This week, San Antonio FC is hosting players from the Super Y League as they take part in the second edition of the USL Experience. Amid the excitement behind USLX, San Antonio FC defender Ryan Roushandel looks back at his upbringing through the Super Y League and the connections in his current role with SAFC.
The Super Y League was founded in 1999, and at its helm was an ambitious leader named Tim Holt – the current SAFC Managing Director. At the same time, 13-year-old Roushandel was playing for Atlanta Fire United, a club that joined the league in its inaugural year and would eventually go on to win the National Championship.
“What’s interesting and has pretty much come full circle is that the Super Y League was just developing that year and Tim Holt was the commissioner, if you will,” Roushandel said. “He had just joined the USL and the league was his project. He was one of the people who started the Super Y League.”
As fate would have it, Roushandel and Holt were reconnected in the Alamo City through the founding of San Antonio FC in 2016. Just a year later, the two were rekindled with the Super Y League through the USL Experience, which is being hosted by San Antonio FC. For Roushandel, seeing the progress of the league and the opportunities that it provides young players is exciting.
“It’s pretty surreal [seeing the league’s progress,]” Roushandel said. “I started along with the league in 1999 and now it’s 2017. I was a national champion at 13 then, and now I’m a 31-year-old adult who is coaching kids playing in the same league that I played in.
“It’s awesome, it’s cool to see that it’s grown so much since that very first year and now there are a ton of teams playing in the league. We have over 70 players here in San Antonio this week getting to experience what it’s like to be a pro and the fact that I played in that league hopefully shows these kids that if I did it, they can too.”
Besides serving as a player for SAFC, Roushandel is also part of the coaching staff for the SAFC Pro Academy and the Elite Training Program. This week, the ETP will take on the USLX teams as part of the USL Experience match day. For Roushandel, the fact that youth players have opportunities to play high-quality competitive soccer is a unique chance that he hopes they take advantage of.
“The opportunity that these players have is amazing,” Roushandel said. “They’re getting to play competitive games that anyone can tune into. You never know who’s watching, so it’s an opportunity for them to get their name out. On top of that, they get to experience a “pro” environment and see what it’s like to play the game professionally. It gives them a chance to experience it first-hand and hopefully that’s something they take and use to spring forward their career even more.”
This week, San Antonio FC is hosting players from the Super Y League as they take part in the second edition of the USL Experience. Amid the excitement behind USLX, San Antonio FC defender Ryan Roushandel looks back at his upbringing through the Super Y League and the connections in his current role with SAFC.
The Super Y League was founded in 1999, and at its helm was an ambitious leader named Tim Holt – the current SAFC Managing Director. At the same time, 13-year-old Roushandel was playing for Atlanta Fire United, a club that joined the league in its inaugural year and would eventually go on to win the National Championship.
“What’s interesting and has pretty much come full circle is that the Super Y League was just developing that year and Tim Holt was the commissioner, if you will,” Roushandel said. “He had just joined the USL and the league was his project. He was one of the people who started the Super Y League.”
As fate would have it, Roushandel and Holt were reconnected in the Alamo City through the founding of San Antonio FC in 2016. Just a year later, the two were rekindled with the Super Y League through the USL Experience, which is being hosted by San Antonio FC. For Roushandel, seeing the progress of the league and the opportunities that it provides young players is exciting.
“It’s pretty surreal [seeing the league’s progress,]” Roushandel said. “I started along with the league in 1999 and now it’s 2017. I was a national champion at 13 then, and now I’m a 31-year-old adult who is coaching kids playing in the same league that I played in.
“It’s awesome, it’s cool to see that it’s grown so much since that very first year and now there are a ton of teams playing in the league. We have over 70 players here in San Antonio this week getting to experience what it’s like to be a pro and the fact that I played in that league hopefully shows these kids that if I did it, they can too.”
Besides serving as a player for SAFC, Roushandel is also part of the coaching staff for the SAFC Pro Academy and the Elite Training Program. This week, the ETP will take on the USLX teams as part of the USL Experience match day. For Roushandel, the fact that youth players have opportunities to play high-quality competitive soccer is a unique chance that he hopes they take advantage of.
“The opportunity that these players have is amazing,” Roushandel said. “They’re getting to play competitive games that anyone can tune into. You never know who’s watching, so it’s an opportunity for them to get their name out. On top of that, they get to experience a “pro” environment and see what it’s like to play the game professionally. It gives them a chance to experience it first-hand and hopefully that’s something they take and use to spring forward their career even more.”
