Welcome to the Soccer Tavern, where we’re discussing the history, culture, and philosophy of the beautiful game. My name is Dave and in this video, we’re talking about the history of Louisiana Krewe Football Club. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.
Louisiana Krewe is located in Lafayette, Louisiana. Lafayette is located about 150 miles west of New Orleans. Louisiana is in the southern part of the United States.
The club competes in the Gulf Coast Premier League, which is an elite amateur league featuring teams from Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. US Soccer doesn’t have a fully functional pyramid, but the GCPL is likely the equivalent of a 5th division league if US had a proper pyramid.
Louisiana Krewe’s home ground is the Ragin’ Cajuns Soccer/Track Facility on the campus of University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The stadium was built in 1976 and holds about 5,000 people.
Additionally, the Krewe play their U.S. Open Cup matches at the St. Thomas More Catholic High School Stadium.
Origin
Krewe FC were formed to provide an opportunity for local soccer players to play beyond high school and college level and offer youth players an additional stepping stone towards playing professional soccer.
The decision to form the club came from Kevin Mooney & Joan Oliva in the late Fall of 2018. Kevin is Club director of Southside youth soccer recreation league and Dynamo Juniors Lafayette Club/select soccer. Joan is a coach at Kevin Mooney’s soccer club and was staffed at FC Barcelona youth systems/academies. Both wanted a closer alternative to sending youth prospects to try out for the Houston Dynamo youth academies 3 hours away.
That combined with the help of key volunteers such as Brian Martinez, the Wallace and Lejeune families, as well as others from with the soccer community in Lafayette helped form the Krewe.
Nickname
The club’s nickname is simply The Krewe.
That nickname is obviously a shorter rendition of the club’s full name, but the name Krewe stems from Mardi Gras Krewes/crews. These Krewes/crews are the organizations that raise funds through Balls, Formals, and Dinners to buy bigger floats, decorations, and beads for Mardi Gras parades through the city.
Mardi Gras is a huge part of Louisiana culture and the club wanted to connect with this tradition by choosing Krewe as its name.
Crest
Louisiana Krewe’s crest is pretty straightforward.
The state of Louisiana is featured prominently in the middle of the crest.
Louisiana is home to the New Orleans Saints NFL franchise, so the Saints’ colors of black & gold were chosen as the club’s main colors. American football is hugely popular in Louisiana and the Saints are the professional football franchise that the majority of the state cheers for.
Overall, the crest was designed to represent the state as a whole with its color selections and images.
Important Events
The Krewe’s first big showcase game was an intercity cup match vs Cajun Soccer Club. During league play, the two sides met twice, so the results from those 2 matches were considered an aggregate scoreline for the Lafayette Mayor’s Cup. The two league matches ended 1-0, with each team winning once, so the aggregate score was 1-1 after the second match on July 13, 2019. The team’s went to penalties and the Krewe prevailed 5-3 to win its first ever trophy.
The club’s next milestone came on July 24, 2019 when the Krewe met Northshore United FC in the semifinal of the GCPL Cup. It was a tight, back and forth match, but Northshore scored the only goal of the match to win 1-0. Though the Krewe lost the match, it was impressive that the club reached a semifinal in its first year.
And the final events I’d like to highlight are a part of the team’s ongoing U.S. Open Cup run at time of recording. The Krewe is making its first appearance in the qualifying rounds of the U.S. Open Cup in 2019. On September 21, the team got revenge on Northshore United, beating them 5-2 in the first round of qualifying.
Then, on October 19, the Krewe beat Athletic Katy FC 3-2 in the 2nd round. On November 23, the club will face Livonia City FC from Michigan in the 3rd round of qualifying. The winner of that match will officially participate in the first round of the U.S. Open Cup, so it is a big opportunity for Louisiana Krewe FC.
Noteworthy Players
With the club only being 1 year old, I’d like to quickly mention 5 players in this section. The four Krewe players that made the GCPL western conference best Xl were Adrian Olivares (who scored more than 10 goals for the Krewe), Munir Poca, Reed Gravolet, and Cristian Cubedo. Cubedo was the MVP of the western conference.
Additionally, Dillion Gallet is a local product that put impressive numbers for the Krewe in its debut season.
Noteworthy Managers
Louisiana Krewe has only had one manager or head coach in its history, Joan Oliva. Oliva has set a great foundation for the Krewe to build upon. He has a keen eye of not only knowing what players to pick, but also how to play the players to their advantage while exposing the opponent’s weaknesses. Oliva was named Coach of the year in the GCPL in his first season. The man has a great reputation as he used to coach at the FC Barcelona academy.
Oliva has been a key reason why the Krewe have been so successful for a new club.
Rivals
The club has 2 rivals: Cajun Soccer Club (or CSC) and Northshore United FC.
CSC is a cross-town rival and there is already tension between the clubs as the Krewe won the first ever Lafayette Mayor’s Cup, which we mentioned in the important events section. Additionally, many years ago, the CSC and Krewe Club Directors worked together, so there is a pre-existing relationship that adds a bit of drama to this rivalry.
The Northshore United rivalry is a bit more straightforward. The clubs have met in 2 knockout competitions with each side winning 1 match. Northshore beat the Krewe in the GCPL semi-final, but the Krewe got revenge in the US Open Cup qualifying rounds. If the 2 meet in future competitions, this rivalry should continue to grow.
Stats & Records
The stats and records we’re about to discuss are as of November 2019, which is when we are recording this video.
Louisiana Krewe has spent 1 season in the Gulf Coast Premier League.
The has 1 club trophy, the 2019 Lafayette Mayor’s Cup.
The hasn’t kept track of individual stats like appearances, goals scored, or clean sheets, so let’s jump to our 1 last interesting fact about the club.
The Krewe is still young and fresh, but has had a lot of success and positive momentum for not have a main club owner. It is fully self-funded. The staff are all volunteers and they all work together to give the coach and players a professional environment as they prepare the locker rooms and clean up after matches. The volunteers make the club run smoothly so that players and coaches can focus on the game. It’s truly a grassroots effort and incredibly impressive from everyone involved with Louisiana Krewe FC.
So there you have it… a bit of history on Louisiana Krewe FC. Let’s continue the discussion in the comments section below the video.
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