BUTLER TWP — Professional soccer found its way to Butler Wednesday evening.

The Pittsburgh Riverhounds of the United Soccer Leagues paid a visit to the Family Sports Center to conduct an interactive clinic with the Northern Crew Soccer Club, to play an intrasquad scrimmage game and to sign autographs.

"We'll do anything to promote soccer and we're promoting ourselves at the same time,"first-year Riverhounds head coach Gene Klein said. "Youth soccer is booming throughout Western Pennsylvania. That's very encouraging to us."

Nearly 1,000 people attended Wednesday's event, held on Family Sports Center's outdoor soccer fields. Family Sports Center is home to the Northern Crew Soccer Club, a youth organization that began three years ago with 14 players and one team.

Today, Northern Crew consists of more than 300 players and 22 teams.

"We've got kids in this club from Mars, Cranberry, Slippery Rock, Kittanning — all over the place,"Northern Crew Club president Mike Baptiste said.

Northern Crew's director of coaching is Reuben Azevedo, who has done some coaching with the Riverhounds in recent years.

The Riverhounds, which have existed since 1998, averaged 2,000 fans per home game last season and ranked among the top five in the league in attendance despite posting a 6-13-4 won-loss record.

"This region really is a youth soccer hotbed,"Klein said. "Our hope is that our working with young soccer players will form lasting relationships that will bring these kids and their parents to a few of our games."

The Riverhounds play their home games at Falconi Field — home of the minor league baseball Washington Wild Things — with the season opener slated for May 5 against Harrisburg. Their season runs until mid-August.

Baptiste said the Northern Crew players, ranging in age from 8 to 18, were excited to learn the Riverhounds were coming to Butler.

"Our sports shop sold about 100 soccer balls tonight to kids who wanted to get them autographed,"Baptiste said. "This is just a fun event we're doing for our kids."

Tim O'Donnell of Evans City, who has a son on Northern Crew's under-9 team, said family events like this have helped to attract more players to the organization.

"It's not just soccer that they're about,"he said. "This is a family- oriented organization that incorporates life lessons with soccer."

The Riverhounds put on a similar scrimmage and youth clinic in Upper St. Clair last week. They have another scrimmage and clinic slated for Wexford on Tuesday.