FC Naples Soccer has a Ball at Marco Sunrise Rotary

Marco Island’s Sunrise Rotary continued its “Wake Up to Rotary Speaker Series” with a recent presentation by Gianna Cancelleri and Andres Paz with Naples FCS Soccer. Naples FCS Soccer is Naples professional soccer team in its second year of play. The team plays in the second tier of USL League soccer and in its first year made the playoffs.

The speakers enthusiastically explained that the team’s home field is Paradise Coast Sports Complex with seating capacity of 4,600. The complex is off of just north of I-75. The USL season starts in March and runs through October with home games on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

The speakers emphasized that the team is part of a growing worldwide interest in soccer. They explained the NFL Super Bowl draws 120-160 million viewers. The recent World Cup soccer championship was viewed by more than 1.5 billion fans.

The USL has a relegation system aligned with traditional international club soccer format. The USL has three divisions. The top tier is the Premier, followed by USL Championship and the lowest division is USL League One. Best teams in a division earn promotion to the division above, while the worst performing teams in a division move down. The system is designed to provide incentives and some degree of parity in each division.

The Naples team is truly international. Players come from 13 nations. At the end of each season, the players generally return to their home country where they play even more soccer and train. The team hopes to make the playoffs again this year.

Sunrise Rotary meets at Stonewall’s restaurant on Tuesdays at 7:00 AM. Its speaker series continues in September with upcoming presentations including Robyn Johnson of The Watermark, Steven Feldman of Books for Collier Kids, Heather Otis with the Marco Island Historical Society, and Ben Bridges of St. Matthews House.

For more information about Sunrise Rotary and its activities, please visit the Rotary Club of Marco Island Sunrise website at www.marcosunriserotary.com.