For the past 10 years the Central Florida Kraze of the Premier Development League has served as a breeding ground for future professional soccer players. During that time its alumni has moved through the ranks and into top divisions of the United Soccer Leagues and even Major League Soccer, giving validation to the kind of soccer talent throughout the area.
Each year the Kraze fields a roster of mostly local high school and college players and coaches who have all grown up in and around Central Florida. Among the former local stars playing big roles this year are Scott Thelen (Oviedo), Travis Bender (UCF), Dustin McCarty (Winter Park), Carlos Araujo (Freedom) and Jon Gruenewald (Rollins).
In the opening four matches of the season the Kraze have outscored their opponents by a combined 9-1 tally during those first four wins. But following their first loss of the season on Monday, a 3-0 shut out by rival Bradenton that kept the Kraze from repeating as U.S. Open Cup qualifiers, head coach Joe Avallone is looking to keep his team focused on winning the Southeast Division and vying for a national championship.
Avallone is confident his team can rebound from what he referred to as an uninspired outing before the regular season concludes in July. They’ll be chasing their second national championship and first team title since 2004. “We need to start trusting each other, playing for each other, and building some character out there,” he said. And if the coaching staff has its way, in years to come that kind of camaraderie will be a fixture for future teams.
That’s because youth soccer academies run by Avallone and his staff will some day feed directly into the program, giving aspiring local professional soccer players a team close to home. Avallone spent 15 years coaching at Oviedo High School before he and his assistants shifted their focus full time to the Kraze and its network of boys and girls youth teams.
“The long-term goal is that we want kids from this area to come through the academies and develop and hone their skills within the same style of play [as the PDL team],” said Avallone. With the hopes that they too will have the chance to realize their professional soccer aspirations.
