 |
| The New Haven-based Elm City Express are the defending champions of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL). |
Connecticut is well-represented in the NPSL by the Elm City
Express, the league’s defending champions who play their home matches at Yale University’s
Reese Stadium. To read more about the Express’s victory over Midland-Odessa (Tex.) FC to win the 2017 league
championship, click HERE.
The league’s three new teams for the 2018 season are:
Academica
Turlock, Calif.-based Academica Soccer Club will compete in the NPSL’s West
Region’s Golden Gate Conference. The club was started in 1972
when Portuguese immigrants from the Azores Islands created the Portuguese
Cultural Center in Turlock in 1970 and started the team for the youth of the
community. Since then, the club has become the most successful amateur club in
area. Players from the club have gone on to compete at the collegiate level,
both locally and nationally.
Academica joined the Central California Soccer
League (CSSL) in 1977, where the club has competed for over 30 years and won
three championships. The team then moved onto the NorCal Adult Soccer League in
2013. It reached the NCASL final match in both 2013 and 2016, and entered its
first U.S. Open Cup tournament this year, advancing to the second round of Open
Qualifying. Academia has also won numerous Portuguese club tournaments
throughout the Golden State.
Sergio Sousa, Academica’s head coach, has been
with the club for over 15 years. In addition to his duties with Academica,
Sousa is an assistant men’s soccer coach at UC Merced. Michael Rocha, who will be Academica’s director of public relations, is one of
the Portuguese play-by-play commentators with the San Jose Earthquakes.
“Academica Soccer Club has always made it a point
to play in a competitive league since its inception,” Rocha said. “The NPSL is
one of the fastest growing leagues in the U.S. and no one can doubt its
quality. We are excited about the growth of not just the league but of the
sport throughout the country. We want to be a part of that. We want to be part
of something special.”
Home matches will be played at Academica Field.
For more information on Academica, follow the team on Twitter (@academicasc), Facebook (@academicasc), and Instagram (@academicaturlock).
FC Davis
Davis, Calif.-based Football Club Davis will join Academica in the Golden Gate
Conference. Adam Lewin, a former standout soccer
player and youth coach with a passion for soccer, business, politics, music,
and community building, is FC Davis’s owner.
In 2014, Lewin had a vision of bringing a semi-pro
team to Davis, a university town with international influence full of soccer
devoted fan. Lewin considered Davis a severely underserved market, and one that
could use a professional soccer team to call its own. Leveraging UC Davis Club
players, UC Davis’s International Coaches Association (ICA) players, and former
local area standouts who went on to enjoy solid college careers, the team
became a hub for talented soccer players within the region.
“FC Davis applied to the NPSL since the league aligned
with our mission, vision, and core values,” Lewin said. “From its league operations
to the amazing team owners in our conference, it was a perfect match for our
club. In addition, the league has a rich history with a growing national
footprint. Local professional clubs have to be part of the future of
soccer in this country. With the NPSL occupying so many important
markets, the league's future looks brighter now more than ever.”
FC Davis will play at Aggie Stadium on the UC Davis
campus. The 105,000-square foot stadium can host 10,000 fans in the bleachers
and on the two grass berms behind each goal. Complete with a 720-seated VIP
section and approximately 2,500 bleacher seats with back support, the stadium
offers a variety of seating options. It is widely considered to be one of the
premier NCAA Division I-AA facilities in the country.
For more information on FC Davis, visit the team’s website, www.footballclubdavis.com, follow
the club on Twitter (@FCDavis_NPSL), Facebook (@FootballClubDavis), and Instagram (@fcdavis_npsl).
El
Farolito
The third team that will begin play in the NPSL next season will
call San Francisco home. El Farolito, founded in 1985 by Salvador Lopez, will
join FC Davis and Academica in the Golden Gate Conference.
“Very exciting times are ahead for the club and players,” said Santiago
Lopez, the team’s general manager—a position he has held for the past
seven years. “The chance to travel to different cities in our region and play in
stadiums in front of soccer fans we have never seen before really motivates us
to work hard and present a competitive squad each game. We will be playing
against teams full of talented, young and experienced players ready to defend
their club to the fullest. We are looking forward to a real test for everyone
in our organization.”
El Farolito derives its name from a chain of Northern California-based restaurants—“Taquerias
El Farolito.” Two huge milestones for the organization were gaining promotion
to the top division of the San Francisco Soccer Football League in five years
and winning the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in 1993 were two major milestones for
the organization.
“We are focused in not only to provide a professional environment to all
players and staff being involved or interested in working with the
organization, but we want to be another club open to connect with other clubs,
players in the region and country to help grow the sport and transmit a
positive and working environment,” Santiago Lopez continued. “We want to
represent the league and sport locally, nationally, and internationally.”
El Farolito will play their home games at Boxer Stadium, one
of the oldest soccer-specific stadiums in the country. The facility was opened
in September 1953 as Balboa Park Soccer Stadium. It is now called Matthew J.
Boxer Stadium in honor of the late president of the San Francisco Soccer
Football League, a league that is over 100 years old.
“The NPSL has been growing and will continue to grow,” Santiago Lopez
concluded. “They are surrounded by professional, experienced, and most
importantly, passionate people who love the game. The league offers an
excellent structure of competition for all types of players and organizations.”
“The NPSL is thrilled to add El Farolito as an expansion team for
2018,” NPSL Chairman Joe Barone commented. “They bring a storied history, a
passionate fan base, and an incredible gameday venue to our West Region and we
couldn’t be happier to have them as part of the NPSL family.”
“We are proud to see our league continue to grow in the West,”
NPSL Chairman Joe Barone commented. “California has always been known as a
hotbed for great soccer and we are excited to have the NPSL coming to [fans
there]. We’re very confident that Academica,
FC Davis and El Farolito will be tremendous additions to the Golden State.”
The National Premier Soccer League is a successor to the Men’s
Premier Soccer League (MPSL), which was formed in 2002. The NPSL is a member league of the United
States Adult Soccer Association (USASA), and is sanctioned by U.S. Soccer, the
governing body for soccer in the United States.
NPSL’s cooperative and turnkey ownership platform has led to its
explosive growth, countless player development opportunities, and commitment to
grow the game in the United States. For
more information about the NPSL, please visit npsl.com.
—Staff
Reports
No comments:
Post a Comment