GM blog: Wrapping up 2018 and more

INDIANAPOLIS — With the winter tryout session now officially behind the club, Old Bhoys HQ has taken a week to reflect on a wild year. The year was loaded with change and tested the ability of our volunteer staff to adapt, improvise and overcome. While the club’s first league victory eluded us, I can honestly say that the field product was a success. From starting 2018 as a little more than a conceptual side to a competitive squad, holding our own in arguably the most complete and deep conference in all of the UPSL, point totals in league play don’t tell the entire story. We’ll dig into the field performance a bit later.

From the front-office perspective, 2018 was…eye opening. As touched on previously in this space, forecasting the Old Bhoys budget in 2018 was not terribly inaccurate. What was terribly inaccurate was revenue forecasting. Soccer is not a profit generator — or at least in terms of how Old Bhoys Soccer Club views the world. It’s a loss maker, from a dollars and cents point of view. That said, keeping the loss “digestible” year after year and allowing this club to sustain growth and provide more to the community are absolutely necessary. There are a few exceptions of solid business, solid club in the lower levels of U.S. soccer. The main focus at Old Bhoys is to perform (financially) well enough to be: 1) relevant, 2) around the following season. This will allow the club to continue to support growth of the amateur side of the game beyond youth club, high school, or collegiate ball.

Personally, I’m committed. I badly want this to work, and I badly want this level of soccer to continue to grow and strengthen relationships with their communities. It’s important. It’s communal. It’s why most of us love sport — not to root against anyone’s team — but to build a camaraderie around a club/team/sporting event with others and cheer for something. Sport can bind us…look around you at the Indy Eleven home opener…or ours. My oldest son put it this way: Soccer is great because it allows me to connect with so many different kinds of people, and who doesn’t get better because of it? So, with that long-winded intro, here comes a quick update on how December closed out, as well as some other items in the Old Bhoys HQ 2018-in-review.

Dec. 17 marked the club’s winter tryouts. A very successful evening saw some high-quality soccer and an increase from the club’s 2017-18 winter efforts in terms of player quality and interest. Work continues to develop and build the roster, which will combine post-collegiate/high school players with current collegiate athletes as the club pursues cup and league play in 2019. There will be plenty of familiar Old Bhoys from 2018, as well as new faces coming into the fold. Lots to look forward to in 2019 on the pitch.

The same day, Old Bhoys Soccer Club came to terms with their first partner for 2019. As announced on the club’s website, Indiana State Referee Association and Old Bhoys Soccer Club will work together to promote the amateur game, and develop a platform to develop the player and the referee. On behalf of the club, I’m extremely excited for this partnership.

Additional sponsors/partners will be announced on the website as this develops. The need presently is to secure our primary kit sponsor as well as a couple of others to fully incorporate on our kit and to support the operational forecast for the club. It’s the least glamorous part of lower-league soccer, but it’s also crucial as we aim to strengthen the local businesses and organizations that support Indianapolis and Indiana. If you want your company logo on our gear, or believe in what we’re trying to accomplish at Old Bhoys, drop us a line. We’d love to be able to give back in a relevant and meaningful way that raises interest in your organization as it does ours.

Now let’s look back at some of the Old Bhoys best of 2018:

• March 31: Old Bhoys travelled to Joliet United Soccer Club for the squad’s first-ever friendly.
• April 14: DeKalb County United hosted Old Bhoys in their first-ever friendly match.
• April 25: Old Bhoys played host to FC Indiana in an interleague friendly. During the preseason, this match led to the first win for Old Bhoys and provided a great atmosphere on a Wednesday night at Cardinal Ritter Stadium.
• May 5: Old Bhoys hosted Carpathia FC in the first-ever UPSL league match in Indiana. Although the visitors claimed a 2-0 victory, your Bhoys competed and learned how tough the East Division was going to be.
• May 26: In the return leg with Oakland County FC, a valiant comeback attempt was cut out late in the match, as OCFC secured two goals late to win 5-3 in a thrilling match at Cardinal Ritter Stadium. With the Speedway sounds serving as a backdrop and a thunderstorm delaying the match about 40 minutes, this was a crazy way to complete the May portion of the schedule.
• June 23: Partnering with ISC Sports Network, the Old Bhoys closed out their home season with a 2-2 draw against Ann Arbor FC. This was the first point ever earned in Old Bhoys history, and was sealed on a stoppage-time equalizer, no less. The final league match in June and the final home match of the season ended in absolute nutty fashion — what else would we expect!?
• July 21: In the final match of the season, the Old Bhoys travelled with only 11 players to take on Muskegon Risers SC. Weather delayed kickoff 30 minutes, but through the rain and slop, the Old Bhoys mustered the first away result of the season, a 0-0 draw in front of some raucous supporters. This match proved that we grew as a club, and grew closer together as a squad. It set up tremendous potential for what could be in 2019.
• July 24: We officially became Old Bhoys Soccer Club. Taking the club on an independent path allows for the core values of the club and leadership team to be fully implemented.
• Oct. 1: Our new crest design by Logan Wiening was unveiled.  

There were more 2018 highlights, including partnering with Soc Takes to provide a platform for a “behind-the-scenes” look at what makes Old Bhoys tick. Ultimately though, those specific highlights/dates helped fuel the fire for continuing to put time, energy and money into making this club a reality. Here’s to an even better 2019, sustainability and increased support for this humble club. We welcome anyone willing to help grow this and double the list of highlights for next year. COYOB!

Follow Andy on Twitter: @Andy_H_1980.

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