A SoCal Friendly: NISA vs. NPSL
Southern California side Temecula FC of the NPSL, considered to be in what most agree is the 4th tier of US Soccer, are taking on brand new SoCal club 1904 FC from NISA - a league who, just this year, was granted 3rd division status by US Soccer. In other parts of the world, a non-competitive match on the fixture list might go unnoticed, but it's mostly out of place in the modern day US Soccer scene. Under normal circumstances, these two clubs would only face each other in a potential US Open Cup regional match-up. The Quails and 1904 FC kick off at Chaparral High School in Temecula, California at 6:00 pm on Saturday, October 26th. Our curiosity was piqued, so we reached out to the owner and co-founder Brandon Jantz to find out more about the culture of the club, how this match fit into that, and just what it means to them.
After returning to the United States from playing and coaching in England, Brandon was more than uninspired by the state of soccer here, "I was falling out of love with soccer. Being back here in Temecula and seeing how making money off the kids was really what all the clubs were about. Even the recreational programs were the same way, worried about losing customers." The way youth soccer is run in this country is a huge sore point for many; a lot of fingers point to the pay-to-play system as out of touch with the socio-economic needs of most of the kids and families who love the sport. So, not only was Brandon dealing with the disappointing state of the sport in this country, but he and his wife were dealing with the painful loss of her younger brother as well.
“My brother-in-law was such a great kid and was all about helping people and making this world a better, safer place.” So Brandon, with the support of his wife, decided to start the club - he reached out to ex-teammate and good friend, Vince Paccione, to found Temecula FC. Motivated by his brother-in-law's joy for life and armed with the mission to "Grow a football culture in our community and provide professional coaching and opportunities for the lowest price possible," Brandon convinced Vince to split the cost of joining NPSL, which was relatively costly even back in 2013-14. "A football club can be a great place for people to make friends and support their community," said Brandon - so he and Vince decided to use the passion of soccer and community to combat the toxicity of the youth sports hustle.
Six seasons later and Temecula FC are still going strong, having finished their 2019 season in early summer, they seemed all but done playing for the calendar year. The Quails aren't part of NPSL's inaugural Members Cup and they’re not participating in the US Open Cup qualifying rounds. Also, considering a good majority of clubs at this level pull their squads together from college student-athletes, how were they fielding an 18? "We have never been a club that relies on college players. We have a few from time to time but we have a much more European approach and look to use our top youth players ages 15 and up to try and fill out our team, " said Brandon. It turns out, this squad of local talent are in the middle of their Riverside Cup - where they're topping the table over heated rival Riverside Coras. According to Brandon "The Cup means everything to the club and supporters. You just have to go on twitter to see how much the rivalry between Riverside and Temecula is! Hate is a very strong word so id say very strong dislike of Coras, but we both respect each other on and off the pitch and want to see the game grow in our respective communities."
So Brandon and Head Coach Austin Levins have already got this club's squad in shape for a match - practically mid-season form and with players drawn from their youth ranks who are already used to playing all year round - especially in that fairly comfortable year-round Southern California climate. Of course there's a friendly scheduled, but how did it come about? "Well we have a former player from last season Brent Reis who plays for 1904 FC now and I know Khoki from a few years ago who is the GM and I reached out through Brent to see if they could give us a match so we could try and raise some money to help support our club and funding our program," he said "1904 FC has been great in helping set up the match and we can’t thank them enough for the opportunity to showcase our players."
Brandon does admit that this is a bit out of the norm, "for our community I think it is historical really. No one of 1904 FC’s level has come to play in Temecula and it’s a great opportunity for the youth in our community to see this level of play in their own city." Through hosting the friendly, the club adheres to its principals to use soccer to build relationships and inspire the youth to pursue greatness. "The importance in youth development to watch professional level matches in priceless and it’s great that our youth club are connected with the first team and can be involved on match day with the players and get a real feel of what it is like being in a club in Europe where you have a direct path to the top."
