FC Tampa Bay’s Mike Ambersley Named NASL Player of the Month for August
TAMPA, Fla. (September 2, 2011)
FC Tampa Bay forward Mike Ambersley has been named the North American Soccer League Player of the Month for August, the league announced on Friday. It marks the second consecutive month that FC Tampa Bay has claimed the award after forward Aaron King received the honor in July.
Ambersley totaled three goals and three assists last month as FC Tampa Bay moved into third place in the NASL standings with three wins, one tie and just one loss in August.
“It is a great honor. I feel like this is a team award more than anything and I want to thank my teammates,” said Ambersley. “August was a big month for us. We knew we needed to get points and we really played well. It gives us a big momentum boost as we head into a critical stretch in September.”
Ambersley ranks second in the league with a team-high 11 goals in 2011 and his five assists are tied for fourth in the NASL. He leads the club with 27 points and is the only player to have appeared in all 23 matches, logging a team-high 1,915 minutes.
Eighteen media members from NASL markets cast ballots for Player of the Month, with a first-place vote worth two points and a second-place vote worth one. Ambersley received a total of 23 points. Puerto Rico goalkeeper Ray Burse finished second with 16 points, while Montreal goalkeeper Evan Bush was third with seven points. Both goalkeepers recorded three shutout wins in August. Montreal midfielder Sinisa Ubiparipovic and Carolina forward Etienne Barbara finished fourth and fifth, respectively, while Puerto Rico forward David Foley was sixth in the voting.
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Gerry Whittmann predicted earlier in the season that Ambersley would come around after a slow start. He watched him play last season for AC St. Louis and said he was a very good finisher and a very active player.
Ambersley is very deserving, helping his team get 11 of 15 possible points in August and moving in to the #2 position in the NASL for goals. He received my vote.
The hobbit has done well for the Rowdies! He is a hard worker (hint for Aaron King), and has benefited from fantastic service by Pascal Millien all season long.
On a separate note, I know that Fox Soccer treated MLS like a bastard child, but since MLS is moving to NBC Sports, NASL could use the opportunity and contract the TV rights for NASL w/ Fox.
NASL could use additional exposure on its way of establishing itself as Division II of pro soccer in the US.
^ There is no opportunity. No network wants the TV rights for NASL games. Fox Soccer only airs a few USL games becuase they PAY them to air them. It’s not cheap either. The games draw much lower ratings than FSC’s foreign soccer games. FSC wouldn’t air them unless they were paid to do it. It hasn’t exactly done wonders for the USL and is just an added cost. FSC really has little interest in American soccer now that MLS and the USMNT are going to NBC.
Commish Downs has said national tv coverage for NASL makes no sense. They have to work on getting their games televised in local markets . There is no national appeal for D2 and probably never will be in our lifetimes.
Thanks KL. Your spot on and this has all been reported here before. I would hope your wrong about never being an appeal for D2 or D3 for that matter, in our lifetimes. But as I stated the other day, those leagues do need to find a way to become more relevant in the US soccer scene.
KL:
Thanks for the detailed response. The Rowdies have approximately half of their home games televised live on the local cable network, Brighthouse.
I hope they can show a few away games on TV next season…
Well, there isn’t a national appeal even for MLS right now and that might take a good 5-10 years to achieve. The NBC deal does speed things along. But D2/D3 is another matter.
But there can be a strong local appeal. Downs want to have every team have their games broadcast on a local network. That’s far more important than having a few games on FSC where no one is watching anyway. NASL should be about local viewership since it has no national appeal and likely won’t until MLS become a world power. Local is the key.
Also, if NASL gets in bed with MLS in some capacity, I can see Versus(or whatever they will be called) airing the NASL championship game.