CF Kraze join USL Pro Champions Orlando City

Orlando City Acquires Kraze
PDL side to be renamed Orlando City U-23s
Orlando City News Release — www.orlandocitysoccer.com

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

ORLANDO, Fla. – Orlando City is proud to announce it has acquired a controlling interest in the USL Premier Development League’s Central Florida Kraze.

Founded in 1999, the Kraze have been one of the PDL’s strongest franchises. In 2004, the Kraze won their first Southeast Division title, and then continued on to win the overall PDL National Championship in the same season. The Kraze remain the only Florida-based team to win a PDL title. In total, the Kraze made six playoff appearances, four U.S. Open Cup appearances, and won two Southeast Division titles.

“Today we are announcing a key piece in our development strategy with the incorporation of the Kraze PDL team in the Orlando City family,” said Orlando City Owner/President Phil Rawlins. “The new team, Orlando City Under 23s, will give us a tremendous platform to assess and develop young talent for our pro team. We also could not be working with better people, with a better track record at the Under-23 level, than Joe Avallone, and the Kraze organization. We are excited about the 2012 season.”

Leading the U-23s will be Head Coach Joe Avallone. Avallone has been the coach of the Kraze since 1999. In his 13 years as a PDL Head Coach, Avallone has never had a losing season. Joining Avallone from the Kraze organization is General Manager Terry Garzon, who will also retain his GM position with the U-23s. Daniel Russo will assist Garzon with team management and player personnel duties.

“Orlando City is the top soccer organization in Orlando,” said Avallone. “It’s about structure, getting the structure right. Putting the Kraze together with Orlando City, renaming them, is really a no-brainer because it is the right thing to do for soccer in Orlando. It’s the right thing to do for the game.”

Avallone will implement the championship winning system and style of play designed by Orlando City Head Coach Adrian Heath, creating an integrated path of player development from the U-23 team to the USL PRO club.

“We’re delighted to get involved with the PDL side,” said Orlando City Head Coach Adrian Heath. “We had great success with the PDL in Austin, so this is the natural growth of the club here in Orlando. It gives us the opportunity to find potential players for the future.”

“We’ll approach the PDL club in the same manner we do the USL PRO side – we want to win the league, be the best team in the league. There’s a lot of talent in Florida. This gives those players in Florida who want to go pro to play and train in a professional environment and give them an opportunity to experience what it takes.”

Announcements regarding PDL tryouts, schedules, and game locations will come at a later date.

Gain VIP access with our QR Code Campaign & Mobile Site

Fans gain exclusive access to player bios, social media updates, team schedule, multimedia and more on the official Kraze mobile site viewable by scanning our QR Code with your smart phone!

Designed and developed by our technology partner, Right Brain Media the Kraze are proud to be the first in the USL/PDL league to showcase a mobile site with a QR Code campaign.

Fans stay close to your smart phones because we will continue to surprise you with giveaways, discounts and announcements exclusively on our mobile site throughout the season.

Need help scanning the QR Code? Smart phone users can scan and read QR Codes with a barcode scanner/QR Code reader app found in their phone’s app store (Market or iPhone). Fans can then use the barcode reader to scan the QR Code and view the Kraze mobile site, email link to a friend or store it in their phone’s history. Right Brain Media’s technology is unique because it will allow the Kraze to update and manage their content in real time so look out for game time announcements.

Need additional help? Please contact Right Brain Media directly at 407-909-9718 X 104 or log on to their corporate website at www.RightBrainMedia.com or their QR Code service website at www.GoMobileTag.com.

 

Another win for the Kraze who remain undefeated

Saturday, May 28, 2011

WINTER PARK, Fla. — The Central Florida Kraze (4-0-1, 13 points) needed a big win on Saturday in order to put pressure on the Mississippi Brilla to win on Monday for the lone U.S. Open Cup berth from the PDL Southeastern Division. They achieved just that with a 3-0 victory against the IMG Bradenton Academics (1-3-1, 4 points) on Saturday evening at Showalter Field.

The Kraze will now wait on Monday’s game between the Brilla and Nashville Metros. A victory by Mississippi against Nashville would put both teams at 4-0-0, but the Kraze would be the odd team out due to goal differential if the Brilla win by a two-goal margin.

“The boys did all we could ask of them and now we must wait and see were our fate lies with Monday’s result,” Kraze coach Joe Avallone said. “It would be a shame to be perfect in U.S. Open Cup Qualifying and not get a shot to play in such a prestigious tournament”.

After a scoreless first half, Central Florida came out strongly after the break and tallied its first score when Ezequiel Pedraza headed the ball into the Academics’ net off a service from Matt McFarland in the 59th minute.  The Kraze would make the score 2-0 when again McFarland played a ball into Abdul Berkia who rifled a shot from 30 yards out in the 74th minute.  The final tally of the night was by Jabari Garibaldi in the 84th minute on a ball played to him inside the Bradenton penalty area by Nicolas Russo to give his side a 3-0 victory.

Russo was just signed by the Central Florida Kraze and is currently only sixteen years of age.  He is the youngest Central Florida Kraze player to ever record a point for the club.

Keneil Baker recorded his third shutout in five matches and was helped by a great defensive display by McFarland, Pedraza, Sean Hart and Daniel Sackman.

If the Kraze fail to earn the U.S. Open Cup berth they will put full attention on the PDL Championship and a return to the playoffs in the pursuit of a second PDL championship after their victory in 2004.

Reprinted with permission from USLSoccer.com