The Austin BD-Soccer Premier League or simply ABPL will be first ever recreational soccer league for Austin’s Bangladeshi (BD) Community’s soccer players and enthusiasts when it starts from May 2022. Without any doubt, this will bring up lots of interest among the soccer players of Bangladeshi descent from all over Austin.

ABPL will create a fan base among Bangladeshi community members and will bring amateur soccer players closer to the community. This will create a new opportunity for amateur players, soccer enthusiasts, managers, referees and sponsors. “ABPL will enhance the quality of all our players, managers and executives along the development pathway and it is an important step to the growth of the sports among Austin’s Bangladeshis”, said Arshad Khandkar, senior member of ABPL Committee.

Unlike annual Austin BD Soccer Tournament, there was no draft needed for building the teams. Rather players’ were allocated to teams based on their location. Four teams represented four major areas of Austin and players were assigned to the teams based on their location. Few exceptions were made to balance all the teams’ strength. Team rosters can have up to 24 players. Teams will coordinate with its players to determine players availability for certain games, team formation. ABPL committee recommends all teams to ensure that all players get at least 30 minutes of playing time when they are available. All games will be 80 min long.

A total of four teams will participate and nearly hundred players are expected to play for these four teams. The league will run during Summer and the first season kicking off in May 15th. Two games will take place every Sunday. Three out of the four teams are from North part of Austin while there will be a lone team from the South. Most games will take place at Williamson County Regional Soccer field, better known as Wilco, while few games will take place on South (most likely at Small Middle School’s field). Each team plays nine (9) regular-season games divided into three (3) phases. There will be a total of eighteen (18) games.

ABPL is much like any upstart recreational sports event of Austin’s Bangladeshi community, heading into its freshman season looking to prove it has staying power. The question is whether it can succeed in a community that already has too many social events and activities. Only time will tell.