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The United Soccer League (USL) recently made an announcement of another expansion franchise that is set to join the league next year. USL New Mexico will begin play next year. The league held an introduction announcement today. USL NM will be based in Albuquerque, NM and will be the 4th expansion team for the second division professional league in 2019.

USL NM joins Birmingham, El Paso, Austin, and Memphis as cities and teams that will begin play in 2019. But, more importantly, the franchise becomes approximately the 20th in the second division that does not have a chaplain serving the team.

With soccer in North America booming right now, many cities are looking for opportunities to add a professional team to a cities profile and offering for the community. In some cities, like Cincinnati and Nashville, those second division teams are now on their way to becoming part of the top tier of soccer with Major League Soccer (MLS).

As Soccer Chaplains United, we are committed to developing chaplains and counselors with teams across all levels of soccer in North America and right now, the second division has the most need.

I constantly try to tell people to not be fooled by the language of “professional soccer.” Some of the players, just even a year ago were on as little money as $500 a month and housing for an 8-month contract. And often times, the front staff and coaches are not making a lot of money either. Chaplains and counselors serving those with these teams have tremendous opportunities to share the love of God and to encourage folks in the midst of difficult times.

Please pray for Soccer Chaplains United as we look to make contact with these various clubs and organizations to offer ourselves to develop chaplain and counseling teams. Pray, too, for the financial provisions needed to get chaplains in place and up and running.