No Bay Area Team in 2009!

From two teams representing the Bay Area in the Southwest Division of the Premier Development League (USL 3rd division and National 4th division) in 2008, we may have none in 2009!

We already announced in August that the San Jose Frogs were folding. The San Francisco Seals have officially confirmed that they won't take part in the 2009 PDL season.

The good news is that none of the two teams are actually folding. Hartmut Esslinger (former Frogs' owner), who did not have any contact when he told us he would not keep the team "because of the lack of support from the community", finally found buyers for the franchise. The deal is about to be closed and the team could be back in PDL in 2010 (we are currently trying to reach the Frogs' management to confirm this information)

The Seals will continue to run 3 teams. There will be an amateurs Program with 2 teams (U21 and U23) in the NorCal League and a professional team that will only play exhibitions for one or two years before going back to a minor league which may be PDL.

Contacted this morning, Tom Simpson (the Seals' main owner, manager and coach) told us that {they} "are making practical and realistic adaptations to the Bay Area Marketplace. Besides the fact that the ticket sales covered less than 5% of the expenses in 2008, the current PDL format is not a good fit for college players who could not commit to the team and were focused on getting ready for the college season. Our new amateur program will be exclusively dedicated to their preparation to the college season, which makes much more sense." Simpson also told us about the new players representation business the Seals are starting. It is called SAA Pro Services and they already represent the Colombian international player, Frankie Oviedo.

The San Francisco Seals finished in the 4th position (out of 10) in the Southwest Division, and missed he playoffs for only 2 points. The San Jose Frogs finished in the 5th position, 3 points behind the Seals after winning the final game in San Francisco and, at the same time, killing the Seals' hopes to make the playoffs.
 

Real San Jose, playing in the Northwest Conference of the NPSL (National Premier Soccer League), ranked  at the same (4th) level as PDL in the American Soccer Pyramid, becomes de facto the second men's Bay Area team (after the San Jose Earthquakes)