BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - ST. KITTS-NEVIS international footballer Tishan Hanley has recently been signed to the USL Pro League Richmond Kickers, according to the club's website.
Hanley was a student of the Washington Archibald High School prior to joining the St. Kitts Premier Division team, Garden Hotspurs as a 16-year old, where he played three seasons and recorded 10 goals.
The 5’11” forward represented St. Kitts and Nevis in the 2007 CONCACAF Under-17 Tournament before making his first appearance with the senior team in 2008 against St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
He later moved to the United States when he signed with the Harrisburg City Islanders, making his debut against the Real Maryland Monarchs on April 24, 2010.
According to the team’s website, Hanley split time between the Fredericksburg Hotspurs and Ocala Stampede of the USL Premier Development League in 2012 before leading RVA FC of the National Premier Soccer League to the 2013 National Championship.
The USL Professional Division, commonly known as USL Pro (stylized USL PRO), is a professional men’s soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011.
USL Pro is sanctioned as a Division III Professional League by United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer), placing it under Major League Soccer (Division I) and the North American Soccer League (Division II) in the hierarchy.
The league is owned and operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL) and was formed as result of the organisation’s merger of the old USL First and Second Divisions, following the controversial 2010 season which saw neither the USL First Division or the North American Soccer League (NASL) receive sanctioning from the USSF, resulting in the temporary USSF Division 2 Pro League.
The merger is meant to consolidate USL’s position within the American professional soccer landscape and focus on stability, commercial growth and the professional development of soccer in four main regions throughout the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean.
The Richmond Kickers, established in 1993, has consistently been one of the most successful professional soccer clubs in America.
The club’s website informed that over the past 18 seasons Richmond had qualified for postseason play 16 times and reached the title match in 2010 for the sixth time in the past nine campaigns, falling just short of the Championship title following a 2-1 loss to the Charleston Battery.
It added that Richmond’s seven previous league Championship appearances (1995, 1996, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009) include winning the Premier League title in 1995, a shoot-out loss to Seattle in the USL First Division final in 2005 and taking the USL Second Division crown twice against Charlotte in 2006 and 2009.
The Kickers had claimed Organisation of the Year honours on five occasions (1995, 2000, 2006, 2007, 2009) and have had 22 players progressed into Major League Soccer.
