Roots move August 14 from Laney to Merritt College. Can Oakland Hills become an option?

By -

In another sudden move, the Oakland Roots announced on August 11 that they are switching its Aug. 14 match against LA Galaxy II from Laney College to Merritt College in the Oakland hills.

The team still plans on honoring ticket sales, meaning it seems capacity isn’t an issue.

“All tickets purchased for this Saturday’s match will still be valid. A limited number of tickets are still available to secure,” wrote the club.

It marks the club’s eighth match moved away from its usual home field, but new transportable field allows them to remain in Oakland instead of playing at Las Positas in Livermore.

The club announced on Twitter that its Aug. 14 deadline couldn’t be met in order to prevent disruption of Laney College’s sporting programs despite the field only requiring four hours to install.

Another move of the game, this time for an originally scheduled match on the initial listing; it begs the question of Laney’s viability going forward. Could Merritt College be a solution?

Merritt College has ample parking (and a view of the Bay quite like no other), but the stadium needs work to meet the 5,000 seat capacity the USL is seeking.

The grandstand is similar to Laney’s Mosiac section, but Merritt virtually no seating on the opposite side. Margie Lane wraps around the stadium and you can peer into the sunken field from all angles from the street.

The Roots can theoretically wheel in the stands they’ve been using at Las Positas on the opposite end of the grandstand, while the Food trucks can go on Margie Lane or the parking lot directly in front of the stadium.

It certainly won’t be 5,000 seats, but an intriguing match for future reference given Roots SC has a building relationship with Merritt’s President Dr. David M. Johnson, Athletic DIrector Brock Drazen, and soccer head coach Glenn Van Straatum.

"Roots would like to thank President Dr. David M. Johnson, Athletic DIrector Brock Drazen, and Head Soccer Coach Glenn Van Straatum of Merritt College for their incredible support. We are excited to host a  USL Championship game this Saturday for our fans to enjoy in Oakland."

The USL has boasted its $2 billion investment into stadiums. With Laney proving a complicated matter, it will be interesting to see whether the Roots are already looking into better options. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Oakland Roots Move Into Former Raiders Headquarters In Alameda

By -
Image
The Oakland Roots confirmed that they have finalized a move into the former Oakland Raiders Headquarters and training facility on Harbor Parkway in Alameda.  Marcus Thompson of The Athletic was first on the news.  Got the scoop on more major moves by the @Oaklandrootssc ! The Roots will take over the Raiders old training facility in Alameda for the 2022 @USLChampionship season #KnowYourRoots pic.twitter.com/lSETXkziTW — Marcus Thompson (@ThompsonScribe) December 21, 2021 With offseason transactions underway throughout the USL Championship, the move into the former NFL facility provides the Roots perhaps the best training site in the league. Those at the club are hopeful that the Harbor Parkway grounds will help recruit players.  News has been slow out of Oakland through the first month of the offseason since announcing the return of 12 players from the 2021 roster. The blog was told in previous weeks that the move to Alameda was a prime focus for the club, so perhaps t...
Read more

Game Notes & Player Ratings: Oakland Roots Falls In PKs To Orange County

By -
Image
The Oakland Roots' season came to an end on Saturday, November 13 at Championship Stadium in Irvine, falling 6-5 in penalty kicks to Orange County SC after a full 120 minutes completed without a goal being scored.  Oakland came in with a specific game plan to stop OC's Ronaldo Damus, and they did so up until the final penalty attempt. Roots' keeper Paul Blanchette stopped Damus' initial try but was called for encroachment, resulting in the Haitian National burying his kick.  Damus was repeatedly called for offside throughout the 120.  "Penalties, I love penalties. I look at penalties and say that’s our game. I’ll continue to think that way even though things didn’t go our way tonight. We had a good game plan and created some good opportunities. I certainly think that we did enough tonight to be stepping into the Western Conference Final, but that’s knockout football," reflected technical director and interim head coach Jordan Ferrell.  "You play to PKs an...
Read more

Oakland Roots Roster Moves Hot Takes

By Bloom -
Image
I am thrilled with this initial group of players the Roots are bringing back. With one glaring exception, this is essentially the entire defense (which, as you may recall, conceded zero goals in 210 minutes of playoff soccer). As our readers are surely aware, RootsBlog loves a large lad , so I am personally thrilled about Greene returning.  John Morrissey, of USL tactics, a much more reliable source than I am, is focusing on the fullbacks: I’m more amped about Diaz and Ward than anything. I thought they were dynamite all year, as good as basically any fullback combo in the league. — john morrissey (@USLTactics) December 2, 2021 The team could probably go into next season without bringing in any new starters on defense, although both fullbacks surely need backups.  I am not advocating for the team to go into the season with only these players plus backups.  But I think it is a very good start on defense. Outside of defense, though, there is a lot of work still to be done...
Read more