The Hattiesburg area is getting a semi-professional sports team to help waste away the summer months. A part of the Gulf Coast Premier League, Hattiesburg Futbol Club will participate in the 18-team league this summer.
The GCPL had 15 teams for its 2018 season, but three expansion teams, including HFC, allowed the league to grow for 2019. Port City FC, which is based out of Gulfport, won the league last year, and the GCPL has teams in Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Texas and Louisiana.
“We’ve been talking about it for about a year now,” Barry Farrell, William Carey and HFC head coach, said. “I helped get some of my William Carey players down to Port City and I actually helped coach one game in Louisiana. So, I saw the ins and outs of the league for one day. They have great support down there. It’s not just soccer, it’s for the whole community as well. For Hattiesburg to have that, it’s huge.”
The Gulf Coast Premier League formed in 2016 when it expanded from just a Louisiana league. It outgrew itself in Louisiana, and it’s been growing ever since it formed into the GCPL.
The timing for HFC couldn’t be more perfect. Soccer in the Pine Belt has had an exceptional year, as the William Carey girls just claimed the NAIA National Championship while Farrell’s men won the conference title. Also, the Jones College program is going strong, and a handful of area high school programs have won region titles this season. A few should compete for state championships next month, too.
“For Hattiesburg, Mississippi, soccer has had a good year, and this is just a great addition for the town and city,” Farrell said.
For the community, the addition of the Hattiesburg Futbol Club to the Gulf Coast Premier League will give fans something else to do during the long summer months.
“I think this is a great thing for not only our club but the city,” HFC Executive Director Drew Siders said. “The summer months, it’ll be one of the few athletic programs that will be going on, so I think it’s a great opportunity to get the community out to watch some games.”
Ages vary for players in the GCPL, and it won’t be any different for the Hattiesburg Futbol Club. Players will vary in age from high school to players in their late 30s. Farrell has already talked to some players about joining the squad, and there will also be tryouts in the next few weeks.
Playing for HFC will be like a pathway for the younger player, and playing with older more physical players will only make high school-level athletes get better.
“I’ve seen guys well into their late 30s, and that’s important because these younger players will get that experience of playing against older players,” Farrell said. “It’ll do them well when they go to college. We’ll have a combination of current college players and youth players within our club, and former colligate players as well.”
Farrell also doesn’t want to see a high school senior night be the last time some area players step on the pitch.
“I used to hate when people say, ‘I’m playing my last soccer game,’” Farrell said. “It could be their senior night in high school and I’m like, ‘You’re only 18.’ So you have guys who will come back after college or play beyond high school, so it’s great for the community.”
The league will start in mid-May with the championships capping off the season at the end of July, but the regular season is 10 weeks long.
Players who participate in the league will have many different reasons for playing. For high school level players, it gives them a chance to play a more physical game, and the league will prepare college levels players for the regular season in the fall.
Farrell had numerous players play for Port City last summer, and after winning the title, those players came back to William Carey fit and hungry to win more.
HFC will play in the East Division, joining AFC Mobile, Pensacola FC, Rangers FC (Alabama), Port City and Tallahassee Soccer Club.
