The Wash is David Falk’s take on the world of soccer in The WA.

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by David Falk

Let’s get this out of the way first thing — this article is just conjecture, suggestion and opinion on my part. It is NOT an official document nor does it reflect any official position of the Evergreen Premier League. It’s just a guy who volunteers as Communications Director for the league thinking out loud about what might come next for the statewide adult men’s premier league.

I posted this poll on Tuesday:

The first season of the EPLWA is almost complete, and it seems to me that the feedback from players and fans has been very good. Now the clubs will check their bank accounts and soon enough the league will have feedback about costs as well.

One question going in was whether or not there was going to be enough talent in the state. My opinion after seeing every team play at least once is yes, there is plenty of talent. The league will only serve to make the pool larger.

An off-season question will be (as the poll reflects) what comes next?

Last August as clubs were being officially accepted in the EPLWA Graphic Designer Timothy Hamilton wrote a goalWA.net piece on what adult soccer could one day look like in Washington. In the opinion article Hamilton says:

“The EPLWA is an important first step, but it is only a first step if soccer, and the EPLWA, want to be successful in this state. The strength of Denmark’s football prowess comes not only from the Superligaen but the structure of the lower division. The EPLWA will struggle over time without lower divisions to support it. In the first place, having new teams promoted and poorly performing teams relegated will keep the league from getting stagnant and predictable. Not only that, but it will increase competition in the bottom half of the table as teams fight for their lives. Secondly, it will provide a larger player pool for teams to choose from. Scouts will be able to watch lower division games and bring the best players into the EPLWA. Thirdly, it lets the best teams rise to the top over time. Teams that are poorly managed or can’t field competitive teams will drop. It always will allow the EPLWA to be populated with the best semi-pro teams in the state, not just the ones who signed up for the league first. Lower divisions will also give current rec and youth teams, or brand new teams, the opportunity to take smaller steps into the world of semi-pro soccer.”

I couldn’t agree more. Further, I like Hamilton’s structure of an East and West “Second Division,” as this graphic he designed shows.

Maybe this is doing things “backwards,” or “working our way down,” but the next logical step is not to increase the “Premier Division” in size, but rather to add a second division with promotion and relegation. I also think the current EPLWA stadium requirement should be optional in the second division. In a recent email conversation with another EPLWA volunteer, I wrote:

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I keep getting contacts from interested clubs.

I have an idea or two….

Return in 2015 with same 8 in EPL, then…

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1. Start a second division, the “WA-2,” or “Washington Second Division.”

2. All future teams must enter through it

3. Top 2 get promoted, bottom 2 EPLWA relegated to WA-2, after 2015 season.

4. Clubs can choose to self-relegate for financial reasons, but must win their way back up

5. Second division waves stadium requirement

6. Clubs can meet half way, so let’s say Everett is playing Walla Walla (example clubs)…they could play the match on a field in Wenatchee, if they wanted to.

7. These clubs would have a “VP” who would act as the WA-2 leader.

8. They would use the EPL logo, with changed text to indicate “WA-2.”

9. They would have a sub-site on EPLWA.com

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There is the matter of getting the current 8 EPLWA clubs to agree to a format like this. One of the best features of the EPLWA is the say clubs have in how things go. It might be up to prospective clubs to convince the current EPLWA front office that this isn’t biting off more than they can chew. This can be done if those clubs who want to join can organize themselves and present a plan that shows how they will run the “WA-2” among themselves and develop open lines of communication that will be crucial to an official association with the EPLWA.

Why use the same player image but have a new name? Because there can be only one “Premier” League, and winning the right to play in it is a big enough deal that the other associated leagues should not use “Evergreen” or “Premier” in their name(s.) However, the iconic player/state image does show an over-arching association.

So there it is. I agree with Timothy Hamilton that we need a second division, and promotion and relegation.

The only question I have is one of timing. Are there enough interested clubs to form a WA-2 with East and West divisions for 2015?

What do you think?

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