ST. LOUIS —
Since the 60s, St. Louis has been known around the country as "soccer central.'
After kicking around the idea for years, it appears Major League Soccer may be finally passing the ball to St. Louis. The official announcement is expected on Tuesday.
"Everyone in St. Louis, we love soccer," said Damien Clucas.
St. Louis has long been labeled a soccer town. For Coach Terry Michler, the key word there is "long."
"We were primarily dominant before a lot of other parts of the country caught on," Michler said.
"Being able to look up to those players — it’s going to be an extra motivation for all of us kids who have been playing since 5-6 years old," Clucas said.
Sam Benoist is hopeful he'll see some CBC alum taking the field in West Downtown. Maybe, even one day, his own number in lights.
"That’s the goal, play MLS. So if they can do it, why not us?" Benoist said.
Even the winningest coach in St. Louis history wouldn't call this a tap in just yet.
"International games, we support that, the challenge is will we support a regular league schedule?" Michler asked.
Like any good coach, he's studying the competition and likes what he sees.
"There’s a lot of new teams, fresh blood, that have established fan bases that are incredibly passionate. Maybe now is a good time to have a little copycat mentality. Find out what they’re doing to make it work and make it work here," he says.
At the very least, you can count on a lot of this team, to be eager to buy tickets.
"MLS is just going to be the next stage and it’s just going to be incredible to go watch those," said Clucas.
That is, just as long as it doesn't interfere with practice.
"We all want to see the best," said Clucas.