Cincinnati Swerve Head into 2022-23 Season with New Set Up and New League
The Cincinnati Swerve are joining a new league and beefing up their player development program. The Swerve have left M2 and have joined Major League Indoor Soccer for the 2022-23 season.
“We had a rough season last year as we had a partnership with another group that didn’t work out and we were transitioning from our veteran experienced players who had success in the past, to younger and less experienced players, so we spent a lot of time looking at how we wanted to build things going forward,“ said Manny Adjei, Head Coach of the Cincinnati Swerve.
The Swerve will host a PASL league at their home facility with four teams, with the best players from those four teams making up the core of the MLIS roster. Both the Swerve PASL teams and the MLIS team will be coached by Manny Adjei to allow for a consistent playing style. Teams from Chicago, Rockford, Grand Rapids, and Cleveland are all set to play in the MLIS division with the Swerve.
“Our Technical Director, Craig Rhodis, is really big on providing opportunities for players in our area," continues Adjei. "This set up gives us the ability to find a player in the men's amateur league, invite them to play on one of the PASL teams, then if they do well we can invite them to play on our MLIS team to get an even higher level of competition. If they stand out in MLIS, Craig can provide a possible opportunity in the MASL with one of his contacts, so we are really happy with how we are set up going forward."
The Swerve PASL league and the MLIS team will play home games at GameTime Training Center and will begin training camp in October.
“I have been asked a lot lately what I think of the different indoor leagues and levels and the honest answer is that I just focus on what is best for our organization," said Rhodis, who is Technical Director for both the Swerve and the women's Cincinnati Sirens. "We entered the M2 last year when we probably were not ready for that level, but we liked what the league had planned. This year when we learned that Cleveland Crunch and Chicago Mustangs, two former M2 division mates, had moved to MLIS, we started to explore what they had planned. For us in Cincinnati, it is a really good fit. We love some of the ideas they have, like the teams that are in our division, and look forward to playing. Through my role as director of soccer for the US small sided association, I try to help with all leagues. I am an advisor to the PASL, and an advisor to MLIS, but I don’t have a stake in any league. It was really just that the MLIS was a good fit for Cincinnati. It also allows us a pathway for a player from amateur to professional if they are good enough, which has always been our idea.”