There’s a new Major League Soccer Next team coming to Grand Rapids, Michigan. Some people may think that this is a professional team full of superstars, while that might be true; the MLS Next team is a second-division professional league. Players will come to the Athletic Club Grand Rapids to develop their skills, potentially leading to a signing with a top-tier MLS team.

If you’re wondering why the MLS is such a big deal to get signed, that’s because it’s a professional contract, and the team’s signing these players are professional organizations. These organizations are about equal to the National Football League. A big name you might have heard of in this league is Lionel Messi. Messi is a forward who plays for Inter Miami. He is argued to be the best player to ever play men’s soccer.

This MLS Next team will play at Amway, a stadium being built in downtown Grand Rapids. This stadium will be able to seat about 8,500 occupants. The owners of this new team are very enthusiastic about building this stadium. The two co-owners are David Van Andel and Dan DeVos, along with members of their families. This new team will have a distinctive team kit, featuring jerseys in black, blue, and gold, with their team name abbreviated on the jersey to AC Grand Rapids.

There are many fans of MLS soccer one fan being Plainwell Sophomore, Milan Mena ’28, when asked what his thoughts were on the AC Grand Rapids he responded with“ I’m actually very excited to see how this new team will perform, I am a very big fan of soccer so this new club coming to Grand Rapids is very exciting for me and I plan on attending some of their games” Milan seems very excited to see what the new club brings to Grand Rapids, But one things for sure this will be a very big thing in Grand Rapids for the next coming years.