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RailHawks leave USL, join new leagueNovember 10, 2009 3:07 PM ETThe Carolina RailHawks have officially jumped ship from the United Soccer Leagues' top division and are joining with several other teams to form a new professional soccer league. The Carolina RailHawks have officially jumped ship from the USL, and are joining with several other teams to form a new professional soccer league. Along with the Cary-based, RailHawks, former USL teams involved in the league include: the Atlanta Silverbacks, Miami FC, Minnesota Thunder, Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps. The ownership of the St. Louis Soccer United organization also is involved in the new league, which is scheduled to begin play in April of 2010. Triangle Business Journal reported in September that arevolt was brewing in the USLbecause several team owners wanted more control over league affairs. USL is a soccer minor league, one step below Major League Soccer – the equivalent of Triple AAA baseball to Major League Baseball. But unlike most professional leagues, USL is owned by a corporate entity – Atlanta-based NuRock Soccer Holdings LLC – that handles its governance, while the franchises are independently owned. “Over the past two years we have been working tirelessly to re-structure the league to be owned and controlled by the owners in order to elevate our league on and off the pitch,” RailHawks majority owner Selby Wellman said in a written statement. “We simply want our league to be operated and managed like all other pro sports leagues around the world.” The league doesn’t yet have a name or a commissioner. Joey Saputo, president of the 2009 USL champion Montreal Impact, has been named chairman of the league’s board of governors. The team owners say in a statement that they submitted an application Nov. 9 for sanctioning of the new league as a Division II Men’s Outdoor Professional League by the United States Soccer Federation. An application for sanctioning as a Division I League will be submitted to the Canadian Soccer Association shortly, the owners say, and applications to other sanctioning bodies in the region will be submitted as needed. Copyright 2009 bizjournals.com
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