WV Highlanders FC
Welcome back to LowerLeagueUSA, and to another interview highlighting something or someone within the lower leagues. This week I managed to be able to get an interview in with a new and upcoming club in West Virginia, West Virginia Highlanders FC. They play in the Ohio Valley Premier League (OVPL), and in their first year of existence, (founded earlier this year), they managed to finish as runner ups in their conference (7-2-1 23pts). They narrowly missed out on the OVPL title game on the final match day! I want to thank the GM of the Highlanders Ryan Wall for giving us a closer look at the club and community it’s located in.
You can follow the club, and the league below.
LLUSA: Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to take this interview with me. I am scouring the nation to get more eyes on the lower leagues, and am excited to start in West Virginia. Without any further delay, let’s get started!
LLUSA: What brought/drew you to Wheeling, West Virginia?
WVHFC: I came to Wheeling in 2001 to be the Assistant Coach of Wheeling University (then Wheeling Jesuit) D2 Men’s program. As a player, I had actually played against them a couple of times and had met and knew the Coach, Jim Regan. They were a very good program so it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. Also, Wheeling is a good town, not far from Pittsburgh and with those blue collar roots. Not dissimilar to where I grew up in the U.K.
LLUSA: How difficult has it been to establish a presence for the club there in Wheeling?
WVHFC: It’s been interesting, because a high level adult men’s soccer team was not part of the local sport mix. However, we did a lot of PR, quickly ramped up our social media presence, and (perhaps crucially) were very successful on the pitch . So, from essentially creating the club in March to our last OVPL game in late June we are now well known in the local area and regionally in soccer circles. Another key has been our branding and positioning of the club. It’s not good enough to simply know your craft, such as how to recruit and coach quality soccer players. You also have to know your audience and what resonates with them. Wheeling is a rust belt town with a demographic with certain interests and sensibilities. We have tried to recognize this in everything from the name of the club, the Scottish/Celtic branding, and the emphasis of community impact and growth in our mission as a club.
LLUSA: Speaking of branding, what made you choose the name “West Virginia Highlanders FC”?
WVHFC: A couple of reasons;
First, I’m originally from Glasgow, Scotland, so the Highlands of Scotland area is one I’m obviously familiar with and the geography of West Virginia is quite similar. So, we felt the name was appropriate. Second, I’ve been here for 20 years now so I had a sense the name would work. Footy fans can identify with an angry Scotsman, Irishman, etc.. There’s both toughness and a slice of comedy wrapped up in it, which we pull on in our marketing of course.
LLUSA: Why did you go with your current crest ? What detail(s) sold you on it?
WVHFC: I guess it embodies the fighting spirit of a Scottish Highlander from old’n days.
LLUSA: With a number of leagues out there that are an option, why did you end up choosing to join the OVPL?
WVHFC: One fundamental problem with U.S youth and amateur soccer are barriers to entry for clubs! If I can put together a good group of players and a team I should be able to create a “club” and enter a league, right? Wrong! Regional Leagues typically require either a club to have multiple teams, and/or hefty entry/participation fees. Having experienced pro, semi-pro and amateur soccer in England and Scotland I can tell this is absolutely not the case there (with entry requirements for non-league clubs) and look how many more clubs they have! So, to answer your question, we jumped at the OVPL because it was far more accessible than other regional leagues, such as USL2 and NPSL. OVPL entry fees and requirements were more realistic for a new club – as they should be!
LLUSA: What is the biggest challenge you’ve encountered so far as an owner of Highlanders FC?
WVHFC: Due to the 2 month lead time, player recruitment was, let’s say, interesting! But, I have to say that capturing sponsorship was the biggest challenge. What we’re doing was new so we had to do a lot of educating on the benefits of partnering with us. In the end we landed two really key sponsors who have been great partners from the outset and will likely be with us for the long-run.
LLUSA: Speaking of recruitment, your roster is made up of primarily college aged players, yes? What do you look for when scouting for players? Local? Best colleges? What’s the most difficult thing about trying to build an OVPL roster?
WVHFC: We have good relationships with college coaches, and my co-Head Coach is currently a D1 coach. So a lot of players were referred to us. We also held an Open Tryout that actually turned up a number of very good players. Our roster makeup is mostly locally based players, but with some key players from out of town staying over the summer. The difficult things in building a roster are, 1. Balance; We want options, or cover in each position. 2. Positive attitude and commitment! We want our players to have these in abundance. Rather take an average lad with a positive attitude than a good player with a bad one.
LLUSA: What advice would you give to other people interested in starting a lower league club?
WVHFC: Make sure you have key parts of the puzzle nailed down before they do it, such as have a plan to; how you will recruit players, who will do the coaching, good access to a home pitch, and of course where you’ll get revenue and funding!
LLUSA: There are many successful lower league clubs throughout the nation, is there one in particular you look to when building your own club?
WVHFC: Appalachian FC of the NPSL have caught the eye. Love the logo (BigFoot!), the kit, ownership structure, and what they’re doing in a non-traditional soccer market. Also, Evansville Legends, the current Champions of the OVPL seem to have a great model. Local players and a great origin story. However, for Highlanders, we’re more inspired by the lower league scene in the U.K. Gritty, accessible, no frills but high quality footy! We feel that’s ultimately what real American soccer fans want.
LLUSA: So one of the biggest things for a club to do, especially in the lower leagues, is to get involved with the local community and be an integral active member within it. How are you making sure your club (and players) are doing that?
WVHFC: Our players worked several youth soccer camps. We also partnered with the city’s tourist and visitors bureau to help market the city. This was a nice win win as it promoted both Highlanders’ name and Wheeling throughout the region and beyond. We actually got some interest internationally.
LLUSA: How has attendance been like in your first season? I know earlier you mentioned a lot of PR, and success on the pitch, but during a crazy time like COVID we’re experiencing right now, how do you keep them coming to games?
WVHFC: COVID was a concern, but despite it we had approximately 100 at our home games. Again, being a new team and a newish league, we didn’t know. Turns out, we had more people at our games than any of the teams we visited. We’re very proud of that. We tried, albeit with limited resources, to make our home games fun also. Blasting some carefully selected Scottish/British music, bagpipes after every goal, and we even had a bagpiper walk out the teams for our first home game. Oh yes, we also held open tailgates before games to make sure fans were “well lubricated” ahead of the match!
LLUSA: I know your club is very young, but do you want to eventually go pro? If so, is there a particular league you’re looking at? If not, what are you looking for in a potential league? If that day comes do you intend to continue to field a team in the OVPL?
WVHFC: Ultimately, yes we have an eye on that. But for now, we need to focus on following up our first season success with solid second and third seasons. That’ll provide much needed stability and a platform to grow. For now the OVPL is ideal, the level is very high (good current and former college players) and we enjoy working with the league organizers. Even if we were to enter USL2 or NPSL, I’m sure we’d continue to try to field an OVPL team as the league is important for the amateur game in this region. But hey who knows, OVPL could continue to grow also, if so watch out as it might become the go-to league.
LLUSA: Obviously as you navigate life as a Lower League club owner, you have experienced a number of challenges (as we discussed above), one of the challenges surely has to be the current landscape of the US Soccer system. Care to share any thoughts on that?
WVHFC: Well, I’ll be blunt, U.S youth soccer has a serious problem with pay to play. It’s THE biggest problem and the only one people should be focused on. All successful footy countries do not have this problem! Here, State Associations, Leagues, Tournaments, Clubs and even Coaches are each profiteering off the youth game. To a large extent, youth players are viewed mainly as revenue. I’ve seen so many examples over the years and it’s shameful. Sadly, the issue is not seriously discussed, partly because the talking heads and ‘thought leaders’ all benefit from the status quo. With Highlanders, as an adult amateur club, we are trying to take a different approach. We charge our players a small nominal commitment fee for the season and cover almost all of their expenses. We also recently announced our first U18 youth team that will do the same – cover the majority of player expenses. We see this is the only way to make high level play accessible – the way it should be.
LLUSA: Thank you once again Ryan for chatting with me about your club, and I wish you the best in all your future endeavors in Wheeling!
