Bruno Resende has a dream. The former midfielder, who plied his trade with then USL pro-side (now PDL) Western Mass Pioneers in 2007, sees in his mind’s eye young boys and girls making the pre-game walk onto the pitch, hand-in-hand with professional soccer players from a club based in his adopted hometown of Montgomery, Alabama.
Soccer is no longer an afterthought in the South. In 2012, former LA Galaxy forward Chandler Hoffman became the first player from the state of Alabama to be selected in the Major League Soccer SuperDraft. On a broader scale, MLS has recently started and awarded franchises in Orlando, Atlanta, Nashville, and Miami.