We Are Soccer Central

The state of Michigan features a pair of teams competing in the third division National Independent Soccer Association, which kicks off this weekend. Gold Star FC plays their first ever competitive game and Michigan Stars will begin their third season as a professional club. To welcome the occaision, Robert Kerr brings on Dan Creel and John Howard Fusco from the Knights Who Say NISA podcast to break down those two sides as well as the rest of NISA as the league looks to find stability in its third campaign.

Detroit City FC had a rather strange time of it during their first home match of the season on Saturday. The wind was howling and blowing pizza and drinks away from fans like our host Robert Kerr and his fellow soccer dad guest Chris Rosen. Robert and Chris look back on the first three games of the DCFC season, including their 1-0 loss at home to Indy Eleven, as well as the outlook for the team going forward and a historic, if mostly unwanted, first for Keyworth Stadium courtesy of a daring fan.

Robert Kerr brings on a very special guest as he welcomes Chloe Ricketts onto the pod. Chloe just finished preseason with the NWSL's Washington Spirt after becoming the youngest ever player to sign in the league, beating Olivia Moultrie by three days. The former AFC Ann Arbor midfielder talks about her unexpected journey from youth soccer all the way to the pros and the interesting challenges that come from signing a pro contract at such a young age.

Bonus show for episode #101. Robert Kerr had a chat with Drew Ducker, better known as Ducks, who serves as the executive director of Futsal Factory Academy (FFA) in Canton. They field a team in the National Futsal Premier League (NFPL) and their final home game is this Saturday 3/18/23, so Ducks is here to promote the team and tout his facilities accomplishments in both the indoor world and their adventures into the outdoor game this spring. 

FFA's regular season finale can be streamed at https://www.youtube.com/live/3Fx87qIRFfI

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To celebrate the 100th episode of Michigan Soccer Central, Robert Kerr brings back Jer Staes & Fletcher Sharpe from Daily Detroit to look back on how the pod has developed over nearly two years and how the vibrant soccer scene throughout the entire state of Michigan continues to evolve and grow from the youth, amateur, and professional levels.

The Midwest Premier League held its preseason Annual General Meeting last weekend in Chicago and Robert Kerr was there personally to take in the experience. Robert got the chance to sit down with board members Ben Rode and Steve Beckman to talk about the club driven approach to the semi-pro league that features a large contingent of Michigan teams. He also had a chat with Steve Guipe from Troy United, one of the MWPL's newest additions, to discuss the club's second year overall and first in their new league.

Oakland County FC's fixture list is out and fan voting for the new kits is dropping soon, which means Robert Kerr needs to geek out about his number one club! Robert welcomes fellow OCFC supporter Andreas Gikas on to talk about the club, what it means to them, and what to look forward to in this upcoming season.

For more Michigan Soccer updates & info, follow @MiSoccerCentral on social media and Youtube.

This week's special guest takes the show across the world as Robert Kerr welcomes Ukrainian refugee and DeWitt High School forward Ruslan Masalitin to the show. Ruslan came to Michigan after war broke out in his hometown of Kharkov and his journey shows how soccer is the world's game and can unite people half a world away and can help a new country, new school, and new friends feel like home.

Detroit City FC has begin their preseason camp, so Robert Kerr brings on Nolan Bianchi of the Detroit News to take a look at Le Rouge's second USL Championship season. The team will look different up front, but the back line is back and there will be plenty of new faces leading to optimism down at Keyworth Stadium.

Robert Kerr has a pair of guests this week to talk about a couple different forms of soccer in Michigan. First up is former Detroit City FC standout Javi Bautista, who comes on to talk about Liquid Football, his new Midwest Premier League club. Bautista and his former DCFC teammate George Chamakov are looking to make a name for themselves with their vision of how an amateur club should be run. Robert then catches up with Rapid City FC captain Guiseppe Barrone after his hat trick in his team's win over Cincinnati last weekend in Major League Indoor Soccer action.