No, I'm not talking about the Lights' announcement of seven new players. We'll get to that later.
I'm talking about the picture that the team posed of the players at practice, where we got to see a sneak of what I hope is the jersey for the upcoming season.
***UPDATE: Apparently the Lights confirmed that these are only the training kits. To that all I have to say is: that means we have better training jerseys than most teams have game jerseys.
That is what I was hoping for in a jersey.
First, we have a color that is not the standard red, black, or blue that seems so prevalent in U.S. soccer circles. How many teams play in yellow? That alone will make us stand out. And not just yellow, but a yellow-and-teal combo. I can't think of very many teams in world soccer that play with that combination. And with "Lights" as the moniker, it really fits.
Second, we have shorts that are a different color than our shirts. It seems like the modern trend is to make them all the same color. I watch Real Salt Lake on occasion in MLS, and they have seem to be going away from the red shirt-blue shorts combo to an all-red uniform. I think that is boring. It's a team uniform, it's supposed to be colorful and different. So don't waste time on matching.
Finally, maybe it's the Arsenal fan in me, or the fact that I grew up watching baseball and wearing those three-quarter baseball shirts, but I always love the colored sleeves design.
I have to imagine that these aren't just training tops, but are the real deal replica jerseys. (If they are just training tops, the real jerseys are going to have to be something special to top it).
I guess we should talk about the new players too. Here's the list of new players:
- Zak Drake – Defender – 26 years old
- Cristian Gonzalez – Midfielder – 20 years old
- Jorge Guillen-Torres – Defender – 23 years old
- Oscar Hernandez – Midfielder – 21 years old
- Juan Herrera-Perla – Defender – 23 years old
- Alex Mendoza – Midfielder – 27 years old
- Andres Muñiz – Forward – 22 years old
Now, I'm not going to sit here and pretend that I knew a single thing about any of these guys before they announced them. But I did a little research, and it seems like they are all solid enough for the level that we are. A few of them have a couple of professional minutes under their belt, some (like Mendoza and Muniz) down in Mexico, another (Drake) tried his hand in Europe for a bit. Most of those "professional minutes" actually came in the academy and reserve level in those league, but hey. USL is a different level - it's perfectly reasonable that someone who couldn't quite break into a Liga MX club could be a solid performer in the USL.
The thing that stands out most to me among these players is their age. Five of the seven new signees are under 24 years old. And of the last group of "Las Vegas" signees, three of the five were under 24. And so far, noone is under 30. That means the average age of the squad so far is only 23.
I don't know how that stacks up to the average age profile of USL teams (I would guess it is pretty young with all of the MLS affiliate clubs), but it's good to see that the Lights are looking to invest in youth. At this level of the soccer pyramid, the smart move is to give opportunities to young, hungry (and relatively inexpensive) players and see who can make the step up. I'm looking forward to seeing who in this group can do just that.
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