semi-pro football

Semi-pro football is considered football played by men who are paid less than deliverable wages. This is not really correct. In most semi-professional leagues, such as the New England Football League, it is against league rules to compensate players in any way. Which means no one makes any money playing semi-pro soccer.

The Vermont Ice Storm freshman team in the New England Football League is made up of players who love soccer so much they pay to play semi-professional soccer. In fact, all Vermont Ice Storm players have had to buy their own football kit, contribute a player fee (to ensure they don’t have to pay extra for a team uniform), and also have to pay expenses. traveling to get to every practice and every away game. Over the course of a season, the financial burden can be substantial.

Professional football developed in the 1890s in Pennsylvania when local sports clubs played in intense competition. Former Yale football star William “Pudge” Heffelfinger became the first professional football player when he was hired by the Allegheny Athletic Association to play in a game against their rival, the Pittsburgh Athletic Club in November 1892. In 1896, the Allegheny Athletic Association was made up entirely of paid players. As soccer became more and more popular, local semi-professional and professional teams were organized throughout the country. Semi-professional soccer was the forerunner of professional soccer. Why did they come up with the name semi-pro football? When we look at the history of this level of football, it tells us that some name was needed to differentiate this type of football from high school, college, and professional football. A few traveling players, wandering the country looking for games to play, were given small amounts (usually under the table) to make local small-town teams look better and win.

In the 1910s, professional football proved to be a viable spectator sport with the formation of the Ohio League. Canton was the main team with legendary decathlete and soccer star Jim Thorpe. Thorpe was an international star who took football to a new level. He won a gold medal in the Stockholm decathlon in 1912. Thorpe and the Canton team drew large crowds and created a market for professional soccer in Ohio and beyond.

At the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, the “Watertown Red and Black” football team is referred to as the “first professional football team in America.” Today, the Watertown Red and Black is a powerful semi-professional team with an excellent history behind it. He is a member of the Empire Football League and the Vermont Ice Storm is one of his opponents.

So “semi-professional” football means “amateur football” in a real sense. It is played by adults, from the ages of 18 to “whatever”, who love the game enough after their high school and/or college career that they feel they haven’t gotten soccer out of their systems.