The AGM attendees get together for Pub Night, the night before the work begins The theme of this year's meetings is "Connect" The Hyatt Regency Tampa, site of the 2006 and 2007 United Soccer Leagues Annual General Meeting The opening breakfast, the official start of the 2007 AGM USL President Francisco Marcos addresses the meeting Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer Tim Holt A cool jersey created by one of the AGM Vendor. Sorry, they aren't available for sale. Tim Holt gets the USL First Division meeting underway Director of Professional League Operations Steven Thompson runs the First Division meeting In the stretch limo on the way to Ed Radice Soccer Park Some action from the U17 Showcase Match Some of the AGM attendees scout the Showcase Match

The theme of this year's meetings is "Connect". From my perspective as a guest observer of these meetings, it was a very appropriate them as the USL seems to be putting more focus on connecting with their teams to provide more support for their franchises and the issues each team faces, and also the focus for the future on connecting with foreign clubs to form a closer partnership, as seen in the last few years with the league's partnerships with Ajax, Crystal Palace, and West Ham United. I think it is also very appropriate in the sense that the internet has found a new importance for the USL and their teams, in ticket sales, communication between the teams, and with the successful introduction of web broadcasts for the USL First Division last year via USLLive.

After the introductory breakfast, the teams broke up into their individual meetings, and while I can't report the details of the First Division meeting I attended of course, it was interesting to see how the focus of the meeting seemed to change a bit from earlier years from focusing on how decisions would affect this season, to how it would affect the clubs and the league 3 or 5 years or more down the road. It's no so much that there seems to be any concerns about the future of the league, but a consideration for making too many changes from year to year. And from a fan's perspective, it's always interesting to hear the league and team representatives talking about how decisions they make in the meeting will be perceived by the fans. To those of us who have followed the league for years, and for new fans the league finds each year, it's easy to think that the fans are not considered when decisions are made, but they do. As with most offseasons, some changes are in store for in 2007, but that's for the league to announce, not me.

In addition to the individual league meetings, other seminars going on this afternoon were about insurance, Sprinturf, generating revenue, International development, game tape analysis, and getting fans to the game. One thing I find interesting about these individual seminars is that many of them can become very interconnected. For example, the seminar about Sprinturf (which I did attend) had implications for insurance, team revenue, and stadium operations. The Sprinturf session was well attended, and for many fans (like myself) who feel soccer should be played on grass, it's a somewhat sad statement that artificial turf is becoming a bit of an economic necessity, but I can also say that the technology seems to be getting better.

After the afternoon meetings were complete, the festivities moved to Ed Radice Soccer Park for the Super Y-League North American Finals Showcase Match, and on the way over (in a very nice ride in a stretch limo), I had a nice chat with Bruno Hartrell from the Toronto Lynx, about their first season in the PDL, about how it differs from their years in the USL First Division, and about Toronto FC and the advantages/disadvantages for Canadian players. It's always very interesting to talk to people from the Canadian teams about their interesting situation of being a Canadian team in an American league.

After some scouting of the Y-League Showcase Match and a pass through the buffet line, the AGM attendees found the limousines to get them back to downtown Tampa for an early evening after a full day, sharpening their pencils and looking at their calendars in preparation for Sunday's start of the scheduling sessions.

Tomorrow: Scheduling starts, and the Hall of Fame Dinner and Awards presentation