World Cup News

Dan Vaughn and the rest of the Protagonist Soccer crew are one of driving forces behind growing support in the lower leagues of the United States. They offer a voice for the under-covered and a platform for supporters of local soccer to gather information that is scarcely available elsewhere. Dan started the site in 2018 and focuses Protagonist's attention towards covering 3rd Division and lower soccer leagues here in the US. Which, of course, includes the league where our beloved Maryland Bobcats FC play (NISA). Personally, I love the Knights Who Say NISA (an homage to Monty Python and the Holy Grail, of course!) podcast and see it as the only outside source of information and news coming out of NISA. During our conversation, we talk about some of the deep history of soccer in this country (shoutout Inocentes FC and the American Soccer league), NISA and its current affairs, the USMNT and their qualifying hopes, and more! I also find it fascinating that we have found another American soccer fan who was brought into the sport through FIFA. Happens more than you'd think!

I had the pleasure of chatting with Adam Gotkin, who is currently a Senior at Quince Orchard High School, and is the voice of the Maryland Bobcats. Adam has known that he has wanted to be in Sports Broadcasting/Journalism since he was a young child. At such a young age, he already has experience starting his own High School Sports broadcasting network (Quince Orchard Sports Network), calling games for the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League team in Gaithersburg (the Giants), and with the Maryland Bobcats FC. Adam is off to Syracuse next year to continue his pursuit of that dream. We talk about his preparation as a broadcaster, how he got involved with the Maryland Bobcats, his Twitter friendship with the infamous Arlo White, and then dive into NISA and USMNT a bit.

Support local extends to the soccer world during the pandemic. We last caught up with Evan Raimist, GM and Director of Operations for the Maryland Bobcats back in February of 2020. Covid-19 was a thing but it wasn't quite THE thing. But even with Covid dominating the world, the Maryland Bobcats have managed to have an incredible year and continue to create some buzz in the Montgomery County, Maryland area. Evan comes on to talk about their world class kits, their development academy, the Maryland Soccerplex, joining the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA), and of course, a bit of Everton.

In this bonus episode, we take a deep dive into the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid with the General Manager of Maryland Bobcats FC, Evan Raimist. The Bobcats are fresh off of winning a United Premier League Championship (UPSL) National Championship in Florida. Now they are gearing up for their first season as a National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) squad. Evan gives us a glimpse of what life is like as the GM of the Montgomery County based, Maryland Bobcats FC and educates us on both the UPSL and NPSL. Then of course we had to ask him about his opinion of soccer development here in the US. He gives us a breakdown of his own soccer journey (shoutout to FC Frederick and Shippensburg University). Tells us about some of the "dream brands" in the US (Providence City FC, Minneapolis FC, Forward Madison FC). Regales us with stories from his experience as a 10 year old at the 2006 World Cup. Then we dream about the future of US Soccer. There's a bright future for Evan!