The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is proud to announce that an expansion team located in Kalamazoo, Michigan will begin play in 2016.
“Michigan has become a huge market for the NPSL over the years,” NPSL Chairman Joe Barone commented. “Our Michigan teams have become known for their great rivalries, passionate supporters, and talented players. We are very excited to add Kalamazoo to the mix, making this soccer hotbed even more exciting.”
The team will be led by Mike Garrett, founder of SoccerZone and owner of Back of the Net Sports. Garrett is also an owner and board member for Let’s Play Sports, a company that owns and operates 25 indoor soccer facilities across the country. He focuses on company expansion and finance in his role with Let’s Play.
Garrett turned professional at age 20 with Memphis in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). He also became a player-coach in the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and had an opportunity to play professionally in Germany. He has been very active in coaching youth players in the Kalamazoo area with a focus on player development.
SoccerZone and Back of the Net Sports are very established soccer organizations that serve the area. SoccerZone is a four-field indoor soccer complex that hosts over 10,000 people a week during the peak season. Back of the Net Sports is a full service soccer retailer located in SoccerZone and provides soccer equipment, apparel, uniforms as well as soccer training to area players.
“Our goal and mission is to establish a sustainable soccer program to serve our area’s players and soccer fans,” Garrett added. “We are very excited about this project and have been working behind the scenes for quite some time to get to this point.”
The team’s home venue, additional team founders, coaching and technical staff, and name will be announced at a later date. The name will be determined by a “Name the Team” contest.
“We are developing a group of people in this project that have a passion for soccer and our community,” Garrett concluded. “It is our goal that we both engage the soccer community in key decisions like our team name and logo, but also we will look for their support and help in making this a success for the entire soccer community.”
