 2004 Major League Soccer draft. The change from professional soccer to the highest level of amateur soccer meant that top local youngsters could now play for the Barons.

The PDL was born out of necessity. Top collegiate players and future pros needed elite clubs to play for outside of their college programs, hence the 20 game summer schedule the Barons have this season. This has come as good news for local youngsters like Ryan Heins, 19 of Marlton, who last year had a stellar freshman season for Temple University, starting every game this season for the Owls. Heins played for the 2003 Barons team and used the summer as a learning experience, which gave him the opportunity to play with experienced pros and New Jersey’s top collegiate prospects like Jeremiah White, who was drafted by the New England Revolution of the M.L.S.

“The level of soccer in the PDL was impressive, it helped me adapt from High School ball to the more physically and tactically demanding college game,” said Heins. “This season I hope I can contribute more goals than last year, it was quite a challenge getting playing time last year with so many good players on the roster, however after one season in the A-10 I feel more confident in my abilities.” Heins scored 4 goals in 5 starts last season for the Barons who were on the verge of a play off spot all season until eventual National Champions Cape Cod Crusaders grabbed the last spot during a tense last weekend of the regular season.

Another player to benefit from the Barons new league venture is Shawnee High School mid-fielder Jamie Franks. The U17 national pool player has impressed Barons Head Coach Dan Christian, “There is no doubting Jamie’s skills and pace, the thing that stands out about this kid is his maturity and knowledge of the game, he doesn’t look out of place playing against seasoned pros.”

Heins and Franks are not the only local talent to recognize the benefits of the Premier Development League. Chris Williams (Philadelphia University); Tony Donatelli, Joe Brocker, Matt Maher, and Patrick Hannigan (Temple); Ryan Carr (University of Hartford); David Daigel (Rowan); Tom Gannon (Seaton Hall); Travis Ross (Monmouth), Justin Saddler (Drexel); and Brian Devlin (Penn State)--all of whom live in South Jersey or Philadelphia--have signed for the Barons this season, making it the youngest Barons team ever.

The Barons will not be without the usual sprinkling of experienced players. Magic Agu is a naturally-gifted player, who is originally from Nigeria but is now living in Mount Laurel. He played on the Nigerian U18 national team that won the Junior World Cup in 1992, when he was 15. He is one of five foreign players allowed on the 26-man PDL squad, joined by Neil Holloway and John Thompson (England), who both work full-time for the Barons organization, and Leon Brown--a 2-time, All-American from Wheeling University.

Christian believes these more experienced players will help to gel together a group of players unfamiliar with each other. “You can see the difference just a few older, more seasoned players have on the practices and games, they know how to play the game and they steer the younger players in the right direction.”

Christian is gambling that the best local players can bring the Barons closer to the big time this season. After once reaching the national title game in 1999, and losing 2-1 to Western Massachusetts, the Barons have been trying to find the right formula. Perhaps Philadelphia and New Jersey’s finest can deliver the goods this time around.

Join the South Jersey Barons on Saturday, May 15th, when they play the Brooklyn Knights (kickoff is at 5:30pm), or on Sunday, May 16th, when they play the Albany Highlanders. Kickoff is at 5pm. Both games are on the Barons’ home field, at Winslow High School, off Route 73 in Atco. Admission is $5 for Adults; $3 for Children. You can join the team after the game at the Victory Lane Restaurant, 3 miles north of Winslow H.S. after the game, hopefully to celebrate a victory.

Coaches: If you would like a "Team Night" for your team at any of the Barons/Banshees games this season contact the office at (856) 753-7608 to set it up.

For more information about the South Jersey Barons, visit their website at www.sjbarons.com.

For more Local Sports features, visit our South Jersey Sports page.

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To see our extensive listing of South Jersey events, including sports events, local community events, programs at your local libraries, kids events, fairs and festivals, and much more, check out our Events Calendar here.

Have an event that you want listed in our events calendar? Add your event here.

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Author: Press Release