With the chance to play for the U.S. Soccer D2 Pro League title, the Carolina RailHawks are on the verge of a season to remember.
Whether they defeat the Puerto Rico Islanders in the home-and-home championship series over the next two weekends or not, the RailHawks will head into an uncertain future, still trying to put together a league to play in next season and still looking for new investors into the franchise.
That means there's so much more on the line than merely a championship in these final two games, at Puerto Rico on Sunday and at WakeMed Soccer Park on Oct. 30, as if playing for the title wasn't enough.
"This is uncharted ground for us," team president Brian Wellman said. "Typically this time of year we're all on vacation."
Even when the championship is settled, there won't be much time for vacation. The D2 Pro League is a one-shot deal, created by U.S. Soccer to combine the existing USL and breakaway NASL. The RailHawks helped lead the revolt against the USL, but neither side could gather enough teams to stand on its own.
The minimum set by U.S. Soccer is eight teams, and the NASL is trying to get that many together for next season. Right now, only six teams are committed: Carolina, Puerto Rico, Miami, Tampa Bay, Montreal and an expansion Edmonton franchise.
The NASL has a commitment from an expansion franchise in San Antonio to replace Montreal when that franchise moves to MLS in 2012, but that still leaves the NASL two teams short. Among existing D2 Pro teams, Minnesota and St. Louis are possibilities if they can add new partners; Baltimore as well, but with more financial work to do. Rochester and Austin appear to be going different directions and Portland and Vancouver are moving to MLS.
Would U.S. Soccer let the NASL play with six or seven teams next season if there are other teams on the horizon for 2012? Wellman isn't sure.
"All we're doing is stating the strongest case possible with the strongest possible franchises," Wellman said. "If we do go with seven or whatever the final number is and a few more for the next year or two, and that's the best we've got, we'll still feel we'll have the strongest second division ever seen. ... I mean strong franchises that don't come and go every year like the old days."
In an attempt to strengthen their own franchise, the RailHawks' ownership group - which in addition to Wellman includes his father Selby, a former Cisco Systems executive and the team's majority shareholder; Red Hat co-founder and Lulu.com CEO Bob Young; and Cary physician H. Paul Singh - has been seeking new investors since July.
The team's success under second-year head coach Martin Rennie hasn't brought any new investors to the table, Wellman said, but it has enhanced the attractiveness of the team to some of the potential investors already interested. Those groups think there's money to be made developing young players and selling them to MLS and overseas.
"There's no deadline," Wellman said. "From our perspective, being in charge of day-to-day operations, the sooner the better so we can get on with things."
For now, the RailHawks have everything to play for - a chance to win a title. Where they go from here, nobody knows.
