At the RP Funding Center on Tuesday, the Tropics, of the Major Arena Soccer League, unveiled new uniforms, new free agents, a new partnership with Capelli Sport and a new television deal.

By Ivan Lambert, Ledger correspondent

LAKELAND — There are bigger expectations for the Florida Tropics this season.

At the RP Funding Center on Tuesday, the Tropics, of the Major Arena Soccer League, unveiled new uniforms, new free agents, a new partnership with Capelli Sport and a new television deal.

The Tropics have signed several free agents and traded for MASL Rookie of the Year Zach Reget.

"There have been significant changes this season," Tropics coach Clay Roberts said. "Our owner, Dr. (Panagiotis) Iakovidis, has made a great investment. As we started training camp today, there was certainly a different energy. Our new players are already impacting the way we expected them to. We are excited for the opportunity to put this team on the field."

Defender Drew Ruggles comes from the defending MASL champion Milwaukee Wave.

"After long talks with Clay (Roberts) and hearing about the goals and vision of this team moving forward, I thought it was a good time for me to move forward in my career with a fresh start," he said.

Gordy Gurson had a great season for rival Orlando, but decided he would rather play in Lakeland.

"Clay told me at the beginning of the free agent signing period, this organization was going in a completely different direction," Gurson said. "I bought into his vision and feel I can be a major contributor. I am really excited to be a part of this. We have the players where training camp is going to be competitive every day. There will be no time for joking around."

In announcing the new partnership with Capelli Sport, several Tropics players modeled new uniforms, as did a couple of youth. The Tropics will begin wearing the Capelli Sport uniforms this season.

Additionally, in 2020, Capelli Sport will match the youth travel-team uniforms — further integrating the Tropics organization with its youth league.

The Tropics also will launch a television agreement with WFLA and its sister station, Great 38 WTTA. All 12 Tropics home games will be broadcast live on WTTA. Saturday games will be 5:05 p.m. starts, and Sunday afternoons 3:05 p.m. starts.

The Tropics will open their fourth season in the MASL on Nov. 22 at Orlando while opening their home schedule Dec. 14 against Orlando at the RP Funding Center.

For more information, including season ticket packages, visit fltropics.com, or call 863-240-0101.