Dear Orlando City Supporters,

Welcome to the new game in town! Your new Orlando City Soccer Club is bringing high-level, professional soccer here to Central Florida. We are thrilled and delighted to make our home here, bringing the “Beautiful Game” of soccer to Orlando, the “City Beautiful!”
 
Our goal is to create an inspiring and entertaining soccer franchise that will challenge for every championship, while actively engaging with and giving back to the community of greater Orlando.

We are delighted to be playing in the USL PRO, the newly created professional division of the United Soccer Leagues. In addition to the USL season, City will play several high-profile international exhibition games, as well as compete in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, America’s longest running national soccer tournament, played every year since 1913. It’s going to be a very busy, exciting season!

I also want to kick off our inaugural USL PRO season by looking forward to the not too distant future – Major League Soccer is our goal. Orlando deserves another Major League franchise and we aim to deliver that. Orlando City has already had a great start against MLS teams in our 2011 pre-season games, beating both the Philadelphia Union and Toronto FC, only to drop a close one, (1-0) to FC Dallas. It is our mission and it affects every single thing we do – from Coach Heath’s practice sessions to the professionalism of our entire staff.

On and off the pitch, we are committed to provide Orlando with a professional sports team of which you, our Central Florida fans, supporters and sponsors, can all be proud.

Finally, on behalf of the entire Orlando City organization, I want to thank each and every one of you for the tremendous support and encouragement you have already given to the team as we have made our home here in Central Florida. Let’s all look forward to some exciting home performances in 2011.

I hope to see you in the Citrus Bowl stands for all of our upcoming games, roaring us on!

We are City. Hear us Roar!


(signature) 

Phil Rawlins
President and Founder

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To all Orlando City Soccer supporters,

On behalf of our Orlando City Soccer Club players and organization, I would like to welcome all of you to this inaugural season of professional soccer in Orlando.

Soccer has a strong tradition in Orlando, from the World Cup and Olympic Soccer, to great collegiate and youth soccer. It’s a sport that Central Floridians already love. Our club is dedicated to building upon that tradition and taking Orlando City Soccer to the highest level of competition in North America, Major League Soccer.

Having spent much of my career in the English Premier League, I have been impressed with the maturing level of talent in American soccer and am thrilled to help nurture it. Our Orlando City club is looking forward to competing in the very first USL PRO season. I have a lot of faith in this season’s squad. In our pre-season, we were 2-1 against three Major League Soccer teams, which is testament to our players’ skill, determination and hard work. The talent level between USL Pro and MLS players, apart from a few highly paid stars, is fairly even. We are determined to rise to the occasion at every opportunity.

Though Orlando City might seem like a brand new team, most of our squad has played together before in Austin, Texas. We are also supported by over 55 years of combined professional sports management expertise. In fact, Orlando City Soccer is also backed by a total of 275 years of soccer history in the form of its two affiliate partner clubs, Stoke City F.C. and Burnley F.C. from England. Both clubs are founding members of the Football League, the world’s original and oldest soccer league, founded in 1888. So we are keeping the soccer tradition alive and well in one of the fastest growing, forward thinking and exciting cities in America - it’s going to be a great year!

Thanks as always to our support staff - Ian Fuller, assistant coach, Marcos Machado, goalkeeper coach, Dr. Jay Allbright of Orlando Health, Melissa Heinlein, trainer and Alex Wolf, Director of Operations for their hard work. It’s a team effort on and off the field and that includes Steve Donner and our entire administrative staff. A special “Cheers” to Phil and Kay Rawlins for your personal support and your dedication to the World’s most popular sport!

I extend my final thank you to the incredible Orlando City supporters who have made our arrival in Central Florida so rewarding already. Fans, we couldn’t do it without you and we’re excited to make history for you here in Orlando all season long. See you all at the Citrus Bowl!

(signature)


Adrian Heath
Orlando City Head Coach

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Stoke City Football Club
Nickname: The Potters
Location: Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England
Year Formed: 1863

Stoke City Football Club is an Orlando City sister club in England.  

Based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, they are the oldest club in the Premier League, and are considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts County. The club's nickname is The Potters, after the pottery industry in Stoke-on-Trent and their traditional home kit is a red and white vertically striped shirt with white shorts and white socks.

In the FA Cup Stoke have made it to the semi-final stage on four occasions: firstly in 1899 then in 1970, 1971 and most recently in 2011.

Stoke is enjoying their third year in the EPL, with Tony Pulis’ team building a reputation as a side that is tough to beat, especially at home. At printing, they are undefeated when playing at home in the 2011 season! Their reputation is built on a solid defense and a squad of players who give their all for the red and white stripes of The Potters.


Burnley Football Club
Nickname: The Clarets
Location: Burnley, Lancashire, England
Year Formed: 1882

Burnley Football Club is an Orlando City sister club in England.

Burnley Football Club began life as a Rugby Club. However, Burnley Rovers soon switched codes and became Burnley Football Club in 1882.  They moved to their Turf Moor home shortly afterwards, at the invitation of the town's cricket club, which is still situated next to the stadium.

The team is based in Burnley Lancashire, and are nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant color of their home shirts. They were founder members of the Football League in 1888 and have played at their home ground at Turf Moor since 1883.

Burnley have been Football League Champions twice, in 1920-21 and 1959-60, and have won the FA Cup once, in 1914. They are one of only three teams to have won all top four professional divisions of English football. 

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Community page

Hello and welcome to the Orlando City community page! As the team begins to grow so will our community outreach programs. We aim to enhance lives of others through a variety of initiatives and programs in the Central Florida community.
 
Our emphasis will be on working with:
 
·         education of children, parents and teachers about the importance of physical and mental fitness
·         strengthening our local communities through assistance with basic needs
·         raising the awareness of local non-profits in the community they serve
·         supporting youth organizations through donating to fundraisers & player appearances 
·         assistance to the global soccer communities 
·         raising awareness of environmental issues
 
We are excited to have a great group of players and staff to work with and hope that you are able to experience their positive impact on the Orlando community. Be sure to visit our website at www.orlandocitysoccer.com to follow our players and staff and see what Orlando City is doing to support our wonderful community.

Charity begins at home!
Each home game will feature a local charity, allowing fans to donate to causes in their own backyard. There’ll also be opportunities to win a signed jersey!

Passback Program 
The Passback Program is one of the cornerstones of the U.S. Soccer Foundation and Orlando City Soccer is proud to be involved in this fantastic opportunity to reach out to the community. We work together with the community to collect new and gently used soccer equipment at our home games which are then distributed to children and adults who otherwise may be unable to play our wonderful sport.  

We also challenge Central Florida youth teams to see who can collect the most equipment! There will be a grand prize awarded to the team that collects the most, so be sure to take part. 

Since 2002, Passback has collected and distributed over 670,500 pieces of equipment and Orlando City is committed to making sure that figure keeps growing!

Donations of all kinds are acceptable. We will take anything a soccer player could use: including jerseys, shorts, shin guards, socks, cleats, balls, bags, warmups, water bottles, and so on. Jerseys do not have to be in complete sets and it doesn’t matter if they have logos or numbers on them. Balls do not have to be deflated.

For more information, visit our website at www.orlandocitysoccer.com

Share the equipment. Share the game! 
 
Goals for Good 
Your Orlando City Soccer team is not only scoring goals to win the USL championship, we are also scoring goals to help raise money to buy important equipment for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies. Orlando City Soccer Club is proud to be supporting this great cause and we are looking for the support from our fans too. We are launching a competition to guess the number of goals scored in the regular season and ask you to pledge $1 per goal, which will help fund this important appeal. 

In appreciation of your support, all entrants will be entered into our drawing to win some great prizes. 
 
THE RULES
Each entrant agrees to pledge $1 for each goal Orlando City scores during the 2011 regular season. (not including cup matches) In addition, each entrant must guess the total number of goals scored by Orlando City (home and away) during the season.

In the event that more than one person guesses the correct number of goals scored by Orlando City, this tie breaker question must also be answered: 

How many goals will Orlando City score at The Citrus Bowl during their 2011 season?

All entries must be received by June 1st 
All pledges must be received by August 19th to qualify for the main prize.

THE PRIZES 
2 tickets to our end of season Team Awards Dinner, plus a team jersey signed by Coach Adrian Heath and members of the Orlando City Soccer team. 

All winners who correctly guess the number of goals we score at the Citrus Bowl will receive an official Orlando City t-shirt.

For more information, please visit: www.orlandohealth.com/goalsforgood

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Affiliates

Victoria Highlanders
The Victoria Highlanders are based out of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada and play in the USL Premier Development League. The Highlanders began play in 2009 after owner Alex D. Campbell witnessed the success of the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, held in Canada. He saw the need to help develop young players across Victoria and believed the island was ready for a new professional soccer franchise. Today the Highlanders play in Bear Mountain Stadium, located in City Centre Park. 

Club de Futbol Monterrey
The Monterrey Football Club is a Mexican football team from Monterrey, Nuevo León. Founded on June 28th, 1945, it is also the oldest team from the north of Mexico currently playing in its professional division. They are owned by FEMSA, Latin America’s largest bottling company. Their home uniform has earned them the nickname of the Rayados (the striped ones) and their oldest rival are the Tigers of the Autonomous University of Nuevo León, with whom they play a local derby. 

Louisville Lightning
The Louisville Lightning is a professional indoor soccer team competing in the Professional Indoor soccer League (PASL). The PASL offers high-quality, fast paced indoor soccer with constant action and scoring. The PASL has 10 teams in the United States and has partnerships with the professional indoor leagues in Canada and Mexico. 

Kedougou Academy
The Kedougou Academy is located in the home town of Salif Siao, who plays for Stoke City F.C. the project was originally started to encourage children to attend school in the village of Kedougou, Senegal, which is 430 miles from the capital city of Dakar. Previously, if children wanted to attend school and join a football academy they would have to leave their family and friends to live in Dakar as Salif did when he was 13. For most children this isolation from home life meant that they did not have the support they needed. Salif set up a program to keep children with their families. The academy now helps more than 85 children from the age of 6 to attend a professional school. Prior to being involved in the program, 85% of children did not attend school. The philosophy of the academy is to encourage the playing of sport while attending school - simply put: no school, no football.  

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Orlando City Soccer Camps

It’s going to be Funtastic!

Throughout the summer, Orlando City Soccer Camps offer 13 Central Florida camp locations for youth soccer players ages 4-18. Under Orlando City direction, campers will learn valuable skills to practice and play like their favorite professional stars. While at camp, players will scrimmage, get individual training from coaches, learn skill games and even have the opportunity to play in tournaments. Camps begin on June 6th and run through August 15th, with half day or full day options during the week.

Each camper receives:
Umbro soccer ball, Umbro socks, Umbro shorts, 2 Umbro Orlando City shirts, Umbro sling backpack, camp ID badge, 1 Orlando City game ticket for Camper Reunion Night on August 6th, when Orlando City take on Charleston Battery.

In addition to skill training clinics, we’ve scheduled special events for each camp day.

Monday • Jersey Day! - Campers are invited to wear their soccer club jersey, or jerseys of professional clubs or national teams
Tuesday • Ball Design! - Design your soccer ball with markers, paint and stickers. Be creative!
Wednesday • Orlando City Super Fan Day!
Paint your hair & your face, dress in a wild outfit. Stand out as a true “City” fan!
Thursday • Water War Day! - Bring your water balloons, super soakers and wet suits! Everyone involved will get extremely wet!
Friday • Camp Graduation and Media Day

Campers will receive awards and recognition in front of their parents for their accomplishments at camp. An autograph and picture session with Orlando City professional players will take place after graduation.

Summer Camp Dates

June 6 - 10 Winter Springs Central Winds Park
June 13 - 17 Orlando Trotters Park
June 20 - 24 Winter Garden West Orange Soccer Complex
June 27 - July 1 Apopka Northwest Recreation Center
July 6 - 8 Orlando Citrus Bowl*
July 11 - 15 Deltona Dewey O’Bosters Sports Complex
July 18 - 22 Winter Park Ward Park
July 25 - 29 Orlando Blanchard Park
July 25 - 29 Clermont National Training Center
August 1 - 5 Sanford Seminole Soccer Complex
August 1 - 5 Winter Garden West Orange Soccer Complex
August 8 - 12 Casselberry Red Bug Lake Park
August 15 - 19 Orlando Barber Park
August 15 - 19 Kissimmee Austin-Tindall Regional Park

* Fantasy Camp for adults 18 and over

“We work extremely hard to connect our pro team with aspiring young players and their parents. Our unique camp programs are specifically designed for players to experience the thrill of learning new talents while building relationships with professional players and coaches. We look forward to teaching your son or daughter the Orlando City way.”

Brian Pederson,
Director of Camps & Clinics
e-mail: camps@orlandocitysoccer.com




 

Orlando City Soccer Club: Inaugural Season Program

Below you'll find an abridged version of the Orlando City Soccer program, a complex and exciting project, of which I was thrilled to be a part.