Sound Waves
It took a while, but it seems Orange County’s A-League soccer franchise might have finally found the appropriate nickname for its team--the Waves.
Talk about an up-and-down ride.
In three years, the franchise formerly known as the Zodiac has had three coaches, three general managers, three presidents, two owners and two stadiums. Also, two playoff appearances.
The county’s only professional soccer team, which opens its season at home today at 5 p.m. against MLS Pro-40 at Santa Ana Stadium, has not built much of a fan base. In three years, the Zodiac lost more than $2 million and rarely drew more than 500 fans for a game, despite qualifying for the playoffs in 1998 and 1999.
In early January, Zodiac owner John Frankhouse defaulted on his line of credit with the league and folded the franchise.
Two weeks later, Stephen Peacock purchased the team from the league and renamed it. Peacock, whose venture capital company Peacock Financial also owns Pacific Division rival Bay Area Seals and is a minority owner of the San Diego Flash, said he wants to stay here a while.
“We’re doing this not only for the love of the sport, but as a business opportunity,” said Peacock, whose San Diego Soccer Development Corp. also owns the Riverside Elite, a Division 3 team. “Our goal is to create a very sophisticated machine, one on the corporate side that can draw larger sponsorship to the table.
“The county’s got to know that we’re real and we have staying power. I certainly don’t expect to turn this around overnight, but we will turn it around.”
Peacock has already proven to be a different kind of owner than Frankhouse, who rarely spoke to the media or to his players.
“Mr. Peacock came into the locker room after our exhibition game with Riverside and thanked the players for their effort,” said team President Rick Brown, who was retained by Peacock. “That would have never happened with the old regime.”
Wave Coach Erik Kirsch appreciates the new owner; he and Brown were given spacious private offices at the team’s new headquarters in Irvine.
“I think it’s bigger than [Galaxy Coach] Sigi Schmid’s,” said Kirsch, who directed the Zodiac to a 17-11 record last season. “He’s made us feel like a big-time organization.”
But in order to expand, Peacock also had to cut costs. Most of the 11 players who were re-signed from last season had their pay cut. So far, no one seems to mind.
“This goes beyond salary,” said midfielder Jason Boyce, who played high school soccer at Corona del Mar and played part of last season with the Miami Fusion of Major League Soccer. “Are you in it for the money or for the love? The fact remains that there is a set budget this year and you have to respect that. If we put numbers in the stands and win a championship, we’ll be rewarded for it.”
In an effort to increase attendance, Brown has hired four players to work in the front office so the team can be more visible to the community. Jose Vasquez, who played at Santa Ana High, blocks away from the Waves’ home field, was signed last week to play sweeper, but he will also be a sales executive and the Waves’ Latino community liaison.
“They want me to get the community closer to the team,” Vasquez said. “We’re doing that through youth clinics and other appearances. I tell the kids, ‘I’m only the seed. You might be able to have one of your own kids playing with this team, but first there has to be a team here to play for.’ ”
Brown said the team will try to turn its home games into a festival-like experience for fans. In addition to merchandise giveaways for children, the Waves will introduce a beer garden and a more extensive food menu. If people can’t make it to Santa Ana Stadium, they can watch the Waves’ games on Cox cable. All 15 home games will be shown tape-delayed and repeated up to eight times.
Although Brown said the club is behind last year’s pace of 300 season tickets, he is hoping television exposure and a better marketing campaign will build a bigger fan base.
“We averaged over 3,000 fans our last three games last year,” Brown said. “We think we can average three to five thousand this year.”
Expectations are even higher on the field.
“We want to go to 20-plus wins,” Kirsch said. “We’re looking to make it to the second round of the U.S. Open Cup and to the second round of the playoffs.”
Added Boyce, who scored three goals and had four assists after being signed late last season: “We definitely want to win a championship. I know that these guys are hungry enough. We’ve worked too hard in the off-season.”
Kirsch, also the general manager, has prepared for the season by adding experienced defenders Anthony Farace from San Diego and Jake Dancy from New York/New Jersey of MLS. In the middle, he has picked up rookie Adam Cooper from UCLA, Nick Theslof from the Columbus Crew and Art Temblador, who played in Mexico with U.A.G. Tecos.
Most of the scoring will come from familiar faces Steve Patterson and Gustavo Leal, who combined for 32 goals and eight assists last year. The other forward is Sheldon Thomas, who played in Hong Kong last year.
Mike Littman is the starting goalkeeper for the third consecutive season. Littman, who had three shutouts last season and gave up 1.63 goals a game, said the team’s front-office turmoil spilled onto the field by the end of the season.
“There were some things that happened that separated a lot of players last year,” Littman said. “We weren’t a very close team going into the playoffs. But so far [this year], we have pulled together as a unit. I know I’m going to be more of a leader and I’m going to have a little bit more fun.”
If all goes well, maybe the Waves will finally have a smooth ride.
