Official release from New England Revolution
The New England Revolution (Major League Soccer) and the Rochester Rhinos (USL PRO) have entered into a partnership that makes the Rhinos the official USL PRO affiliate of the Revolution.
The teams' agreement is part of the landmark announcement made by MLS and USL PRO last week to help further the development of professional soccer in the U.S. and Canada.
The agreement calls for the Revolution to loan a minimum of four players to the Rhinos for the season. While the Revs players will remain with New England for the entirety of the Revs' preseason training, members of the Rochester coaching staff will travel to Tucson and meet the Revs for the next stage of the team's training camp to observe players and collaborate with the Revolution coaches. The Revs players loaned to Rochester will be announced closer to the start of the season once that determination has been made.
"We are pleased to formalize what we believe will be a beneficial partnership for both the Revolution and Rochester," Revolution General Manager Michael Burns said. "This affiliate agreement will allow a number of our players to gain increased and meaningful playing time in the Rhino's USL PRO schedule while we can monitor their development in conjunction with Rochester's staff.
"We believe forming an affiliation with Rochester gives us the ability to get our players more competitive games on a regular basis. This option allows those players who would normally see most of their action in the Reserve League to get more consistent playing time, which we believe will benefit our first team in the long run," Burns said.