
### _[26 IN 26 STOP 15](/26in26list)_

_\*This trip occurred on May 23, 2026._

I talked a little bit about the NPSL when I visited [FC Motown](2026-05-17_fcmotown_npsl), but one thing I didn't mention is the fact that I thought they'd be the only team in their division I'd get to visit. The division in question - the Keystone Division - consists of teams based in New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania, and most of those teams are fairly far (most being north of an hour) and only have night games. However, when the schedule (finally) released, I found out about this club: New Jersey United Athletic Club.

They don't have a Wikipedia page (prepare to hear that phrase several more times in the coming weeks), and information on their history is kinda hard to find on the internet, but their logo indicates that they were founded in 2024[^1]. Last season, they finished first in their division (which was known as "Keystone East" at the time), but I don't know how they did in the playoffs (which does mean that they didn't exactly win a national championship).

Last season, the side played their matches in New Brunswick, NJ at the high school's stadium. This year, however, they have moved to Saint Joseph High School in Metuchen, NJ - a school you may know for producing basketball stars such as Andrew Bynum and Karl-Anthony Towns, but I know because I have several friends who went there (one of whom took driver's ed with Andrew Bynum, but doesn't drive himself).

![An image of Brenner Family Field](/images/2026/0523-njunited.jpeg)

There's not much to say about the stadium itself - it's a high school field that doesn't exactly stray too far from what you'd expect for a Northeastern high school football/soccer/lacrosse/track stadium. If you live in a part of the United States where they don't really do that (or in another country entirely), it's a field with American football goalposts sticking out of the ground pretty much year round, but also features lines for multiple sports (in multiple colors) and a running track around the field. [The Stadium at Memorial Field](2026-03-08_westchestersc) is basically like this as well, but I couldn't figure out if the local high school played any other sports besides football there.

Unlike Mount Vernon, there's two sets of bleachers along the sides of the field/track, and not much else to say; one thing I do find interesting is the fact that the main stand (i.e. the one with the press box typically intended for home fans) is OPPOSITE the parking lot, which seems a bit awkward. However, the BIG thing stadium lacks compared to most high school stadiums (which is partially why this game was at 3 PM): lights. My guess is that it's due to the nearby residential areas making it difficult for the school to do "Friday Night Lights".

As I alluded to earlier, NJ United was initially not on my radar for this year. Originally, I thought the only NPSL team I'd be able to visit was FC Motown, but when I looked at the schedule, I found out about NJ United and the fact that they played at St. Joe's, and so it ended up on my calendar (I originally thought they played much further away than they actually do). I was originally hoping to see the team's home opener, but various factors prevented me from doing so - the big one being the fact that the game got postponed due to weather. Heck, I was almost certain THIS game would have been postponed as it rained fairly hard, but they ended up playing anyway![^2]

NJ United found themselves down 2-1 but up a player for the better part of the second half; sadly, they were unable to find the equalizer and lost. Due to the rain, I ended up watching most of the second half from my car in the parking lot - something I don't hope to do very often...

Also, Jon Bon Jovi went to St. Joe's for two years before transferring to another high school. Since St. Joe's was SUPPOSED to mark the halfway point of my _26 in 26_ challenge before getting postponed, I figured I'd end with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDK9QqIzhwk" target="blank">this</a>.

### MERCH

I found a Google form on the team's website for ordering merchandise, which is definitely an interesting thing to do (as opposed to setting something up with Square or Shopify). At the match itself, there's a small area next to the "main stand" where merchandise is typically sold...emphasis on "typically". This time, the bad weather caused them to decide not to sell merch (as the weather also affected the crowd[^3]), and it ended up being useful as I saw most of the first half from under the canopy where the team keeps its merchandise.

One thing about this lack of merch today is that I'm now interested in a return trip (as the online form does not include jerseys). However, the team only has four home games this year (which includes the now-rescheduled home opener), and this marks the second of those four games, so given that I'm unavailable for the third game, I REALLY hope it doesn't rain again at the end of June...

---

[^1]: I couldn't find any data that indicated that they played a 2024 season in any league.

[^2]: Part of the reason I was able to come to THIS game, oddly enough, is the fact that I saw the [Wilmington Blue Rocks](2026-05-03_wilbluerocks) at the start of this month (had I not, I would likely have seen them the day this is being posted - which would have made the coming days and weeks DIFFICULT to schedule).

[^3]: This isn't the first time I've seen this happen, and I do intend on telling that story later this year - because it's a DOOZY...

Soccer at a school known for its basketball-playing alumni

New Jersey United Athletic Club (National Premier Soccer League) @ Brenner Family Field (Metuchen, NJ)


_\*This trip occurred on May 21, 2026._

Before we get to today's "main event", I'd like to mention one thing:

I'm planning on visiting a BUNCH of soccer teams that are rather local to me in the next few weeks. Most of the teams are no more than 30-45 minutes away, and I have never seen ANY of these teams before (for the most part)[^1].

Most of these upcoming teams are all members of the same league/division: the Metropolitan Division of USL League Two. However, I realize that I didn't get too deep into what USL2 is the last time I talked about the division (or the USL's other divisions for that matter), so I figured that before we enter the flurry of posts coming up, I should contextualize the United Soccer League(s) a bit - which I've done [here](usl2_overview).

With that out of the way, I am willing to bet that some of you who read this blog are getting deja vu, because you probably think you've heard the name "FC Motown" before.

Well...[you’re not wrong](2026-05-17_fcmotown_npsl)! However, this is actually a (fairly) distinct team from the side I talked about last weekend, so let's dive into them.

In 2021, USL League 2 added FC Motown to its Metropolitan Division, then a year later, the club partnered with a local youth soccer organization called STA (which I believe stands for Sports Training Academy), which leads to the team's "official" name: FC Motown STA (which helps distinguish it from the NPSL side)[^2]. There's not much to say about their short history, but in 2025, the team won 11 of their 12 regular season games - with the twelfth game being a draw. This made them the top team in the country heading into the 2025 USL2 Playoffs - where the idea for this trip was born.

I had no idea that FC Motown (as a whole) existed until the 2025 USL League 2 Playoffs, when the USL2 team traveled up to Burlington, VT and lost a battle of undefeated sides to [Vermont Green FC](2025-08-21_vgfc). Their regular season success, however, gave the USL2 side a berth in the US Open Cup; they were drawn at home back in March, but I was busy with something and couldn’t make it (plus the game was at night in Newark)[^3].

![An image of soccer being played at Drew University's Ranger Stadium](/images/2026/0521-motownsta.jpeg)

<figcaption>I'm not sure how that effect with the lights happened in this image...</figcaption>

This game seemingly featured more spectators than the NPSL game - and a bit more atmosphere as well. Tonight's opponent - the Westchester Flames - seemed WAY better than Hershey SC (they were even credited with a shot on goal); unfortunately, much like Hershey, they got beat down pretty hard - after scoring a pair of first half goals, Motown added four in the second half to win 6-0. I ended up spending most of the second half sitting next to what I can only assume was a Westchester supporter, because they were clearly not having a good time...

Also, for the third game in a row, I ended up touching a game ball - however, since I'm pretty sure soccer balls are supposed to be returned to the club, I ended up kicking it back to one of the ball boys.

Alas, I am unsure if I'll be able to get back to Motown this season, as I've got a LOT of other things in the works. However, having a "local soccer team" to watch is definitely something I like, as it lets me watch a team without having to pay for too much (i.e. free parking and inexpensive tickets) and not have to worry about getting home after 10 PM.

### MERCH

In doing some research for this post, I found out that the NPSL and USL2 sides have different jerseys altogether! As I mentioned when I saw the NPSL team, they have a manufacturer that "sells direct" to fans, but the USL2 team wears Nike (which I assume is related to the STA part). There is one major difference between the two teams' jerseys: the NPSL jerseys have sublimated graphics, while the USL2 ones have ironed-on graphics[^4]. Also...

At this match, the only "official" merchandise available wasn't even FC Motown related - it was a stadium blanket featuring STA's logo. There was also a partner vendor at the game, but the things they were selling were largely geared toward girls.

---

[^1]: I was on the fence about including these games as _26 in 26_ venues, as it's mostly small college stadiums with a few high schools thrown in. However, I felt that if I had already included places such as [a freakin' SHOPPING MALL](2026-05-19_iflcup) in the list, these stadiums should be there as well. Yes, this does mean that I will likely "finish" the _26 in 26_ quite early, but that's not necessarily a bad thing (especially as I've received several bits of news that will make getting to new places trickier in the VERY near future).

[^2]: It must also be noted that having this dual "NPSL/USL2" arrangement is rather unusual amongst soccer clubs at this level - in fact, it seems that many clubs have moved from NPSL to USL2 in recent years for various reasons.

[^3]: Motown ended up losing 2-0 to Hartford Athletic of the USL Championship.

[^4]: I also found out that the NPSL side is wearing blue jerseys this year due to America's Semiquincentennial (blue is not one of the team's typical colors, and I should note that this blue jersey is the one I got last time).

Another visit to the local soccer club

FC Motown STA (USL League 2) @ Ranger Stadium (Madison, NJ)


*\*This trip occurred on May 20, 2026.*

2025 was not a great year for the New Jersey Jackals. Sure, they did win [the one time I saw them](2025-08-12_njjackals), but that win was one of only 28 for the year - a good TEN wins behind the next worst team. Throw in the continued attendance woes (which seemingly go back to the end of their time in Montclair), and it really feels like things aren't looking good for a once proud independent baseball team.

However, the team was sold to the guy behind for the Hinchliffe Stadium renovation in the offseason, and under new ownership, it's hoped that SOMETHING can turn around for the franchise. With that in mind, however, I was curious to see if there were any changes to the gameday experience with the new ownership (partially based on how things were for the [Cosmos](2026-03-15_nycosmos), since they're also owned by the same person).

My original hope was to go to a game on May 10 (yes, it’s Mother’s Day, but my mom was on vacation). However, I could not figure out if the game was at 2 or 6:30 (which makes a HUGE difference because Paterson), and between that and other factors, I ended up not being able to go. Many of the team's weekday games in the early part of this season, however, are at 10:30 in the morning (which is kinda weird)[^1], so I figured one of those would be worth a shot, and the stars aligned for this to be the day (the morning start is also part of why this post is going up the same day as the game itself).

One thing I very much wanted to see this time: the museum. I found out that for Jackals games, it's apparently only open between the time the gates open and first pitch (i.e. one hour), so I figured that I should try and focus on that before the game (as opposed to visiting the team store and/or concession stands). It's not that big mind you, but it does delve into the history of the stadium and the Negro Leagues quite a bit - along with Paterson's most famous son: Larry Doby. It also features its own little merchandise shop with t-shirts, books, and pins, so if you're interested in learning a little bit more about Hinchliffe/the Negro Leagues, it may be worth checking out pregame.

Unlike my trips to see the [Boulders](2026-05-08_rocboulders) and [Miners](2026-05-09_scminers) (who just so happened to be the visiting team today[^2]), I didn't try and buy a front row seat...because every seat is now sold as general admission.

![An image of game action at Hinchliffe Stadium from the front row](/images/2026/0520-hinchliffe-frontrow.jpeg)

A front row seat here (which has a surprisingly nice view as you can see from the photo above) costs the same as a seat in the outfield, which is definitely interesting; of course, when it's 90 degrees and sunny, being so exposed in the front row isn't exactly the most fun thing to do. I also forgot to mention this last time, but there was a "field side" premium ticket available last year; it appears that this section is gone this year as I didn't see anyone in that area (though it may have just been due to the whole 10:30 AM thing).

The last notable change: merch is now inside the stadium (i.e. no more carnival trailer - though the Miners may have it now). It's in the same area the Cosmos had their store, which leads me to believe that the old owners got kicked out of it (as it seems merch was there the first year the Jackals played at Hinchliffe). While I didn't exactly see anything interesting in the store (outside of one sweater that they didn't have in my size)[^3], I did go home with a foul ball - and some arm soreness...

![An image of a baseball](/images/2026/0520-baseball.jpeg)

<figcaption>I took like a dozen pictures similar to this from various viewpoints around the stadium - I may upload them all somewhere soon...</figcaption>

---

[^1]: While morning games aren't exactly uncommon in baseball, the Jackals have THREE whole series of morning games!

[^2]: Somehow, I was unable to figure out how to fit the ACTUAL GAME into the flow of this post, but the Jackals won 6-4. Unlike my two prior Frontier League games this year, this one ended within three hours...

[^3]: The sweater was from the same brand as the [IFL Cup game ball](2026-05-19_iflcup) - which, I should note, is NOT strictly a sporting goods company...

High Hopes and History at Hinchliffe Stadium

New Jersey Jackals 2026


### _[26 IN 26 STOP 14](/26in26list)_

_\*This trip occurred on May 18, 2026. Technically, I've been to American Dream before, but since this is the first time I'm visiting it SPECIFICALLY to watch a sporting event, I'm marking this as a "First Visit"._

I know I talked about indoor football [about a month ago](2026-04-19_jerseybearcats), but I must stress one point: it’s hard to encapsulate just how FREAKISHLY INSANE the sport/its history is. If you needed further proof of that, however, look no further than today’s trip.

Before we get into the trip, however, I realized that I forgot to mention what exactly indoor football is last time. In essence, indoor football is largely just like the NFL, but on a much smaller field - 50 yards endzone to endzone, with said endzones usually being eight yards deep, and there are pretty much no sidelines (there are walls which are usually padded hockey boards, and if a player is tackled into or over the wall, they're out of bounds). In addition, punts are not allowed (due to the shorter field and high potential for the ball to hit the arena ceiling), and there's different timing rules; while I don't know all of them, the big one is that the clock does NOT stop as often as it does for "regular" American football (for example, it runs while a team is preparing to kick an extra point after a touchdown).

Each team has eight players on the field at any given time (as opposed to eleven in the NFL), and the game was previously known for having guys play both offense and defense in a single game; while this element has been lessened in recent years, I hear some players still play as "ironmen". Also, wide receivers (the players who try to catch passes) can run towards the line of scrimmage (the line where the ball is placed before a play starts) BEFORE the ball is snapped (aka the play ACTUALLY starting). However, if they run *past* the line before the snap, it's a penalty.

There are also a few scoring differences from the NFL. As kicks have less field to travel, it is entirely possible for a kickoff (which is taken from the kicking team's own goal line) to reach and go through the other team's uprights (as it's only 58 yards, which NFL kickers have been hitting with ease recently). In some arena leagues, this scores the kicking team two points, and the receiving team gets the ball closer to the other team's endzone as a result. Some leagues also have what's known as a "rouge"; I don't exactly know how to score a rouge, but it's worth one point, and it's one of the most famous things in Canadian football (for now).

Now, let’s talk about this event: founded in 2008, the Indoor Football League is currently the longest continuously operating indoor football league in the United States (given the AFL’s demise in 2019 plus the gong show that was their attempt at a comeback). Yes, it has had its fair share of franchise foldings and relocations, but the fact that it hasn’t completely imploded in on itself (yet) should be commended (and it also features some of the former AFL’s more "stable" teams).

On January 29, 2026, the league announced an event known as the IFL Cup. A four team tournament meant to be a showcase of the league and improve its visibility, the league’s announcement touted the opportunity for fans to experience indoor football at “the nation’s premier indoor entertainment destination”. However, a number of people (like me - who’s actually INTERESTED in the event) would challenge the idea of this event being at a “premier destination”, because that venue is...

## American Dream.

I know this is supposed to be a SPORTS blog, but as someone who lives in New Jersey, it is IMPOSSIBLE not to get long winded about just how ridiculous the history of this place is - though I’ll try to be quick:

It all started back in the 1990s when a real estate developer planned to build a mall in the Meadowlands area of New Jersey. Unfortunately, the site they wanted was unsuitable due to being wetlands, so the developer chose another site: the Meadowlands Sports Complex.

The plan was to build the mall there so that there would be something to do on weekdays (or something like that, as the Devils and Nets were both planning on leaving), and construction started in 2004 with the expectation that the mall (then known as "Xanadu") would be complete two years later. In the intervening years, however, the project changed hands a few times, lost funding due to the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, had construction get stopped multiple times, changed names at least once or twice, been roundly criticized for its bright exterior, and - perhaps most importantly - NEVER OPENED. As a side note, there was supposed to be a baseball stadium for an independent league team, but one of the ownership changes killed that.

While progress on the mall inched along for over a decade, we all wondered if the thing would ever ACTUALLY open (and just how long drivers on the New Jersey Turnpike would be subjected to <a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Xanadu_Hackensack_River.JPG" target="blank">THIS</a>). Eventually...somehow, someway, the mall partially opened on October 25, 2019 (with a much more muted look and its current name), and then more parts of the mall opened over the next couple of years.

**HOWEVER...**

As of 2025, I think I heard somewhere that the mall is VERY MUCH not profitable, the town of Paramus sued it because it doesn’t follow Bergen County’s blue law (which requires most businesses to be closed on Sundays), and questions about its future STILL hound it (not to mention the downturn of shopping malls in general).

With ALL OF THAT out of the way[^1], I should mention that in addition to being a mall, there's an amusement park, water park, and ski slope (all indoors), the New Jersey Hall of Fame, and a whole lot of other activities, but I won't go much further than that as I think it's more or less irrelevant to the IFL Cup. Instead, let’s get into how this place hosts sporting events:

### The Arena at American Dream

![An image of the Arena at American Dream. Three tiers of viewing areas can be seen along with a glass roof and a large yellow "IFL Cup" banner.](/images/2026/0518-americandream.jpeg)

<figcaption>Y'see that yellow banner back there? That acts as the "goal" for kicks for this event - hitting it means the kick is good.</figcaption>

One of the more interesting features of American Dream is an NHL-sized skating rink which actually hosted a professional women’s hockey team in the past (the predecessor of the [New York Sirens](2025-08-28_nysirens)). The "arena" has three levels (since the mall has three levels), and each of the upper levels feature "balcony areas" from which you can see the field. This event also is NOT the first time the place has hosted indoor football: the AFL’s ill fated 2024 revival hosted its championship game here!

The wildest thing about the "arena", however, is that there are storefronts near it, so it's very open to the public (save for the second level, where there's construction currently going on). In theory, this isn't exactly a surprise (since I assume it offers various public activities when not being used), but you have to think about this: tickets were sold for this event for ALL THREE LEVELS. The lowest level had sections roped off with bleachers, and the second level was hard to access as there was only one access point and staff were present seemingly checking for tickets, but I'm not going to say any more than that - just that the food court is basically on the third level of the arena and has several tables in its "balcony area" surrounding the field, plus one business on the first level has some high-top tables set up right behind one of the benches[^2] (and also that I opted NOT to try and buy tickets prior to the event because Ticketmaster fees).

There's not much else to say about this arena (outside of the fact that there's a basement which I can only assume has locker rooms and hopefully showers), but there is one WEIRD feature: the roof is basically a massive sunroof as it's a large glass structure. While this is interesting because it makes the rink naturally lit...how do they maintain ice when it's getting DIRECT sunlight all day (even if days are shorter during skating season)?

That aside, I mentioned earlier that this event was a four team tournament. The semifinals for were both held on May 18th (i.e. the day before this was posted), and the championship game plus a consolation game are going to be played the Sunday after this goes up, but I've got other plans for that day (spoiler alert: other sports) which means I'm not going to be able to see them live. My original plan was to see only one of the games as I had to pick my mom up from the airport about halfway through the second game. However, once I realized that it would be easier for me to go from the Meadowlands to Newark Airport rather than going home and then heading back out, I figured I'd try to squeeze both games in (or at least half of the second game). In fact, large parts of this post were actually written AT the mall because there was an approximately FOUR HOUR GAP between the two games (which included me watching the players for the second game warm up while writing this).

![An image of a laptop high above an indoor football field](/images/2026/0518-office.jpeg)

With that in mind, I'm going to go over the games separately, as well as briefly introduce the teams, starting with:

### Arizona Rattlers vs. New Mexico Chupacabras

![The New Mexico Chupacabras prepare to start a play against the Arizona Rattlers](/images/2026/0518-game1.jpeg)

The Arizona Rattlers are indoor football's oldest team (at least among the current crop of indoor teams). Founded in 1991 in the original Arena Football League, they jumped to the IFL in 2017 amidst AFL 1.0 imploding in on itself. They've been quite successful in their 35 years of existence, having won seven championships between the AFL and IFL (including, IIRC, a year where they made a "championship or fans' money back" guarantee).

The Chupacabras, on the other hand, are new for 2026...but also not. They're actually the continuation of a team known as the Duke City Gladiators, who were founded in 2015 as members of a league called Champions Indoor Football. They won back to back CIF titles in 2018 and 19, then moved to the Indoor Football League in 2020 (but had to wait for 2021 to make their IFL debut). They subsequently went dormant in 2025, but were sold and rebranded for this season[^3].

This game was quite one sided - the Rattlers scored on the opening kickoff and then got two or three endzone picks (I don't remember exactly how many) en route to a comfortable win. Also, this game was at noon on a Monday - yet when I checked tickets right before heading to the mall, the middle level was unavailable for THIS GAME ONLY (a day pass was sold and it had the middle level). In addition, if a fan ends up with a game ball for any reason, they're allowed to keep it - which is very much NOT allowed in the NFL or in soccer (I think) - not sure about other forms of football however. I mention this because I saw a LOT of game balls in the first level stands during this game, and it allowed me to see the ball up close (which in turn )

### Vegas Knight Hawks vs. Orlando Pirates[^4]

![An image of two football teams lining up to run a play](/images/2026/0518-game2.jpeg)

The Vegas Knight Hawks were founded in 2022, and if the "Knight" in their name wasn't enough of a clue, they're owned by the same group that owns the Vegas Golden Knights of the NHL. Much like how the Golden Knights were successful right away, the Knight Hawks have found success in their short time in the IFL, as they are currently the league's defending champions.

The Pirates were founded in 2018 in the National Arena League, jumped to the IFL in 2021 and won a title that same year, then moved to Orlando this season. I'd rather not get into the move personally (as I've mentioned WHERE they moved from before on this blog), but partially based on the fact that the team had a coaching change seemingly come from out of the blue early this season (and the supposed reasons behind it), I can only assume that the TWO arenas they played in prior to moving to Florida had their reasons for kicking them out (along with the IFL claiming the move was for "geographic purposes").

This game seemed to have more people in attendance (as it was at 7 PM when more people are out and about) and thus had a louder crowd, but it also seemed to have far fewer balls leave the playing area (as in I only saw ONE fan with a game ball). As mentioned earlier, I had to leave this game right before halftime to go to the airport (it started at 7 PM, and I left at 8:30); Orlando got off to a hot start, but Vegas led by 2 points at the half and then outscored Orlando **45-7** in the second half. I did catch some of the broadcast for this game while stuck in Newark Airport traffic, and the broadcasters attributed the lopsided second half to a lack of player depth for the Orlando Pirates.

### MERCH

From what I could tell, the only merch available were shirts from a booth sponsored by one of the league's retail partners (as it was unlikely any of the four teams were going to haul boxes of merchandise thousands of miles across the country). As they were "custom pressed" at the game, you could get any of the logos they had (the IFL, the IFL Cup, and the four teams) printed onto any of the shirts they had, which was cool.

However, remember how I mentioned that in the IFL, you can keep a ball that ends up in the stands? Well, late in the first game, a ball sailed out of play right in front of me, so...

![A photo of a game ball for the IFL Cup on a table, with a game going on in the background](/images/2026/0518-iflcupgameball.jpeg)

<figcaption>I think this image is one of my favorite photos I've ever done for this blog. Also, I'm not gonna lie: this thing smells kinda funny.</figcaption>

## \-\-\-

As goofy as the idea of "professional sports in a shopping mall" may be, I actually thought this was kinda fun (though there's another reason I enjoyed this that I can't exactly discuss "freely"). If you can find it, I'm pretty sure I ended up in the footage for these games as I was on the lower level quite a bit at various points (as evidenced by several of the photos in this post); if you want to try and find me, I am wearing a blue LA Xtreme jersey which I will note that, yes, is an original XFL jersey which was 75% off from the thrift store where/when I got it (it got quite a few compliments from folks in the crowd).

Also, to my surprise, this post ended up being just about 2,600 words - though a decent part of that can be attributed to me explaining indoor football as a whole.

---

[^1]: I didn't even touch on the controversies surrounding the area and the World Cup...

[^2]: A player ran into this establishment immediately after returning a kickoff the entire length of the field for a touchdown during one of the games.

[^3]: One of the Chupacabras players is a guy named La'james White - I had to look him up after hearing his name over the PA system to make sure he wasn't secretly a former Super Bowl hero...

[^4]: Not to be confused with the South African soccer team of the same name - or the Namibian soccer team of the same name.

Let's Go to the Mall!

IFL Cup @ The Arena at American Dream (East Rutherford, NJ)


### _[26 IN 26 STOP 13](/26in26list)_

_\*This trip occurred on May 16, 2026._

The National Premier Soccer League is...a bit hard to explain. It’s the highest level of an amateur system called the United States Adult Soccer Association (or USASA), and features purely amateur players (i.e. non-professionals). There are a fair number of college players in the league (as part of the season is during the summer, and it's essentially the same level as USL2), but the schedule for the NPSL is WEIRD: the league is divided into many divisions based on geography, but the divisions don’t all fully share a leadership group. What you end up with is a league that is “decentralized”: each division has its own schedule, and some divisions start way earlier than others (though I've heard that this is partially weather related).

To illustrate the weirdness of this decentralized scheduling, I’ll use quite possibly the most famous team from the NPSL: El Farolito. El Farolito is a team named after a chain of taquerias in the San Francisco Bay Area who famously beat two teams in divisions above them during a U.S. Open Cup run back in 2024, but after that run ended, they continued to be successful - winning the NPSL’s national championship. That year, my understanding of the NPSL website indicates that their “regular season” began with a game on March 9th, but their opponents for the championship game didn’t play their first regular season game until May 5th. Coincidentally, the team they beat in that championship game is the team I'm discussing today: FC Motown!

Now when you hear the name “Motown”, you’re probably thinking that they’re from somewhere near Detroit, right?

WRONG! They’re from New Jersey!

The club was established in 2012 in Morristown, New Jersey - a place famous for housing George Washington during the Revolutionary War. They started in an amateur league based in New Jersey, then in 2018 joined the National Premier Soccer League by, in essence, taking over another team’s slot (who they had been working with prior to joining the NPSL). While they did lose the 2024 NPSL championship game as mentioned earlier, the team DID win a few years prior in 2022 and also made another national final in 2018; outside of that, there’s not much to say about them on the field - so let’s move on to the field itself.

The club’s (main) home[^1] is Ranger Stadium on the campus of Drew University in Madison, NJ - a short drive from Morristown down the aptly named Madison Avenue, which, for some reason, doesn’t get renamed after it leaves Morristown (and thus has multiple buildings with similar addresses - something a friend of mine learned the hard way). Drew University is a school that is affiliated with the United Methodist Church, though it does not impose any religious requirements on its students (which makes me wonder about other schools that are CURRENTLY Methodist[^2]). Truth be told, it is very much one of those schools where I think most folks would not know of it unless they knew someone who went there; for me, my brother actually graduated from there.

As an aside, a summer baseball team called the Jersey Pilots played at Drew a few years ago. I legitimately cannot tell you ANYTHING about them except that they were in a summer league which is WAY smaller/more obscure than most others, I went to a game one time and there were no concessions or merch, and they seem to have folded. However, this isn’t about the Pilots - it’s about FC Motown.

![An image of soccer being played at Drew University's Ranger Stadium](/images/2026/0516-motown.jpeg)

As you might expect from a D-III school, there’s not much to talk about in terms of the stadium: there’s only one set of bleachers here along one of the sides, and that's pretty much it, though it should be noted that it has separate "sections" for Drew students, other Drew fans, and away fans (though how important those distinctions are is debatable at best). There is one other thing at the stadium, but I'll get to that later.

FC Motown is the team that more or less introduced me to the NPSL as a whole (despite hearing about El Farolito during their US Open Cup run). I'll get into _how_ I found out about them soon enough, but the big thing is that this is far and away the closest soccer team to me, so I decided to check them out[^3].

This game - Motown's home opener - saw them DOMINATE visiting Hershey SC even beyond winning 5-0: the game featured almost exclusively "one way traffic" (i.e. Motown had the ball WAY more than Hershey did), and the stadium's scoreboard had the visitors recording ZERO shots on goal.

As a final note, there is a STRONG possibility that I will see FC Motown again in the near future - whether or not I write about it is yet to be seen, but I do want to try other types of postings ([plus one other reason...](2026-05-22_fcmotownsta)).

### MERCH

Just a heads up: I'm going to be watching a lot of these "smaller" soccer teams in the coming weeks, and one thing with these teams: merchandise is always a crapshoot. Some of them do have a few things at games or online, while others don’t; for example, I’ve been to two USL2 games in the Boston area (one of which featured [Vermont Green](2025-08-21_vgfc) as the visitors); one featured a small merchandise selection (where I had to Zelle the team’s owner for a scarf), and the other had...nothing (also, [RBNY II](2025-09-22_rbnyii) and the [Jersey Bearcats](2026-04-19_jerseybearcats) had nothing when I saw them).

Anyway, when I first learned about FC Motown, I found out that the company that makes their jerseys sells direct to fans! I could not find any other "forms" of merchandise online, but at the match, there's a "snack shack" which has concessions and a few merchandise items (this is the "other thing" at the stadium I mentioned earlier).

There was a list of several merch items that were apparently available for sale, but the only items they actually had were a hacky sack, a logo t-shirt, and one of the aforementioned jerseys - which thankfully they had in my size.

---

[^1]: The team apparently plays some games at [MSU Soccer Park](2025-09-22_rbnyii), but I didn't see any games there this season.

[^2]: Fun fact: Boston University was founded by Methodists, but is currently nonsectarian. They do, however, maintain a school of Theology, and I know someone who went to it.

[^3]: I had plans to watch this game with some of my soccer-loving friends who I saw [Red Bull New York](2026-03-01_rbny) with, but they weren't able to make it.


A visit to the local soccer club

FC Motown (National Premier Soccer League) @ Ranger Stadium (Madison, NJ)


_\*This trip occurred on May 14, 2026, and if I'm being honest, the "NEW TEAM" badge doesn't really do this justice, but I don't have anything "better"._

Back when I first talked about the [Savannah Bananas](2025-08-23_bananaball_bos), I mentioned that they used to part of a league called the Coastal Plain League. Apparently, said league is a hotbed for alternative forms of baseball, because today we're talking about another "alt baseball craze" started by a team from the CPL: Cosmic Baseball.

I'll get more into what exactly Cosmic Baseball is when I actually discuss the game itself, but the short answer is that it's baseball played under black/ultraviolet lights. To make the game actually playable (though it is still rather difficult apparently), the uniforms and equipment for the game are all in colors that react to the lights, creating a unique viewing experience of "glow in the dark baseball" (similar to how many bowling alleys in the United States have "cosmic bowling" under similar conditions).

Much like the original Banana Ball post, I think the best way to discuss this is by breaking it down into sections. I don't THINK it will be anywhere near the 8,000 words of the original Banana Ball post, but let's start with the organization behind the madness:

### The Tri-City Chili Peppers (Coastal Plain League)

The Tri-City Chili Peppers are a member of the Coastal Plain League (a summer wood bad league) based just south of Richmond in Colonial Heights, Virginia. They were founded in 2020, but didn't play until 2021 due to COVID; I won't talk about how they've done on the field, but let's just say it's a bell curve of results - just don't ask where the baseline is.

They've also been moderately decent attendance wise: not the runaway success the Savannah Bananas were mind you, but they've consistently climbed up the CPL's attendance rankings each year they've been in the league, and ranked fifth last season (despite finishing near the bottom of the league).

### Let there be black lights

On June 1, 2024, the team debuted a new form of baseball: Cosmic Baseball. The idea apparently came when the team's owner saw a glow in the dark toy and thought about playing "glow in the dark baseball", but it took a while for the team's stadium to be set up for it (as installing enough safe black lights for the game isn't easy). The Chili Peppers played (at least) five more cosmic games that year against another summer league team (from a smaller league)[^1], and a year later, the team announced a "Cosmic Takeover Tour" - bringing Cosmic Baseball to seven Minor League baseball stadiums as well as introducing a second team: the Glowmojis (i.e. Cosmic Baseball's version of the [Party Animals](2026-04-25_bananaball_ny)). The team was able to develop a solution to allow for portable black lights, but no one knew how popular the games would end up being.

That question was quickly answered when the tour stops all sold out. In order to meet the still hot demand, the team instituted a lottery system (not unlike Banana Ball's) at some point; I only know this information because of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfz7qmZpMHU" target="blank">this YouTube video</a> from a guy who lives in Richmond and has been following Cosmic Baseball since the beginning. I did end up seeing a page for the lottery last year, but opted not to try and enter as I felt the game I would've chosen to go to was too close (i.e. I didn't think they were still pulling names).

In 2026, the Cosmic Takeover Tour expanded to more MiLB stadiums, and the lottery system was still in place (but there's no K Club equivalent to let you skip the lottery). I don't have any idea how said lottery works, but I was able to enter sometime last fall (IIRC) for dates in the stadium nearest me: Coca-Cola Park in Allentown, PA (which was one of Cosmic Baseball's 2025 stops, and the one I thought about trying to go to last year). Sometime around mid-March, I was notified that lottery winners would be drawn for "limited seats", and then a few days later...

### YOU'RE WINNER

I'll be honest: the initial writing session for this post was difficult because after I started it while on a high from WINNING THE LOTTERY - though you probably knew that I had won by this point (otherwise this post wouldn't exist).

Three dates were available to me, but due to a commitment I made the day before the lottery, I opted to choose the Thursday date as that was the one with the least conflict. I decided to buy two tickets (which were around 40 bucks each) just in case I wanted to bring someone along, but due to the game being about an hour away from home on a Thursday night, no one was really available.

Before I continue, I should mention that I'm not going to discuss Coca-Cola Park at length since [I already did that last year](2025-08-11_lhvironpigs), and there haven't exactly been any major changes since then. The big thing think I think you should know is that the stadium is getting a new name in a few years, as it was announced this year that Coca-Cola decided not to renew their naming rights deal (and also the IronPigs led MiLB in attendance again in 2025). However, I do want to discuss something I didn't see last time:

### The Upper Deck

I mentioned in my last visit to Coca-Cola Park that there were upper level seats that I didn't get to explore. However, I was able to get one of these upper level seats for this game, and I REALLY liked it (especially in the context of the "cosmic" part of the game - I'll get to that soon). It seems that these seats are NOT easy to get for whatever reason: when I was trying to figure out where exactly my seat was (within its section), these seats were not available for any of the IronPigs games I checked save for a morning game, and many of them have names (indicating that they're held by season ticket holders).

![A view of Coca-Cola Park from the upper deck](/images/2026/0514-light.jpeg)

One of the reasons it's hard to get seats up here (as well as said seats being a bit more than the "lower bowl"): there’s a club area up here complete with its own bar area, concession stand, and even a merch booth (or at least they had one for this game)! Also, I was in the first row, and there was a ton of legroom between the seats and the balcony fence. Sure, you’re a bit further behind than your typical row, but you don’t have to ask people to awkwardly stand up if you’re in the middle of the row!

With that out of the way, let's start actually talking about the event itself - starting with

### Pregame

Much like Banana Ball, the experience begins with a pregame plaza experience. I do not know how Banana Ball sets up here (as they've been here before and have more games planned for this year), but for this game, the experience was mostly INSIDE the stadium (in the right field plaza area). There were still a few parts of the stadium blocked off, but a fair number of concession stands were available (including the all important Chickie's and Pete's). There was also a "VIP Pass" available which would allow you to enter early (among other things), but I didn't think it was super worth it (especially when you consider the unused ticket I bought).

The central focus of the entertainment for the pregame show was a group known as the "Cosmic Flight Crew": four trained circus performers who did various circus stunts. If I'm being honest, their pregame show gave me "Quincy Market Street Performer" vibes - not necessarily a bad thing mind you[^2].

Also, there's appaprently no set "home team" heading into the game; the "home team" is determined by the fans before the game, and this time, the Chili Peppers ended up as the home team. I'm not sure how much of an advantage batting second confers in Cosmic Baseball (I'll explain why later), but I'm fairly certain it's not as significant as Banana Ball where every inning can end with a walk-off.

### In the beginning

The game starts with an "Unceremonial First Pitch", where a lucky fan gets to throw the first pitch of the game - to the first batter of the game[^3]. I'm not sure how "staged" it is, but the poor fan hit the first batter, which sparked a "benches clearing brawl".

The first half of the game is basically "normal" baseball, but similar to Banana Ball's ruleset, bunting, mound visits, and batters stepping out of the box are not allowed. One major difference between the two is that in Cosmic Baseball, if a batter is thrown four balls, they get to take the ball and then throw it in front of them and hit it (what's known as a "fungo" swing - and yes, this CAN turn into an out). 

There are also two "gimmick innings" - one reverses the order of bases (i.e. starting at third then going down to first), and the other features a "chaos period" where foul territory basically does not exist - and this includes balls going into the stands. I do not know if these are set to be in a specific order, but one fan determines which by selecting an UNO card before the second inning.

After those two innings happen, I THINK there's supposed to be a fourth inning of "normal baseball", but at this particular game the fourth inning was "skipped" (partialy as the score was 0-0 at the time). After that, there's something that's almost unheard of in baseball: 

### Intermission

I'll be honest: I missed a lot of the intermission activities as I was in line for ice cream.

I know that the Flight Crew comes back out and does stuff with various fans, but near the end, once it's dark enough, they pull a large "light switch" out and a countdown begins. Once that countdown hits zero...

![An image of Coca-Cola Park lit in UV Black Lights](/images/2026/0514-darkness.jpeg)

### Genesis

Once the lights switch, then the whole thing goes from "normal" to "a total rave"...and I must admit: the atmosphere was ELECTRIC. Players are standing along the field throwing baseballs into the stands the entire time, music is playing almost consistently, and there's actually party lights in the outfield.

One thing I found interesting was that the glow in the dark effect is more pronounced when seen from a distance: if you're looking at your own clothes in the black light, it honestly just looks like they're shining in normal light. However, if you look at someone a few feet away, you can see the "glow" in what they're wearing (assuming they're wearing the right colors for the effect to work - which a lot of people were because MERCH).

The game goes back to "more traditional" baseball for this second half (without the gimmick innings), but one thing unique to this second half: home run derbies after every inning. Each team sends one batter up, and that batter gets 45 seconds to hit as many home runs as they can - with each home run scoring a run for their team. This is part of why I think that batting second is less important (since most of the runs come from this HRD), and it also means that a Cosmic Baseball game will almost certainly be MUCH closer to a football score than a baseball one. This game didn't see as many runs scored as other Cosmic Baseball games I perused on the team's YouTube, but it did end with a 26-20 score in favor of the Glowmojis.

### Cosmic Glow-Merch-ji

There are TONS of different Cosmic Baseball hats and jerseys on the Chili Peppers' online store for both teams (along with shirts and stuff, but I'm mostly focused on hats and jerseys). When I checked their store shortly after winning the tickets, I found that each team had no less than three hats that appeared to be for games, as well as FOUR jerseys each (and since then, more hats have been released). Notably, a few items were available at the game that were listed as "sold out" online (though I assume the team has more on the way).

A few days after getting my tickets I ordered hats marked "game hats" for the two teams (one hat per team); notably, all hats (including the game hats) are snapbacks - probably because the manufacturer doesn't want to waste materials on fitteds/flexfits that may or may not sell.

At the game, there was a merch area in the plaza (which was SUPER busy before the game), but also one in the outfield (which I beelined for when that part of the park opened), plus the aforementioned booth in the second floor club area. I did also check out the IronPigs store to see if there was anything interesting as I saw they had non-sublimated jerseys, but since said jerseys didn't have the scripts on them "fully" stitched on, I decided to pass on all of them (and the one I was most interested in had FAUX STITCHES - WHY?????).

One VERY interesting thing about merch (and the team in general): the team clearly has a deeply religious identity. Every hat and jersey I saw has the phrase "YOU CAN'T LIMIT GOD"[^4] inside of it, and the game ended with one of the players leading a prayer.

### Final thoughts

Cosmic Baseball was REALLY fun - I could honestly make an argument that it's _better_ than Banana Ball (though that may be due to a few factors - namely how long it's been around and the fact that I've only seen Banana Ball at MLB stadiums)[^5]. However...I can't help but wonder what the Chili Peppers are thinking about for the future.

The day I started writing this post, I found out that they "split" their Cosmic Baseball and CPL team websites with no real interconnection; the Cosmic Baseball site ranked higher on Google's search results. In addition, their YouTube channel was simply named "Cosmic Baseball", but old Chili Peppers videos/broadcasts still exist on the channel indicating that it was once the Chili Peppers YouTube channel. There is also the fact that, as I mentioned earlier, I ordered a few items from the team before the game, and the shipping label had "Cosmic Sports" as the sender.

For me, all of these indicate that the Chili Peppers may pull a Savannah Bananas and leave the CPL to focus on Cosmic Baseball; however, they are playing in the CPL for the 2026 season (as their CPL team and website still exist), so who knows what they'll end up doing (though as I've mentioned before, the summer leagues are sadly facing a downturn due to a decline in player participation, so that may be a factor).

Another thing with Cosmic Baseball's future: I get the sense that MLB and NFL stadiums are going to be MUCH more difficult than Banana Ball due to the black lights. Getting them set up in a minor league stadium is one thing, but MLB stadiums are a different beast altogether: the smallest MLB stadium (that isn't a Minor League stadium hosting a Major League team that REALLY wanted to get out of Oakland but can't go to Vegas quite yet) is still more than twice as big as the largest MiLB stadium (though said stadium is hosting Cosmic Baseball this year).

Anyway, I realize that similar to Banana Ball, this is a hard-to-get-into experience that a lot of folks reading this may not get to see soon (and/or don't like for trying to make baseball more "gimmicky"). However, I do think these types of experiences are a nice way to try and make sporting events more "accessible" to people who find them boring, and I think that if you can find a way to get tickets, it's a fun night out if you're looking for something different to do.

_P.S.: You may have noticed that I have not yet named the person who invented Cosmic Baseball. That's because unlike Jesse Cole, he seems to keep a LOW profile (as in I don't think he does any on-field stuff), but his name is Chris Martin, and I'm guessing he hasn't accidentally exposed any CEOs having affairs recently..._

_Also, I was right about this not being 8,000 words again: According to my highly unscientific word counter, this post is just under 3,000 words including the footnotes AND this little tidbit._

---

[^1]: There are only six Cosmic Baseball streams available on YouTube from 2024, but a league stats page indicates the two teams played seven games (with three other games listed without results).

[^2]: Though one of the Flight Crew did have the (character) name "Private Falcon Parts" - and was often referred to without the "Falcon". In fairness, the Savannah Bananas did have a game where they identified fictional characters by their butts before one of the Yankee Stadium games...

[^3]: Banana Ball also "First Pitch that Counts"...sometimes; the game I saw at [Fenway Park](bananaball_bospt3) had it, but neither Yankee Stadium game did.

[^4]: Every time I see/hear this phrase, I can't help but think of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovoBi3pXD_A" target="blank">this old Motown hit</a>...

[^5]: Another part of this is likely due to the fact that if I'm being honest...the atmosphere at both Yankee Stadium games felt much, MUCH more muted compared to last year at Fenway Park.

Sportventures

FC Motown STA (5/21/26)

A New Era in New Jersey

Mall Ball (5/18/26)

FC Motown (5/16/26)

Stark Raving Baseball (5/14/26)