What a home game is like...

For each game, 18 players are allowed on the roster. 11 start, 7 are on the bench. A coach can make 6 subs during the game. If you are subbed off there is no re-entry. Before game day the 18 are announced. For home games there are 4 announced that warm up with the team and if anything happens to the 18 (not feeling well, injured, not cleared for some reason) then one of the 4 can be "activated". This home game Joe was one of the 4 and did get activated because 2 of the 18 still have not had the proper paperwork and are not eligible (something about transfer fees). The rest of the team watches from the bleachers.

2 hours before game time the players, officials, announcers, staff, etc. arrive and get set up. About an hour before the game, the players have a warm-up time then go back to the locker room. Coach gives a pep-talk, "If you don’t win we won’t feed you after the game!" or something along those lines (not really). The subs take the bench, the players walk out of the tunnel to music. Introduction of starting line-ups, national anthem, coin toss, whistle!

At our home-opener Miss Oregon scored the ceremonial first goal of the season. We had about 600 fans there, a great turnout! The little kids were hilarious. Even in the stands we were getting asked for autographs.

We played the Yakima Reds (of Yakima, WA). A 7:05 kickoff so we played under the lights. The guys played great and went up 2-0 at half on some beautiful goals. At halftime there was a "candy scramble" or something like that. Basically, the staff threw out lots of penny candy on the field and 200+ kids lined up and on "3, 2 1, GO" ran out to collect it all. Anarchy.

The second half was scoreless so we won 2-0. After the game the players came over to the side of the stadium and signed autographs for the kids. Applebee’s and Great Harvest Bread Co. gave away free samples of select items from their menu.

Overall, I was very impressed with the professional-ness that the match was run on and off the field for as small as semi-pro soccer in the US is. Dave Irby (manager of the Surge) does a great job of organizing sponsors and finding creative ways to make the matches, "fun for the whole family".