This will be a year of change for the Silicon Valley Ambassadors, the area's minor league men's soccer team.
The Ambassadors will open their second season this Sunday with a new coach, several new players and a new home - or homes.
The team will no longer play all its regular season home games at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills. Instead, the Ambassadors will rotate their 10 home games between various sites in and around the area.
Seven of these games will be played at either Palo Alto High or De Anza College in Cupertino. One match is scheduled for Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz.
Team owner Silvian Centiu said only two games will be played at Foothill this year: the May 14 game against the Central Coast Roadrunners and the June 11 contest against the Chico Rooks. Both games will start at 8 p.m.
Centiu would have preferred to play all the Ambassadors' home games at Foothill, but he said that's not financially feasible.
"It was our first choice, but it's too expensive," he said. "We lost money for the season playing there last year."
Playing at less expensive venues like De Anza will allow the Ambassadors to lower ticket prices, according to Centiu. General admission tickets will drop from $16 to about $10, he said.
When the Ambassadors open their season at 2 p.m., Sunday at Palo Alto High against the Nevada Zephyrs, there will be a new coach pacing the sidelines. Franco Benevento is the new man in charge, replacing Joe Silveira.
Silveira's shoes won't be easy to fill. He guided the Ambassadors to a 19-2 overall record and a first-place finish in the Premier Development Soccer League's Southwest Division.
But Centiu is confident that Benevento - a native of Italy who played professionally for the New York Cosmos in the early 1970s - is up for the task.
"I think he will do a good job," Centiu said. "He works more on player development and balances that with good results."
Benevento describes his coaching style as "more European," and he will stress defense over attacking.
"The important thing is to not give up goals," said the 50-year-old Benevento, who's been coaching since 1979.
About half the players from last year's team are returning, Centiu said, including Los Altos resident Kris Menzel. A majority of the 22 team members are collegians who attend San Jose State, Santa Clara University and De Anza.
Like last season, the Ambassadors also will have some foreign players on board. Midfielder Olivier Nocella is from France and defender Mesquita Junior is Brazilian.
"This year's team has more experience," Benevento said, "and I think we're going to be very strong."
For more information about the Ambassadors, call 618-1523.