News
Heat News
American Investors Acquire Majority Ownership of Danish Soccer Club FC Helsingør
Investors from the Golden State Warriors, Swansea City AFC & Los Angeles Football Club aim to develop the next generation of young American talent
Laredo, TX (Friday, March 29, 2019) – An American investment group with deep ties to global sports has acquired majority ownership of Danish 1st Division club FC Helsingør. The consortium includes investors with varied backgrounds and ownership stakes in professional sports including the Golden State Warriors (NBA), Swansea City AFC (EFL), Los Angeles Football Club (MLS) and Phoenix Rising Football Club (USL).
The investment team is led by managing member Jordan Gardner, who is a minority investor with Swansea City AFC and Dundalk FC in the Republic of Ireland. The consortium also includes Golden State Warriors minority investors Nick Swinmurn, John Burbank, Harry Tsao and Michael De Anda. Swinmurn and Tsao also have ownership stakes in professional soccer with Swansea City AFC and Los Angeles Football Club respectively. Brett Johnson and Taylor Reinhardt, investors with Phoenix Rising Football Club and their bid to land an expansion spot in Major League Soccer, are also a part of the FC Helsingør group along with Shashi Vaswani the President and Owner of Laredo Heat Soccer Club.
The investment team plans to use FC Helsingør, with their strong academy, excellent infrastructure and new stadium opening this summer, to develop the next generation of young American talent.
“I’m incredibly excited to complete the acquisition of a majority stake in FC Helsingør. The ownership group we have assembled is as strong as any you will see in global soccer, and we are eager to leverage the connections and expertise we have to make Helsingør the next hub for football talent development.” Jordan Gardner
Laredo native Hector Arreola is moving up from the Laredo Heat SC UPSL roster to the NPSL roster as he joins several TAMIU teammates.
The Laredo Heat SC signed five Laredo athletes for the 2022 NPSL season including three who spent time with the club last year.
Laredo Heat Youth Announce Partnership with Houston Dynamo Youth Academy
Goalkeeper Plays College Soccer in San Antonio
Laredo, TX (Thursday, March 21, 2019) – The Laredo Heat Soccer Club announced today the signing of goalkeeper Jose Carlos Mercado to its 2019 National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) player roster.
The 6’4” Mercado, 19 years of age, is a local product that currently plays collegiately (D-I) in San Antonio at The University of the Incarnate Word, a member of the Southland Conference.
Mercado has an extensive playing career since leaving Laredo to Pachuca at a young age and attended high school in Frisco, TX while he played for the FC Dallas USSF Developmental Academy (DA) U15/U16 and U17/U18 teams. Mercado also played in the prestigious Dallas Cup in 2015, 2016 and 2017 while a member of the FC Dallas USSF DA.
In addition, Mercado was also called up to participate with the United States and Mexican U16 National Teams in 2015 and in 2016 he was called up to play with the Mexican U18 National Team plus he was recruited by the Chivas and Tigres Under 20 Men’s Teams in Mexico.
In the summer of 2018, after his freshman year at the University of the Incarnate Word, Mercado spend his summer playing with the Des Moines Menace of the USL League Two.
“It gives a great pleasure to give a young man from Laredo a platform to showcase his skills and hopefully use us to catapult his career to the next level”, said Heat Owner, Shashi Vaswani.
“With the addition of Mercado to the roster, I feel that we will have some serious competition for playing time between the pipes and the result will be will be a positive one for the team as our goalkeeping corps will be one of the best in the NPSL”, concluded Vaswani.
U.S. Open Cup News
U.S. Soccer will be announcing the Laredo Heat’s Opening Round opponent along with the location of the 1stRound Match on Wednesday, April 10, 2019. Stay tuned for that news. The opening round game with be played either on Tuesday, May 7th or Wednesday, May 8, 2019.
Regular Season News
Laredo will open up the NPSL Regular Season on Saturday, May 18, 2019 versus the Tyler FC Kings at the Texas A&M International University Soccer Complex. Kick-off will be at 8:00 P.M. for all regular season games.
About the NPSL
The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is the successor to the Men's Premier Soccer League (MPSL), which was formed in 2002. The league started in the West Region with teams from the Northern California area. In 2005, the league expanded to a national format with the introduction of a Midwest region. The NPSL expanded further in 2007 by adding a Northeast region. In 2011, with the addition of a Southeast region, the National Premier Soccer League has truly become a nationwide league. In 2014, NPSL became the largest national soccer league in the US Soccer development pyramid with over 80 teams all over the country. Over 30 expansion teams joined the NPSL for the 2014 season, and the league is nearing the entrance of its 100th team.
The NPSL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF), the governing body of soccer in the United States. The NPSL operates and is managed as a team-run league. The structure of the league allows each team to have one vote. Each team is individually owned and operated, and is responsible for maintaining league minimum standards. New teams seeking membership into the NPSL are subject to approval by existing team owners.
NPSL Philosophy: We compete for 90 minutes on the field, we are business partners...always. We all work together to grow the game, build the NPSL, and develop our respective clubs.
NPSL Mission: To grow the sport of soccer in the United States of America -- by providing our members with a sustainable business model and professionally managed soccer platform, and by serving as an inspiration to players and soccer fans in our members' communities.
NPSL Vision: To be the foundation of the U.S. Soccer development pyramid with over 100 profitable teams in 100 communities; in turn, doing our part to help the United States become a soccer nation and win a World Cup.
For additional information on sponsorship opportunities, tickets and the Laredo Heat Soccer Club, please contact the Heat Front Office at (956) 723 – 4700 or visit our website at www.laredoheatsc.com , LIKE us on Facebook www.facebook.com/laredoheatsoccer or Follow Us on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat @LaredoHeatSC.
