Get used to a new address for the Battery in the A-League's revamped alignment.
Charleston will be in the Central Conference, one of three seven-team conferences dividing up the 21 teams to play in the second-division pro soccer league for 2001.
The rest of the conference is a mixed bag of familiar and not-so-familiar teams:
• The Atlanta Silverbacks and Richmond Kickers have been Battery rivals in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference under the old four-division, two-conference setup;
• The Cincinnati Riverhawks, Indiana Blast and Nashville Metros (formerly the Tennessee Rhythm) all were Central Division and Western Conference members last season;
• And the Charlotte Eagles are newly promoted from the USL D3 Pro League.
The Eagles, winners of last season's D3 national championship, were close United Soccer Leagues rivals of the Battery before Charleston's promotion to the A-League in 1997.
Charlotte's presence again gives the Carolinas two teams in the league. When the Raleigh (N.C.) Capital Express ceased operations in mid-October, Charleston was briefly the only one remaining.
The Hampton Roads Mariners, another longtime Battery rival, will not return to the A-League for next season. But the club has indicated an interest to compete in the D3 league.
The Boston Bulldogs are moving to the USL Premier Development League or D3 league.
In the West, the Bay Area Seals and Orange County Waves have shifted out of the A-League to the D3 league, and the U.S. Pro-40 program will not field an A-League team for 2001.
The Hershey Wildcats and Pittsburgh Riverhounds, two others who chased the Atlantic champion Battery last season, are in a Northern Conference lineup headed by the reigning league champion Rochester and 2000 Northeast Division titlist Long Island.
Original alignment projections had the Minnesota Thunder and Milwaukee Rampage, one of the nation's marquee rivalries, competing in separate conferences. But some of the recent changes led USL to realign Milwaukee into the West to give each conference an even seven teams.
Under the new alignment, the winners of each conference and the top second-place club will advance to the postseason with first-round byes and the next eight will play in the first round.
• Battery midfielder Jon Akin is currently playing on loan to Kilkenny City of the Irish Premier League.
Akin will be back in time for the March 1 opening of the Battery's training camp.
• Midfielder Todd Miller will not return for next season. The No. 4 man on the Battery career list in games played (93) and No. 8 in total points (32), Miller has moved back to his home state of Utah.
• USL recently announced the A-League will add a team in Calgary, Alberta, for 2002, expanding into a fourth Canadian province.
2001 A-LEAGUE ALIGNMENT
Central Conference
Atlanta Silverbacks, Charleston Battery, Charlotte Eagles (promoted from D3), Cincinnati Riverhawks, Indiana Blast, Nashville Metros (formerly Tennessee Rhythm), Richmond Kickers.
Northern Conference
Connecticut Wolves, Hershey Wildcats, Long Island Rough Riders, Montreal Impact, Pittsburgh Riverhounds, Rochester Raging Rhinos, Toronto Lynx.
Western Conference
El Paso Patriots, Milwaukee Rampage, Minnesota Thunder, Portland Timbers (expansion team), San Diego Flash, Seattle Sounders, Vancouver Whitecaps (formerly 86ers).
