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GRAND RAPIDS - Soccer is once again coming to Grand Rapids.

Last summer, World Cup fever burst onto the city's sports scene. The Grand Rapids Football Club found its home stadium and sold hundreds of season tickets before a team was chosen.



This year fans will see what GRFC owner Matt Roberts was working toward.



GRFC filled its coaching staff, schedule, bought the gear and has an increasing social media presence on Facebook, Twitter and Reddit. Everyone on board is anxiously awaiting to see its growing roster of local talent get on the field and play.



Albanian native George Moni, the current director of player and coaching development for the Grand Rapids Crew Juniors youth soccer programs, will head the team.



Moni holds a United States Soccer Federation (USSF) "A" license, a Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) "B" license and coached in Michigan since 1996.



"He's also got an extensive network of players," Roberts said. "He's a guy that checked all the boxes for us as far as personality, training methods and style of play."



GRFC will play in the United States Adult Soccer Association after its application to join the National Premier Soccer League was denied in December.



In the wake of the NPSL's decision, Roberts and four other regional owners created the Great Lakes Premier League.



The season kicks off in May, with league games in June and July.



The schedule includes 15 to 18 games - with at least seven home matches. GRFC agreed to home-and-home series against its league opponents. The GLPL hopes to add NPSL teams and regional independents before the public release.



Houseman Field will host games at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.



"We might have some mid-week games just for scheduling reasons," Roberts said. "But we want to make sure the games are about the environment and have people come out and make it more of an event (than just a game)."



Each team will have a 30-man roster, with 18 on travel squads.



Current East Grand Rapids boys and Forest Hills Northern girls soccer coach A.J. Dufendach is one of the initial 15 signed players.



"Since the announcement's been made all my kids and their families have been supportive of it," said Dufendach, who graduated from FHN in 2004. "I'm excited to play and I fell I can contribute a lot to the team."



Twin brothers Domenic and Mark Barone both played at East Kentwood and Michigan State University before stints with top-tier programs. Grand Rapids native Noble Sullivan made 43 appearances for the University of Michigan.



Nick Capisciolto led the Calvin College Knights to three NCAA tournaments, holds the Knights single-season assists record and is a graduate of Hudsonville Unity Christian.



Jeremy Stacy is the current girls coach at Forest Hills Central and set the games-played record at Valparaiso.



Lito Esquivel, Tyler Fischer and Kyle Haverkate led Davenport to its first NAIA championship in 2014. Aldony Mendez is a member of the Aquinas College program and is a Northview graduate.



Other players include: Jesse Guevara-Lehker, a first-team All-State selection at Grand Rapids Christian, Elmedin Zukic, who won two US Amateur titles in Illinois, Anes Suhonjic and English-born Tony Deakin received honors at Davenport and Nick Abdoo was All-State at Lowell and a recent Grand Valley State graduate.



"We've tried to find players we know could compete at this level and spread the word," Roberts said, "and that's what we've done."



In addition to the current roster, Roberts talked to universities around the Midwest to send the FC players for the summer. The league's amateur status does not conflict with the NCAA rules and regulations, Roberts said.



"The guys who we're going to sign from college are obviously looking for a way to stay fit and sharp for when they rejoin their teams in the fall," he added.



An open tryout on April 4 will determine the final roster additions.



A uniform unveiling party will be held at the SpeakEZ Lounge, the team's main sponsor, at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb 7. The event will coincide with the establishment's third anniversary.



Player Selection Process



Roberts, the Crew Juniors director of youth development, started his player search with an idea that he'd need 10 core athletes to be competitive.



"We got most of those guys," he said.



The next step was targeting college and university students who want to represent their home town over joining club teams.



"A lot of the interest has been for the pride of the city," Roberts said. "I think the biggest thing ... it gives players an avenue to show themselves to a citywide and Midwestern audience. I've had people send me texts and emails and Facebook messages asking when they can try out."



Aside from the core group and student-athletes, the coaching staff is looking for players who not only possess the ability to play a full season, but teammates who fit in with each other.



"We want to play but also we want to bring an attractive style of play to our fans," said Roberts, who coaches for a living. "We want players that are technical and it's not just guys out there screaming at each other.



"Some of these guys haven't met each other, so we need to make sure by May we're ready to go."



One concern that any amateur league faces is the allure of another club or team with a better development track. Roberts stated from early on in the venture that GRFC was built around a player-first mentality.



"We're in this to develop players, and if they don't feel like GRFC is the right situation I would never hold them back from it," Roberts added.



Roberts hopes the city itself will provide the best incentive to stay.



"Eventually (Grand Rapids) is going to help every aspect of developing players and those who just want to play at a high level in front of lot of people," he said. "Everyone I've spoken with has been excited, wanting to train every day, get out there and make it a very professional environment."



Dufendach knows a few of the signees, and spent years on the same Calvin team as Capiciolto, but now has a chance to build a club with a more diverse set of talent..



"I'm probably one of the oldest guys on the team, so just excited to play with people who have won NAIA championships and who are helping to pioneer this movement in Grand Rapids," Dufendach said.

"Ever since Matt signed me I've had tons of messages and emails from people I didn't even know were involved."

Jon Rzepecki is a high school sports writer for MLive. Email him at jrzepcki@mlive.com, and follow him on Twitter.