BT 90 EXCLUSIVE: NISA Commissioner John Prutch speaks to us on resolving the Atlanta and Savannah situations
The first of several conversations with the NISA Commissioner exclusively on BT 90
First off this has nothing to do with General Sherman…
NISA Commissioner John Prutch generously spent well over an hour talking to me on the record this week, about a wide range of issues related to the league.
We’re going to have additional material speaking to the Commissioner about NISA +, US Open Cup, Southern California derbies, the PLS and Independent Cup in the coming days but first let’s dive into the big question of this week - the status of NISA clubs in the Atlanta area and Savannah.
NISA has resolved both situations allowing the clubs to compete in the 2024 NISA Season which begins this weekend and in the NISA Independent Cup which we will discuss in the future portion of the interview. Savannah was also able to compete in the US Open Cup.
The interview is being presented in various pieces with me chiming in with some commentary - marked as “KK Commentary,” and notes within Commissioner Prutch’s quotes about future stories are not bolded and are in italics instead.
KK: So you've been able to resolve the situation around the club in the Atlanta area and also the the reported situation which I had reported on also around Savannah described that for us because a lot of people have said Nisa as a league isn't as proactive as other leagues but you come in now and you've solved two very critical situations and And we're going to have a season as a result.
JP: Yeah, I think I think the off-season was a bit tumultuous, right? think having Chattanooga leave was disappointing. We had a great relationship with the club and they made their own decisions for their own reasons and and so we parted ways.
And that was the situation we had known about. and you know what's coming about. So I was comfortable with that. I think we ended up then in the off season with a couple of other clubs. Our champion (Flower City Union) decided to go down and play amateur.
Gold Star Detroit decided, the owner there decided owning a sports team wasn't invisible, wasn't what he wanted to do? Which goes to the old adage, it's not about money, right? So I think, so now going into the season, we had the Open Cup and we can talk about that here in a minute (Open Cup discussion will be published next week), but it did, it affected us a lot because we at our AGM in December, we were prepared in January to release our schedules and it just kept getting delayed, and delayed and delayed.
KK NOTE: Gold Star Detroit’s owner runs a player agency and maybe it wasn’t the best fit for ownership of a club although we see a model emerging globally where agents find clubs to park their clients. Think of Wolves in the Premier League as the most obvious example.
You know, like MLS just, you know went ahead with theirs anyway because, they were not as involved in the open cup as they had been in the past, but we ended up getting about a week's notice when our first But that happened, so you just have to be prepared for it.
We were and we knew it was going to some challenges and it wasn't. Regarding Georgia and Savannah, we'll go with Savannah first. It became obvious to us about six or nine months ago. The owner there is from South Africa and there ended up, because of the war in Ukraine, ended up being some very tough geopolitical issues going on between South Africa and the United States and moving assets or moving money, etc.
And that progressed through the fourth quarter and really became a hardship in the first quarter here. So what ended up happening is Mario is still the primary team owner and the lead us into the PLS discussion as well (we’re saving that for early next week here on BT90) but yeah we're going to get to that, there's a lot of ground to cover but anyway so we got involved as the we have some investors that are very dedicated to what we're doing as well as some clubs, a core group of clubs that are dedicated what were doing.
And so we ended up with an investor getting involved there to help Mario out until we can replace him which should be in the next couple of months. And in the meantime, the league too over oversight of operations.
And we replaced Shane with Jef Thiffault and brought Brian back into the fold. And it's taken a couple weeks for us to really, you know, get our heads around all this and everything that's going on.
And I will tell you that a big part of this is David Proctor, Head Coach there is a great He and Brian and Jef have done an amazing job of holding it all together and Now we look at him and we say wow these guys these could do some damage to the open cup So we'll see.
KK Commentary: Jef Thiffault is one of the best minds in lower division soccer. He was involved with Savannah initially but backed off last season. He also was the former Managing Director (is that the title?) of NPSL. The club still faces long odds but they are in the right hands with Thiffault. If they can get through the season and find new investment, the market is ripe for them. Otherwise it’s going to be difficult.
KK: I was at that I was actually at their (Savannah’s) Open Cup opener against Brave SC (in the Villages) and were shocked that Roddy Green and the guys were telling me yeah, we didn't have any preseason. We didn’t we haven't had many training sessions, but they hit the ground running and they won that game. (Savannah lost last night to Tormenta a sort-of local rival from Statesboro and are now out of Open Cup)
JP: There is some great leadership on the bench but there's also great leadership right it's a good group of young men and a couple of those guys have been around the league and I've gotten to know them and so it is encouraging to see and they've had a little bit more time now another week of training so maybe they'll do something tonight.
I really hope they do. Georgia, is a completely different situation. We ended up having a massive issue with a club called the Lions down there and even though the ownership group of our Georgia Lions, which is now Georgia FC, had really nothing to do with it.
But some management people did, and it really created almost a dysfunctional environment. And so we got involved, as a league, made some decisions, we're overseeing the asset right now from a management perspective and we brought in Karem Daser most people know him as Coach K to be sporting director and I think that was announced this morning as well and Preston Jarneski is the Director of Business Operations.
And so we are, when all this was going on, it became obvious to me that we couldn't do the Open Cup. I mean, we just, and the club wasn't ready, and club was ready to host a bunch of inter -conference games either.
So we canceled both and took some heat for it, But it gave us a chance to to really settle it down And now you look at the club and you say oh my goodness, right? It's got a good management team, and I think people are going to be very impressed with some of the players that were signed that they are signing. We're gonna play at Silverbacks Park, which I really liked as an environment and so I I think they got a pretty good shot. They're starting to staff up and and everybody's got a very good attitude So I am I'm anticipating it'll be a decent year for them.
So but anyway, but yeah, that's we as a league office we try to not to get involved if we don't have to because these are independent clubs but as opposed to historically we would allow them to sink or swim and they're all we're not anymore. We’re getting involved trying to help clubs now.
KK: Okay, these are a few examples. So, in fact, as you know Commissioner, I was someone who was an employee in the NASL front office. We had to go into Atlanta twice at that same stadium and bail the Silverbacks out late in 2010/ early 2011.
And then again, after I left the league by that time, but was working for an individual club in Fort Lauderdale in 2014, we had to fund them in the 2015 season. So there is nothing unusual or wrong with it.
And from my vantage point it's actually a very good proactive step from the league. Leagues need to act like leagues and from where I sit NISA didn’t in the past. So this is a very positive step in my mind.
But, just to follow up on the Georgia situation there is an additional concern that springs to mind- The Dutch Lions brand. The Dutch Lions, entity, Sportif, all of that, it comes with certain entanglements, even in terms of player signings which is why I understood what was going on in Georgia, and maybe as a result I was more tolerant your issues there than I have been of other NISA failures and maybe more than and other people on this situation did because I've had to deal with that entity working in lower divisions in the past.
Is this new entity Georgia FC, is it freed completely from those Dutch Lions entanglements or are you still going to have to deal some with that in year one? Because from my vantage point if those are still issues, you’re going to have problems all year with that club.
JP: No, totally free. Totally free, okay. Yeah, it's totally freed.
And that was, if they, in my opinion, as we looked at the situation and we realized the issues, it was imperative that it be completely separate. And so the people that were involved with the Dutch Lions that we're also involved over here are no longer.
KK Comment: I certainly hope this is true. The Dutch Lions brand brings entanglements and vendor deals that would saddle any independent club and make them not truly independent in my view. I was concerned that NISA didn’t quite comprehend the problem here but based on Commissioner Prutch’s acknowledgement of the situation and the club re-brand and move, I am optimistic.
***However this is an issue we will hold NISA accountable on. The entanglements that would have initially come with the “Lions” brand would make this team absolutely incapable in my opinion of making it to a year two as a professional club. Even from a scheduling and player acquisition standpoint the Dutch Lions thing creates problems. I do not think at this point NISA can afford the complications that come with it.
We will have a portion of the interview tomorrow on NISA+ and its potential.
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I am not understanding the Commish comments about Savannah --did the war in Ukraine lead the South African owner to somehow lose access to funds, or have to move funds back to South Africa for something war-related??
Some great information in there. It's a relief to see them cut loose the Dutch Lions and get a different club in place. It's still an odd deal, but it feels like they've taken this approach to save some face.