Tampa, Fla. - The Premier Development League (PDL) has announced their conference and division alignments for the 2018 season. The Dayton Dutch Lions FC will be competing for a third straight year in the very competitive Great Lakes Division.
General Manager Ric Campbell shared, "Nothing new for us regarding our placement, but we were surprised to hear that K-W United would not be participating this year. This was a very late development, but it does improve our chances to qualify for the playoffs as K-W and the Michigan Bucks have had a strangle hold on the two playoff spots the past 5 years."
"I look forward to a great upcoming season. Coach Griest has been in contact with over 80 potential players, as well as talking with assistant coach candidates. The front office has been meeting with potential sponsors and partners to improve our game day experience. 2018 will be our best season."
The Great Lakes Division will have six teams just like last year with the Bucks, Cincinnati Dutch Lions, Derby City Rovers, West Virginia Chaos and Lansing United from the NPSL joining the DDL FC. Each team will play a fourteen game schedule next summer with 7 home and away matches. The schedule will be announced in early February, 2018.
New Head Coach Dan Griest is excited to lead the squad. He is currently working on completing his coaching staff and filling the roster. Coaching and player announcements will be announced soon as well as our winter players tryout.
The Lions will be playing for a 4th season in the PDL and looking for their first playoff run.
The 2017 PDL regular season had 72 teams compete in four conferences across the United States and Canada. The Charlotte Eagles won their first PDL title in August, defeating the Thunder Bay Chill, 2-1, in Matthews, North Carolina.
For 23 years, the PDL has served as a major development platform for players in North America. More than 550 PDL alums took part in the 2017 Major League Soccer and United Soccer League regular seasons. Among the PDL alumni include 2017 MLS Defender of the Year Ike Opara, 2017 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Tim Melia and U.S. Men’s National Team members Brad Guzan, Sacha Kljestan and Darlington Nagbe.
The proven path to pro in North American soccer, the PDL is an important stepping-stone for top professionals now playing throughout the world. Nearly 70 percent of all MLS draftees since 2010 have PDL experience, and nearly 300 former PDL players competed during the 2016 USL season. Dayton Dutch Lions goalkeeper and 2015 alumni, Stefan Cleveland, is in that group as he was drafted by the Chicago Fire in the 2017 draft.
The 2017 Premier Development League Winter Summit will conclude today. More than 120 franchise executives having attended meetings on ticket sales, video and streaming production, digital sponsorship best practices, game day activation and much more over the past three days.
Dayton Dutch Lions season tickets will be made available next week.
For more information, please contact General Manager, Ric Campbell at 937-530-2123 or r.campbell@ddlfc.com .