New Partnership: Toronto FC and USL PRO Wilmington Hammerheads FC

Toronto FC has become the latest MLS team to affiliate itself with a lower-division American club. On Wednesday it was officially announced that the Wilmington Hammerheads FC, of the USL PRO, will be the destination for Toronto’s developmental players.

It’s yet another pairing between MLS and USL PRO teams after a partnership was created between the two leagues back in January of 2013. It’s like the minor league system of baseball, if a player isn’t skilled enough to touch the grass, then they’ll likely be shipped off to join the minor league team where they’ll get much more playing time and try to improve upon their talents. So, if the recently drafted players, like defender Nick Hagglund or midfielder Daniel Lovitz, don’t make a big enough impact to make the starting team, they may find themselves in North Carolina.

In case your wondering, 8 of the 13 teams are directly affiliated with a team from the MLS. (Actually, it might be 9 of 13 depending if Orlando City is still connected to Sporting KC even though they become part of MLS in 2015.) Some partnerships are close to each other, like Columbus and the Dayton Dutch Lions, or the Union and the Harrisburg City Islanders, but some are curiously far apart, like Houston and the Pittsburgh Riverhounds. Using Google Maps, it’s 13 hours and 33 minutes between the stadiums of Toronto and Wilmington. (It’s 1,348 kilometers in driving distance. (since when did Google Maps automatically assume I want kilometers?))

Located on the Southeastern coastline of North Carolina, the Hammerheads of Wilmington (obviously) provide soccer to a city with a population of near 110,000. The city also is home to two other minor league sports teams — the Sharks (baseball) and the Sea Dawgs (basketball).

And let’s not forget that you now have the chance to watch every single Wilmington Hammerhead and USL PRO match in a free live-streaming setting this year.

These types of partnerships are a sign that soccer is growing in America. A backbone is being created so that teams will have much more depth, and with depth comes more competition among players, which makes the  club, and eventually the league, better as a whole.