Photo by Z2 Marketing
Soccer in this country has gone from the fringes to the mainstream. Youth soccer participation is second only to basketball and professional teams are popping up in more and more cities. The Wave has dominated Milwaukee professional soccer for years now, but as an indoor club they do not play the most popular variation of the game: the one that we see played every four years at the World Cup. Andreas Davi, a German-born soccer coach and gym owner, is looking to bring a new age of Milwaukee outdoor soccer to the city with his team, the Milwaukee Torrent.
Being from Germany, what made you come to Milwaukee?
My ex-wife and soccer. I was running part of another youth soccer organization when I came over here, and I worked there for three and a half years. Then I started my own thing, my gym, and I’m still working as the director of coaching for another youth club. Then in February of last year I started the Milwaukee Torrent.
How did the idea for the Torrent come to be?
Last year, a league contacted me and asked if I could help out with bringing another team to Milwaukee to fill a spot that had just opened. So without really thinking about it I said yes. My requirement was that it had to be professional. Obviously it won’t be on the highest level, which is almost impossible to do here in Milwaukee right now because of money issues and the lack of a venue, but I always say you have to start things with baby steps. You can’t just jump in. You have to build a fan base, which is something I believe we have already.
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I’ve said in many interviews and statements before that whatever you want to do when you go to a soccer game, whether it’s tailgate, hang out with friends, chant the songs during the game or just identify with the club, it doesn’t matter what league you’re in. If you can identify with the club it doesn’t matter.
Kids playing soccer in Milwaukee have nothing that they can look up to. Nothing against the Milwaukee Wave, but I came here to develop outdoor soccer players. For every sport you have a bigger organization, but there’s nothing for soccer. I want this to be a homegrown program.
It took no longer than 72 hours before we had the logo, the name and the first sponsors. Now within the next week or two we are hoping to announce the league that we will be joining. We’ll then announce teams, schedules and then start selling tickets.
I am absolutely loyal to this town, and I do not want it to look like someone with a lot of money is coming in here, someone who doesn’t care about the community and takes $20-30 entrance fees for the games. That’s not what I want. I want to make it affordable for everybody. This is something that can only help the soccer community in Milwaukee.
How did you choose Uihlein Soccer Park as your home field?
I was thinking about what is the best spot. Obviously I needed a venue where we could have a nice field, where we have locker rooms, where the concession stand is not a problem, where you have a PA system, where you have real stands and you want it to be in a good spot. So it was between Uihlein and Milwaukee School of Engineering [MSOE]. I went to MSOE and it is just not big enough. We are pretty sure that we will get at least 1,000 people to the games with the marketing that we’ve done and with the players that we have. But even if it’s only about 500-600, you can only put about 600 at MSOE. Also there’s really no way that our supporters club and their flags and banners will be able to be accommodated there. They cannot just stand at the sideline and cheer. The referee would never start the game.
I got a lot of heat that I didn’t choose to play at MSOE because all the bars are right there, but I can’t choose them only because they are by the bars. Uihlein was the correct choice. We can also practice there every day. Nobody can say Uihlein is too far out. If you come from Downtown it’s a 15-minute drive.
