RATTLERS, CHIVAS BECOME PARTNERS.

Byline: GIDEON RUBIN Staff Writer

LANCASTER -- The Lancaster Rattlers and Chivas USA officially announced a cross-promotion partnership Saturday in a press conference at the Rattlers' headquarters.

Representatives from both teams announced terms of the deal, which include an agreement to play at least one and possibly two exhibition games at Palmdale High, where the Rattlers will play their home games this year.

The Rattlers are an amateur-level Premier Development League soccer team that is set to open their inaugural season in April.

Chivas, an elite-level Mexican Club team that competes in the Major League Soccer, will host a special Lancaster Rattlers Night at one of its home MLS games at Home Depot Center in Carson later this year.

Chivas will also send its coaches to Lancaster to individually scout Rattlers players.

``It's going to stimulate interest in our team, and in our league,'' Brunner said.

Rattlers general manager and owner Gerald Brunner said he expects the cross-promotion partnership to be a boon for the franchise. Chivas is especially popular in the Antelope Valley's fast-growing Hispanic community, he said.

``We won't know from a marketing standpoint exactly how much it's going to help until later this year, but it should help 100 percent in terms of (public relations),'' Brunner said.

The PDL, which plays under the United Soccer League umbrella, is a development league for aspiring professional soccer players 17-and-over that boasts an impressive promotion track record. Major League Soccer selected 31 PDL players in last year's amateur draft. Many others have continued their careers in the USL's two professional divisions.

The Rattlers are the newest addition to the PDL's 10-team Southwest Division.

Brunner's Lancaster-based United Sports International has already formed a partnership with AV United Recreation League, and established an instructional academy for boys and girls, age 10 to 17.

Brunner said USI will field a Super 20 (20-and-under) men's team that will function as a reserve squad for the Rattlers, and that plans to have a PDL equivalent women's W League team next year are already in the works.

Brunner believes he has the numbers to start a women's Super 20 league team this year and is awaiting response from other PDL programs. He said USI would form a women's practice squad later this summer to establish the groundwork for a W League team next year.

Brunner said the Chivas deal will help USI move toward its ambitious goals of building a new stadium and bringing a USL professional Div. I within five years.

He said the Chivas presence will spark interest in all levels of his program.

``That's what I'm most excited about,'' Brunner said. ``(The Chivas deal) brings a professional team that much closer to this level.''

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Rattlers goalie Zack Brunner wears a team jersey as he and his father, Gerald Brunner, general manager of the Lancaster Rattlers soccer team, discuss a partnership with Chivas USA on Saturday.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer