OFFSEASON: Gold Coast Plans to Protect No One

BSL club owners will get the opportunity (if they so choose) to acquire as many as 3 Designated Players in preparation for the 2011 season. The word out of Sacramento is that Gold Coast F.C. has no desire to protect anyone from its Majors Cup championship roster. The club has plans to completely revamp its squad in the upcoming draft with the desire to pick up additional first round draft picks. The question remains will any BSL clubs want to trade for another DP? Only time will tell.

2010 Year in Review

REGULAR SEASON
With some experience under its belt, the BSL came back in 2010. The second season saw 4 inaugural clubs return and 4 new members join the fold. New rules were added allowing Yellow and Red Cards to be counted in the box scores. A reserve system was established giving BSL clubs a place to put their injured and National Team players. Rosters were also expanded from 11 players to 14 players. (A third Substitute player and 2 Reserve players) The BSL Network was established giving BSL club owners the opportunity to individualize their clubs with their very own club web sites.

The break out club in 2010 was the St. Louis Cure. The newcomer went undefeated through the first 10 games of the season and easily won the Honors Trophy by game 15 of the schedule. The rest of the league was jam packed for the bulk of the season making the playoff race a close finish all the way to the very last week of the season.

PLAYOFFS
Qualifying for the playoffs with St. Louis was Union S.C. and Burud Town. All three clubs were first timers into the postseason. In the Semi-Final Game, Union S.C. won the first ever overtime match defeating Burud Town 2-1. Then for the second year in a row, the Honors Trophy winner failed to win "the Double" as Union S.C. easily defeated the St. Louis Cure 7-1 to become the league's 2nd Champion.

MAJORS CUP
Qualifying for the Majors Cup was Montgomery County, Gold Coast, Union S.C. and St. Louis. Unlike last year, the BSL clubs fared much better against the MLS clubs, but only two (Union S.C. and Gold Coast) would advance in the Semi-Final stage. Union S.C.'s victory over Montgomery County was the difference in Group A and Gold Coast victory over St. Louis was the difference in Group B in determining which BSL clubs would advance. In the Semi-Finals, Gold Coast would be pitted against Union S.C., while the Seattle Sounders would play F.C. Dallas, guaranteeing a BSL/MLS Final. The California Cup rivals left nothing on the table as Gold Coast would prevail 6-5. The Suns would play Seattle in the Majors Cup Final and win 4-2. The first BSL champion in the tournament.