Newest Pro Soccer Team Realizes Its Limitations
Call it lowered expectations. Call it heightened reality. Hugo Salcedo just figured it was time to call it like it is.
“We are not the salvation of soccer. We are just a steppingstone,” Salcedo said at a Wednesday press conference, held to formally kick off the first season of the Hollywood Kickers of the Western Soccer Alliance. Salcedo will serve as club president.
The Kickers have only two full-time employees. Even Salcedo and the coach, Dieter Hochheimer, are not yet on full salary.
“We are not trying to create the NFL of soccer,” said Donald Burris, a Los Angeles attorney and spokesman for the Kickers, who will play their home games at the 11,000-seat Tom Bradley Stadium on the campus of Birmingham High School in Van Nuys. “We do not want to duplicate the errors of the NASL.”
The North American Soccer League disbanded in 1984 because of declining interest, heavy competition from indoor soccer and a lack of money.
The Kickers, backed by the sponsorship of a watch company whose logo will be the biggest item on the team uniform, will pay small base salaries that will force its players to keep outside jobs.
The club will have a salary system unique to sports. In addition to the base pay, about half of the 30 players under contract who are activated each week will receive additional money.
Those players will receive still more money if they achieve at least a tie in their game, more still for a win. They will receive another bonus for home games if the crowd exceeds a set figure, believed to be 3,000.
Burris says the Kickers need to average 4,000 a game to break even.
Scott Murray, a defender out of Cleveland High, Glendale College and Cal State Northridge, was happy to sign with the Kickers.
“I didn’t know what I was going to do,” said Murray, who didn’t want to give up the sport just because he was through at Northridge. “I was going to play somewhere just to keep in shape, but I had no plans. I could have tried out for the Lazers, but I had no desire to play indoor soccer or go abroad. This is just what I was looking for.”
The Kickers will play 14 games, eight on their home field with two of those matches against international competition. Their first game will be at Portland on May 17, with their home opener, a match against Dundee of Scotland, coming on May 24. The Kickers will play Manchester City of England on June 3 at home. Tickets for all home matches will cost $6 for adults and half that for children under 14 and seniors over 60.
“Our goal,” Salcedo said, “is to produce players good enough to play on our national team, in the Olympic Games and, perhaps someday, to make it to the World Cup.”
