Rejoice, soccer fans: Indianapolis-based Indy Eleven, the Hoosier State’s only professional soccer club, has submitted a bid to join Major League Soccer.
According to an official statement, Eleven will bid for one of four available slots in the expanded MLS, bringing the number of participants into 28 professional teams.
Indianapolis will compete with other cities like Charlotte, Detroit, and Cincinnati to bring professional soccer to their city. If approved, teams will need to pay $150 million of expansion fees. The league is expected to make decision by the end of 2017, and new franchises will start playing no later than 2020 season.
It is important to note that MLS currently is the fastest growing sports league in the United States, thanks to massive investment and better quality of players. Last season, the league received a gross television viewership of 25.7 million, highest since its inception more than two decades ago. Its average seasonal attendance is in all-time high of 21,692: third highest after NFL and MLB. The average club valuation is in $185 million, an impressive 400 percent spike since last decade.
Arrival of renowned international players from across the Atlantic, such as David Beckham, the English version of Tom Brady, and Italian free-kick maestro Andrea Pirlo also significantly helped the league on attracting more skilled players and deep-pocketed investors. It slowly becoming more integrated to American sporting lexicon, challenging for the title of fourth major league from NHL.
Any person with basic knowledge of international soccer would know that pro leagues around the world operates with promotion-relegation system, in which the worst team in the highest league would be replaced by the best team in lower league. But this is America: no way NFL would kick the Browns out of the league simply because they ended 1-15 last season. MLS adopt the same principle, therefore any new addition would only be possible by the way of expansion.
The Eleven bid for a major league spot is a good example. Established in 2013, the team currently plays at the North American Soccer League, MLS’ indirect competitor but with less prestige and coverage: think of NBA Development League or Minor League Baseball.
For a four-year old team, their achievement has been quite impressive: last season, under veteran coach Tim Hankinson, they won the league spring season and made it to the play-off for the first time in history, marching to the Soccer Bowl where they lost to the New York Cosmos in a penalty shoot-out. With that kind of roster, they would have no difficulty competing with other MLS team.
Another major league team would give a huge advantage to Indianapolis itself. Dubbed by Brian Straus of Sports Illustrated as “America’s most underrated sports city”, the Circle City is a robust market for a professional sports team. Hoosiers’ passion for sports should be historically undoubtable: from pro to high school, from football end zones to basketball sidelines, one might wonder why we only have the Colts and Pacers.
For last three seasons, the Eleven has consistently attracted second highest attendance in NASL: only Sacramento fared better. Last season’s semifinal home game against FC Edmonton lured a record number of 9,700 people. A major league status would undoubtedly attracted more people. In 2013, a preseason match between European household names AC Milan and Liverpool at Lucas Oil attracted 42,000 spectators. With a major league status, hard not to believe that the Eleven would not lure more people.
Good quality talent will never be in short supply for the team. Unlike other candidate cities, Eleven would have a strong advantage in the form of abundant youth player supply from collegiate and high school level.
Indiana Hoosiers men’s soccer program is one of the best in the nation, having won eight NCAA Division I championship. The program have produced a significant proportion of players that goes pro and even became the backbone of their team: thirteen of them went to represent Team USA, several gone as far as the FIFA World Cup.
Up north, Notre Dame have good program too, having won national title in 2013 under Bobby Clark. Isn’t it better if homegrown Hoosier talent to be given chance to continue their career inside the state, just like how Stanford standouts empowered LA Galaxy to national glories in past ten years?
In many ways, arrival of a pro soccer team in Indianapolis would be a huge advantage for all. It is time for us to embrace the beautiful game, just like billions of people around the world.
An edited version of this column appeared in the 24 February 2017 edition of the North Star, the student newspaper of Lawrence North High School, Indianapolis.
24 February 2017
13 February 2017
A white, blank page and a deadline
“Mr. Penrose, I’m Ramzy from the North Star. May I request your time for an interview about the stadium construction project?”
I ended up sitting with him, the school athletic director, for half an hour in a golf cart touring the project like a professional journalist.
My passion for journalism started long ago when I was in middle school; when being a reporter means countless hours of cutting and pasting handwritten news in the wall magazine. I love hunting for stories, because it involved so many things: researching the background, interviewing the sources, writing down the notes, and transform it into well-written paragraphs. I found writing as a strangely sobering activity, like drinking coffee in the morning or flexing the muscles.
When I first arrived in the United States, the first thing I searched for at my school was the school newspaper. I had been editor for the school magazine back home, but carrying your press pass in a language other than Indonesian certainly bringing some new sensation on it. And I was ready to be a reporter once again, free from any editorial responsibility that I had carried for past year back home.
Fortunately, like most of American high schools, my school has a quite excellent journalism program. Here, unlike in Indonesia, school newspaper is part of the curricula itself, taught by a teacher and consists of two classes: Journalism I and II for beginners, and Newspaper for the advanced. I was accepted to the Newspaper class.
I was not assigned any story for the first edition: instead, I took pictures for story about the district marching band. This was one of my favorite part of being a journalist: you can be assigned to literally anything. You need to be flexible and versatile on doing your job. One time you might find yourself scribbling through notes of interview about the arts project, and then you might be standing in sidelines of the football game. You’ll never know.
My first “true” story is in the second issue, which was about the renovation project of the school sports facility, including the aging football stadium. That was quite interesting, because the athletic director was kind enough to give me a tour of the project in such a style, like I described above. Touring the school with golf car? I’ve done it.
Since 2016 was an election year, I also had the privilege of covering the race for Governor of Indiana. The first debate for the election was held in my school’s auditorium, and I was assigned to take the pictures of that event and the press conference afterwards. Working alongside professional journalists from Indiana’s leading TV and newspapers was an absolutely terrific experience for me. Also, one of the candidate was kind enough to recognize my colleague during the press conference and asked him to deliver a question. Well, that’s a pretty big deal.
The highlight of my journalism career here, however, was the 2016 National High School Journalism Convention, which was held in Indianapolis. The timing cannot be more uncanny. For three days, we the newspaper staff got to attend sessions about student journalism and met thousands of other student journalists from all over the country. Because I was particularly interested to sports and politics, I attended talks by prominent syndicated sports writer Bob Kravitz and Gregg Doyel, as well as from a school teacher who led her school media team through the tense moments of racial riots in Ferguson, Missouri.
It didn’t stop there, however. The best part was that I got to ask a question to Walter Robinson, one of my journalistic hero. If you watched Oscar-winning movie “Spotlight”, you must noticed that Batman-turned-Birdman Michael Keaton played the editor for the Boston Globe investigative team. That was Robinson, who won Pulitzer as part of the team for his ground-breaking coverage of Boston Catholic Church’s sexual abuse scandal in 2003. I asked him a question about how school journalists should cover sexual and gender abuses that happened in school grounds. He was delighted; I was dumbstruck, totally in awe.
To think it for a moment, I couldn’t get much better experience than this. Yes, I would say that my experience with the school newspaper is probably one of the best decision I took during my exchange year.
Being a reporter means that you get to know the school environment better, which is terribly important for an exchange student trying to immerse him or herself to the new culture. I almost always introduce myself an exchange student to whomever I interview, so they could understand that I’m not only looking for a story to write and file; I’m also looking to understand how things works here, why it works like that, and what can I learn from it. And most of them were open, even highly delighted when hearing my background, because that means that they could, too, do the same thing.
That is a great way to build intercultural understanding, I think. To listen to new stories, to open yourself to new perspectives, to explore previously uncharted terrains, to try to understand somebody from their mindset and point of view. Not everybody can do this; but journalists, with your press passes and a healthy dose of curiosity, could steer the conversation into a meaningful story, into a memorable understanding. I had the privilege to all of this, and I’m forever grateful for that.
And one plus: I keep the memories of my exchange experience alive between the order of phrases and strands of papers. The world will forever know that once upon a time, an Indonesian exchange student wrote a 500-word opinion piece about fake clown attack and pop culture paranoia in the United States. It will be forever in print, in digital, and in hearts and memories of those who read it. (Full disclosure: don’t ask me why I want to write a 500-word opinion piece about clown. I have no idea.)
I like to think that my whole exchange experience has been like a white blank page. As days and months passed, the page will eventually filled up, written with all of my experiences. And like everything else, it will end soon then you think. Like reporters scrambling their pads to fill deadlines, exchange students have deadlines, too.
Initially published in Bina Antarbudaya's Medium channel.
I ended up sitting with him, the school athletic director, for half an hour in a golf cart touring the project like a professional journalist.
My passion for journalism started long ago when I was in middle school; when being a reporter means countless hours of cutting and pasting handwritten news in the wall magazine. I love hunting for stories, because it involved so many things: researching the background, interviewing the sources, writing down the notes, and transform it into well-written paragraphs. I found writing as a strangely sobering activity, like drinking coffee in the morning or flexing the muscles.
When I first arrived in the United States, the first thing I searched for at my school was the school newspaper. I had been editor for the school magazine back home, but carrying your press pass in a language other than Indonesian certainly bringing some new sensation on it. And I was ready to be a reporter once again, free from any editorial responsibility that I had carried for past year back home.
Fortunately, like most of American high schools, my school has a quite excellent journalism program. Here, unlike in Indonesia, school newspaper is part of the curricula itself, taught by a teacher and consists of two classes: Journalism I and II for beginners, and Newspaper for the advanced. I was accepted to the Newspaper class.
I was not assigned any story for the first edition: instead, I took pictures for story about the district marching band. This was one of my favorite part of being a journalist: you can be assigned to literally anything. You need to be flexible and versatile on doing your job. One time you might find yourself scribbling through notes of interview about the arts project, and then you might be standing in sidelines of the football game. You’ll never know.
My first “true” story is in the second issue, which was about the renovation project of the school sports facility, including the aging football stadium. That was quite interesting, because the athletic director was kind enough to give me a tour of the project in such a style, like I described above. Touring the school with golf car? I’ve done it.
Since 2016 was an election year, I also had the privilege of covering the race for Governor of Indiana. The first debate for the election was held in my school’s auditorium, and I was assigned to take the pictures of that event and the press conference afterwards. Working alongside professional journalists from Indiana’s leading TV and newspapers was an absolutely terrific experience for me. Also, one of the candidate was kind enough to recognize my colleague during the press conference and asked him to deliver a question. Well, that’s a pretty big deal.
The highlight of my journalism career here, however, was the 2016 National High School Journalism Convention, which was held in Indianapolis. The timing cannot be more uncanny. For three days, we the newspaper staff got to attend sessions about student journalism and met thousands of other student journalists from all over the country. Because I was particularly interested to sports and politics, I attended talks by prominent syndicated sports writer Bob Kravitz and Gregg Doyel, as well as from a school teacher who led her school media team through the tense moments of racial riots in Ferguson, Missouri.
It didn’t stop there, however. The best part was that I got to ask a question to Walter Robinson, one of my journalistic hero. If you watched Oscar-winning movie “Spotlight”, you must noticed that Batman-turned-Birdman Michael Keaton played the editor for the Boston Globe investigative team. That was Robinson, who won Pulitzer as part of the team for his ground-breaking coverage of Boston Catholic Church’s sexual abuse scandal in 2003. I asked him a question about how school journalists should cover sexual and gender abuses that happened in school grounds. He was delighted; I was dumbstruck, totally in awe.
To think it for a moment, I couldn’t get much better experience than this. Yes, I would say that my experience with the school newspaper is probably one of the best decision I took during my exchange year.
Being a reporter means that you get to know the school environment better, which is terribly important for an exchange student trying to immerse him or herself to the new culture. I almost always introduce myself an exchange student to whomever I interview, so they could understand that I’m not only looking for a story to write and file; I’m also looking to understand how things works here, why it works like that, and what can I learn from it. And most of them were open, even highly delighted when hearing my background, because that means that they could, too, do the same thing.
That is a great way to build intercultural understanding, I think. To listen to new stories, to open yourself to new perspectives, to explore previously uncharted terrains, to try to understand somebody from their mindset and point of view. Not everybody can do this; but journalists, with your press passes and a healthy dose of curiosity, could steer the conversation into a meaningful story, into a memorable understanding. I had the privilege to all of this, and I’m forever grateful for that.
And one plus: I keep the memories of my exchange experience alive between the order of phrases and strands of papers. The world will forever know that once upon a time, an Indonesian exchange student wrote a 500-word opinion piece about fake clown attack and pop culture paranoia in the United States. It will be forever in print, in digital, and in hearts and memories of those who read it. (Full disclosure: don’t ask me why I want to write a 500-word opinion piece about clown. I have no idea.)
I like to think that my whole exchange experience has been like a white blank page. As days and months passed, the page will eventually filled up, written with all of my experiences. And like everything else, it will end soon then you think. Like reporters scrambling their pads to fill deadlines, exchange students have deadlines, too.
Initially published in Bina Antarbudaya's Medium channel.
03 February 2017
New MakerSpace offers students access to hands-on activities
The Lawrence North Media Center has added another feature to their facility: a space where students can explore their creative mind using Lego blocks and robotic arms.
The center’s MakerSpace is set to be launched in the near future, according to media center specialist Tonya Fisher.
“MakerSpace is a space where students can come and experiment with hands-on application,” Fisher said. “You can build different things and program it. It’s a combination of building, engineering, coding [and] everything put together.”
The idea of opening this space came after seeing the lack of interest among LN students to explore the field of innovation using robots and computers.
“To have a space where students can come and experiment with that and see if it is something they like, it just opens up different avenues that people might not have thought before,” Fisher said.
MakerSpace itself lent its name from a high school starter collection that includes 14 different sets. The kit would include a robotic arm, roller coaster, bridge builder and other sets. It will also be accompanied with guiding books and manuals, which added the cost up to $1,000. The center received no special grant to purchase and set up the facility, meaning that all costs come from their annual budget.
The most intriguing feature of this facility is perhaps Lego Mindstorms, a set of specially-minted Lego kits that contain software and hardware to create user-customized robots.
“What it does is, you build whatever Lego robots and it has a machine in it which you can program to do what you say,” Fisher said.
The center is currently working with technology department to provide much-needed computers and other equipment for online videos and software.
The technology department will be working with the media center to provide computers and other technological support. Some of the kits require special softwares to work with, such as Legos and the robotic arms. The department’s student assistants would be responsible to run the day-to-day operations.
“Ideally it will need four work stations, but it is still very early,” technology supervisor Jacob Petrisin said.
The space would be accessible to teachers and instructors from related fields of study to give their students a first-hand approach on creative exploration. But no worries to students that did not take any technology-related class, since they could still come and try during their study hall period.
While Fisher agreed that some of the features might resemble facilities at McKenzie Center for Innovation and Technology, she emphasized a more relaxed approach from the center for this project.
“This won’t be a class per se,” Fisher said. “You don’t have to have had a class to do that. It’s more of a space for people to explore.”
The arrival of this facility is part of the center’s effort to make some differences with their image and functionality.
“The Media Center is more than just books,” Fisher said. “It’s a place for students to come, research and extends to actually do something.”
An edited version of this story appeared in the 3 February 2017 edition of LN North Star, the student newspaper of Lawrence North High School, Indiana.
The center’s MakerSpace is set to be launched in the near future, according to media center specialist Tonya Fisher.
“MakerSpace is a space where students can come and experiment with hands-on application,” Fisher said. “You can build different things and program it. It’s a combination of building, engineering, coding [and] everything put together.”
The idea of opening this space came after seeing the lack of interest among LN students to explore the field of innovation using robots and computers.
“To have a space where students can come and experiment with that and see if it is something they like, it just opens up different avenues that people might not have thought before,” Fisher said.
MakerSpace itself lent its name from a high school starter collection that includes 14 different sets. The kit would include a robotic arm, roller coaster, bridge builder and other sets. It will also be accompanied with guiding books and manuals, which added the cost up to $1,000. The center received no special grant to purchase and set up the facility, meaning that all costs come from their annual budget.
The most intriguing feature of this facility is perhaps Lego Mindstorms, a set of specially-minted Lego kits that contain software and hardware to create user-customized robots.
“What it does is, you build whatever Lego robots and it has a machine in it which you can program to do what you say,” Fisher said.
The center is currently working with technology department to provide much-needed computers and other equipment for online videos and software.
The technology department will be working with the media center to provide computers and other technological support. Some of the kits require special softwares to work with, such as Legos and the robotic arms. The department’s student assistants would be responsible to run the day-to-day operations.
“Ideally it will need four work stations, but it is still very early,” technology supervisor Jacob Petrisin said.
The space would be accessible to teachers and instructors from related fields of study to give their students a first-hand approach on creative exploration. But no worries to students that did not take any technology-related class, since they could still come and try during their study hall period.
While Fisher agreed that some of the features might resemble facilities at McKenzie Center for Innovation and Technology, she emphasized a more relaxed approach from the center for this project.
“This won’t be a class per se,” Fisher said. “You don’t have to have had a class to do that. It’s more of a space for people to explore.”
The arrival of this facility is part of the center’s effort to make some differences with their image and functionality.
“The Media Center is more than just books,” Fisher said. “It’s a place for students to come, research and extends to actually do something.”
An edited version of this story appeared in the 3 February 2017 edition of LN North Star, the student newspaper of Lawrence North High School, Indiana.
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