The Milwaukee Torrent is now an official member of the National Premier Soccer League.
The NPSL announced on Wednesday that the Torrent, which played in a provisional conference last season – its first year as an organized club – had attained full member status and would again compete in the league’s Midwest Region.
"Congratulations to (owner and head coach) Andi Davi and the entire Milwaukee Torrent organization as they've moved to become full members of the National Premier Soccer League," NPSL Chairman Joe Barone said in a statement. "We welcome Milwaukee Torrent's contributions as we continue to grow the NPSL and the game in Wisconsin and the surrounding region."
The NPSL is a national league that operates at the fourth tier of the U.S. Soccer pyramid. Its teams are eligible to participate in the prominent U.S. Open Cup through their affiliation with the U.S. Soccer Federation and the United States Adult Soccer Association.
The Torrent certainly proved it belonged in 2016, when it went 6-0 in the NPSL and won the Midwest Central Conference, finishing with an overall record of 11-1-2 across all competitions. The team was led in scoring by captain James Weber, who had 12 goals and nine assists.
"We couldn't be more proud of our inaugural season," Davi said. "It was our first year, we sold over 500 season tickets and won our conference. Every home game was a highlight."
Next year, the Torrent will move from Uihlein Soccer Park to Hart Park, a 4,000-seat facility in Wauwatosa. The Torrent has touted the benefits of Hart Park’s location, which is close to many bars and restaurants, giving fans a better experience and potentially creating a more exciting atmosphere. Davi has always maintained the Torrent is, foremost, a family-friendly club and previously seemed wary of the more stereotypical soccer crowd, but he no doubt understood local growth necessitates an appeal to chanting beer-drinkers, as well.
"We want to attract more people to our home games," Davi said. "The goal is to have at our games a four-digit number in attendance, and of course we want to win our conference again."
Last season, the team did not crack the 1,000-fan mark for a game, though it got into the high 800s for a July 9 match against LC Aris FC. According to the NPSL, Davi credited the Torrent’s two supporters groups, the Flood and the Milwaukee Barons, reportedly "praising their passion and involvement" with the team and the league. The coach added that the long-term goal is to have year-round professional soccer in Milwaukee, which, besides the Torrent, also features the indoor Wave organization.
"It's great to be a member of the NPSL, one of the biggest leagues in the U.S.," Davi said. "You can compete on a nationwide level inside the league without the need of joining one of the many smaller regional leagues. Being a part of a league that has existed since 2003 makes us proud and shows us that we did things right here in Milwaukee."
Season tickets for the 2017 season are available via the Torrent's website.
Born in Milwaukee but a product of Shorewood High School (go ‘Hounds!) and Northwestern University (go ‘Cats!), Jimmy never knew the schoolboy bliss of cheering for a winning football, basketball or baseball team. So he ditched being a fan in order to cover sports professionally - occasionally objectively, always passionately. He's lived in Chicago, New York and Dallas, but now resides again in his beloved Brew City and is an ardent attacker of the notorious Milwaukee Inferiority Complex.
After interning at print publications like Birds and Blooms (official motto: "America's #1 backyard birding and gardening magazine!"), Sports Illustrated (unofficial motto: "Subscribe and save up to 90% off the cover price!") and The Dallas Morning News (a newspaper!), Jimmy worked for web outlets like CBSSports.com, where he was a Packers beat reporter, and FOX Sports Wisconsin, where he managed digital content. He's a proponent and frequent user of em dashes, parenthetical asides, descriptive appositives and, really, anything that makes his sentences longer and more needlessly complex.
Jimmy appreciates references to late '90s Brewers and Bucks players and is the curator of the unofficial John Jaha Hall of Fame. He also enjoys running, biking and soccer, but isn't too annoying about them. He writes about sports - both mainstream and unconventional - and non-sports, including history, music, food, art and even golf (just kidding!), and welcomes reader suggestions for off-the-beaten-path story ideas.
