12/16/2010: New Partnerships For The Dutch Lions (Baton Rouge, Possibly TFC), Dutch Lions Possibly After PDL Defender Of The Year, & Bas Ent Update

The Dayton Dutch Lions already have one sister club in Dutch champions F.C. Twente. The Dutch Lions might be going for the partnership treble this offseason...

Yesterday the Dutch Lions announced a partnership with a very successful PDL club- the Baton Rouge Capitals. The Baton Rouge Capitals were founded in 2007, and have a strong English influence- with nearly all of their international spots taken up by English players similiar to how the Dutch Lions keep most of their international spots open for Dutch players. The Baton Rouge Capitals also finished as 3rd place finalists in the PDL National Championship in 2010. Therefore, the Dutch Lions won't only be partnered with the best Dutch team in Twente; but also one of the best PDL clubs in Baton Rouge.

There is quite a bit beneficial by this sort of partnership. As the Dutch Lions will have access to the best players of one of the strongest PDL clubs (as after college graduation these players are no longer eligible for a PDL non-PRO team like Baton Rouge). Whereas, Baton Rouge can gain connections to Dutch internationals who are not quite good enough yet for the USL-Pro level but great for the PDL.

The Dutch Lions-Baton Rouge partnership overall includes, but is not limited to, the following:

- An agreement for both teams to meet in an exhibition game annually between May and July

- Access for Dutch Lions officials to Capitals' players and give Capitals' players the chance to play professionally in either the US or Europe or with the Dutch Lions

- An exchange of knowledge

- Access for Capitals' coaching staff to recruit players from the Netherlands

The partnership may have come out of the Dutch Lions interest in one of the Baton Rouge's key players; as Dutch Lions owner Mike Mossel said in his discussion on the partnership:

"They have access to a very talented area and we like to do more than just share ideas like we have been doing so far. One of the first things we will do is schedule an exhibition game in Dayton in 2011. We are also about to sign one of their most talented players in the coming weeks.”

No definite name yet on who that player will be, but Baton Rouge's strongest talent is Joe Tait(picture below); as the English defender Tait was selected as the PDL Defender of the Year in 2010 for Baton Rouge and would be a nice selection for the Dutch Lions who struggled in the back in 2010.


The PDL Defender of The Year, Tait, has offensive header prowress as well scoring a hat trick in a game vs. Atlanta this season. Could this be the talent the Dutch Lions are after?

However, Tait (or one of his English compatriots) would go against the Dutch Lions form of only picking up Dutch internationals. Yet, Tait might possibly have an American green card from four years in the United States.. And Englishmen have always been better defenders than the attacking Dutch. :-) So, who knows.

Others of interest include English midfielder Ben Callon who was selected to the Southern Conference PDL team and led Baton Rouge in productivity with 9 goals and 5 assists. Or American keeper Joe Hart (good keeper name if your a Manchester City fan) who made two penalty saves to lead Baton Rouge to 3rd place in the PDL Championships in 2010.


Could the Dutch Lions be interested in Joe Hart? No not the above Joe Hart, the American one from Baton Rouge that lead his team to the PDL finals?

Either way, the partnership probably came out of the Dutch Lions courting of Baton Rouge player to be named later; Just as a possible partnership with Toronto F.C. could come out of TFC's courting of Dutch Lions 2010 standout Bas Ent.

As Dutch Lions President Mike Mossel has stated that the Dutch Lions need to receive something from TFC to let one of their most talented players, Bas Ent, go from his three year contract.

“He is not eligible until we let him go,” says Mike Mossel, co-owner of Dayton Dutch Lions FC, the USL Premier Development League team that Ent played on last season.

“The question is what does Toronto want to pay for him and how much do we want for him?”

Ent currently has a three-year contract with the Lions but Mossel doesn’t anticipate that an agreement will be tough to reach. He says that rather than accepting compensation, there is a possibility of DDL FC and TFC forming some type of partnership.

“I don’t want to be in the way of Bas,” says Mossel. “This is a great step for him and for our club of course, a guy going to MLS after one year.”

So, if Toronto F.C. doesn't want to pay for Bas (which MLS clubs are famous for doing- not paying transfer fees and saying forget it for a player if there is a transfer fee). Then possibly the price for Bas is a sharing of information, possibly feeding some TFC Academy players into the Dutch Lions if they're not ready for MLS, and maybe an exhibition at BMO Field (below) in the future for the Dutch Lions.



Hell, a friendly at BMO Field for the Dutch Lions against Toronto F.C. would probably cut it for a deal as that would be great publicity for the Dutch Lions. So, hopefully see all of you Dutch Lions fans in Toronto for a roadtrip sometime soon.

11/23/2010: Former Dayton Dutch Lions Player Bas Ent Signs 3 Year Deal With Toronto F.C.

23 year old Bas Ent impressed MLS clubs Toronto F.C. and the Columbus Crew during his time in America with the Dayton Dutch Lions. Ent trialed for Toronto for a week and played 45 minutes for the Canadian club against EPL side Bolton Wanderers. Then Ent got a week trial with the Crew after impressing in a friendly matchup against the Crew (above). However, Toronto will nab the young Dutch winger over Columbus.

11/23/2010: Former Dayton Dutch Lions Player Bas Ent Signs 3 Year Deal With Toronto F.C.

Dutch Topklasser League website, Topklasser.nl, which is the league website of Bas Ent's Dutch side, Katwijk, reported today that 23 year old Bas Ent has signed a three year deal with MLS side Toronto F.C.; A popular Dutch soccer website, VoetbalPrimeur.nl, has also picked up the story. Both of these stories confirm what I've personally heard (used to work at DDL F.C.) from a former Dayton Dutch Lions co-worker a week ago, who said that Ent has signed a three year deal with Toronto F.C.

The Columbus Crew battled Toronto F.C. this Summer a little over Bas Ent; as both TFC and Columbus invited Ent to week long trials. Nevertheless, it looks as if TFC won the battle. Ent will not be a part of the Crew's youth plan; after the other Ohio footballing club declined to re-sign veterans such as Guillermo Barros Schelotto and Frankie Hejduk.

Ent in Columbus would have been preferred for some Dutch Lion fans, who could easily make the hour trek to see former Dutch Lion player Ent play in Columbus. But, Dutch Lions fans will still get a chance to watch Bas when he visits Columbus with Toronto during the 2011 MLS season.

Ent had to say the following on his previous experience at playing at BMO Field for Toronto F.C.:

"Playing in the Toronto stadium for so many fans is the greatest moment of my career so far. I must admit I was a little bit nervous in the beginning. But that feeling was gone as soon as I first touched the ball, and right away I felt confident. I got to keep the jersey, which I will keep in a special place."

Ent better get rid of that nervousness, as it seems that Bas will be making a lot of darting runs on the wing in front of many fans in Toronto, for many years to come, as long as he seizes the opportunity.

7/22/2010: Dutch Lions Bas Ent Impresses TFC Staff & Fans

Dayton Dutch Lions player Bas Ent played 45 minutes for TFC in the second half of their match against the English Premier League Bolton Wanderers. Bas didn't get an abundant ammount of touches in the match, but when he had touches Ent created solid opportunities. As Ent had two solid crosses, one a screaming bullet across the Bolton box that found the path of O'Brien White but White whiffed; When White whiffed the ball found the path of TFC Academy player Nicolas Lindsay who couldn't put enough power on the ball to beat Bolton keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen. The Ent cross was one of TFC's best opportunities of the game.

Along with the crosses, Bas had his own opportunity to go one-on-one against Jasskelainen but the refereee incorrectly called Ent offsides. Nevertheless, Bas Ent impressed TFC staff and fans alike.

TFC Coach Preki on Bas Ent's game against Bolton:

“He has some interesting abilities. I would have loved to see him with the ball a bit more.”

But, when he did have the ball, Preki said he liked what he saw.

TFC Fan Comments:

"Ent looked very good in the second half as did Mirko Medic who played up front and was also trialing."

"Ent was unlucky to not have earned an assist when OB somehow fluffed that ball four yard in front of goal. I've no idea how that one went through his legs but such is life."

"Agreed on Ent. I thought he was one of the best players on the pitch in the second half. After watching TFC struggle out wide for 4 years now, I'm thinking this is the kind of player we need."

Bas impressed Preki and Mo Johnston so much that they invited Ent to stay on an extra day for practice on Thursday, when the initial trial was supposed to only last up to last night's game. TFC reportedly also has an interest in bringing Bas back into the fold after the Dayton Dutch Lions last game this Saturday against the Chicago Fire of the PDL.

7/21/2010: Bas Ent In Toronto FC Colors

7/21/2010: Live Stream- Bas Ent To Come On In Second Half

7/21/2010: Watch Dayton Dutch Lions Bas Ent Live Tonight Against Bolton

Dayton Dutch Lions winger Bas Ent is expected to get a run out with TFC this evening against Bolton Wanderers of the EPL. Bas is likely to play 45-60 minutes in the friendly as part of a trial that started Monday with Toronto FC. Ent will be back for the Dutch Lions for their regular season finale against the Chicago Fire (PDL) on Saturday in Chicago.

To watch Bas in action tonight, click here for the live feed of the game, via Toronto FC.TV, at 7:30 p.m.

7/17/2010: Bas Ent Headed On Trial To Toronto FC, May Get Minutes In Friendly Against EPL Bolton Wanderers

Winger Bas Ent has stood out for the Dayton Dutch Lions with 2 goals and 6 assists in fourteen games with the PDL club. His pace and quickness, ability to get off good crosses, and overall passing ability has Ent currently being targeted by a few MLS clubs. The 22-year old Ent was first noticed by the Columbus Crew in a friendly played at the University of Dayton between the Dutch Lions and the Crew on June 19th (Ent is pictured above in that game). Ent was one of two Dutch Lion players that caught the eyes of Crew Head Coach Robert Warzycha and Crew Technical Director Brian Bliss on that day. The Crew wanted and still want to take a closer look at Ent after the Dutch Lions season, along with another Dayton Dutch Lion player.

However, by then it may be too late for the Columbus Crew to snag Ent; As Bas Ent also caught the eyes of a scout from the Columbus Crew's main rival, Toronto F.C., when the Dutch Lions went on the road to Canada recently. As the Dutch Lions took on FC London and the Toronto Lynx in PDL action and the TFC scout was at the Lynx game on July 11th. That scout was extremely impressed with Ent and contacted the Dutch Lions soon after. Then over the last week the Dutch Lions front office has been in contact with Toronto F.C. multiple times, working out travel arrangements for Ent.

Ent has an exciting few days ahead of him. He'll leave Sunday for Toronto, train Monday and Tuesday at BMO Field with the likes of Dwayne DeRosario and Julian De Guzman, then will likely be inserted in a friendly against the Bolton Wanderers at BMO Field Wednesday night. Over 22,000 TFC fans will be watching Ent's every move, as the Canadian poster club looks to bolster their squad.



The Toronto F.C. game against Bolton is part of the annual Carlsberg Cup where TFC plays a EPL team yearly for a trophy. The game will be broadcasted on GolTV at 7:30 P.M. and if Bas is expected to get a run out, check back here for a live feed in the coming days. Ent, if given a go in the game, will face off against tough defenders such as Zat Knight (below, left); Ent may also get the chance to battle against fellow Dutch footballer Mustapha Riga (below, right).



Despite the pressure, Bas Ent should have the confidence in himself to succeed. Ent has played in the Dutch top flight with FC Volendam (at the club for eight years total). Ent was also on many of the Dutch National teams at the U-17 and U-20 levels.