Mel Kowalchuk has announced his resignation as the general manager of FC Edmonton. The team, which leaves Monday for the Arizona portion of its preparations for its first NASL season made the announcement Friday.

rlando City has yet to play a regular-season game in its central Florida home, but the USL side is already talking about a move to Major League Soccer. On its official Facebook page, the club has launched a new initiative by urging fans to buy tickets and to let family and friends know about the new soccer team. And the club has made it clear the end goal is to grow to the point where MLS can’t ignore the city.

Felix Napuri’s five-goal effort Saturday kept Calgary United’s quest to defend its Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League title alive. Arthur Paszkowski added three more goals as United went into the Edmonton South Side Soccer Centre and beat the Drillers 10-7 in a card-filled, nasty affair. Immediately after the game, league president Mel Kowalchuk went into a closed-door meeting with the match officials.

The North American Soccer League did its best impression of an organization NOT in crisis Tuesday, as it released its full 2011 schedule, and announced that six of the circuit’s eight teams will make the playoffs

Like former coach Dwight Lodeweges and assistant Hans Schrijver, van Gessel had a clause in his FC Edmonton contract that allowed him to leave the club if a better offer came along. So, he is following his former coaches to Japan, FC Edmonton announced Monday.

The indoor Edmonton Drillers will act as a proving ground for some FC Edmonton prospects. Antonio Rago, a former member of the Vancouver Whitecaps residency, and 16-year-old keeper Matt Preston were in the lineup for the Drillers’ indoor season-opening 7-6 loss in Calgary on New Year’s Eve. “Preston’s a player who has got a bright future,” said FC Edmonton general manager Mel Kowalchuk. The Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League (CMISL) is an amateur circuit, so no player with a professional contract with FC Edmonton, which kicks off its inaugural NASL season in April, is eligible to play with the Drillers. But Rago and Preston currently retain their amateur status, so they can play in the indoor circuit.

Chris Lemire doesn’t want to see another Edmonton soccer team fold.

Alberta has made soccer news for the wrong reasons in 2010 as an ugly power struggle has crippled the Alberta Soccer Association. The province continues to be badly under-represented on most national teams, which are dominated by players from British Columbia and Ontario. The rise of BMO Field and Stade Saputo has made Commonwealth Stadium, once the official home of Canada’s national soccer team, a place reserved to host Canadian games only if they are World Cup qualifiers in winter months against Mexico, in hopes of freezing out the regional power. Gains made in boosting the game in Ontario and Quebec have taken a toll on Alberta. So, that’s why the selection of Ethan Gage as the country’s male U-20 player of the year is a big deal.

FC Edmonton has a new coach in place, just days after Dwight Lodeweges and his assistant, Hans Schrijver, used out clauses in their contracts to take more lucrative positions in the second division of Japanese football. The team introduced another Dutch boss, Harry Sinkgraven, to the media Monday at a downtown hotel. “Harry is someone equal or better” to the outgoing staff, said general manager Mel Kowalchuk.