NC Battalion Partners With San Diego Surf SC and Surf Cup Sports
A new partnership looks to build a bridge for a future of professional soccer in San Diego — The goal of bringing a professional team to America’s finest city is on the minds of many people in our soccer community. The MLS has acknowledged San Diego as a possible destination for an expansion club; however, there are still many unknown factors.
With soccer fans crossing the border into Mexico to watch professional soccer, people wonder why USA’s 8th largest city is still lacking a professional soccer team. Can the new USL PDL team NC Battalion partnering with San Diego Surf Soccer Club — the strongest name in youth soccer in Southern California — generate enough opportunity to help pave the road? Time will tell but the strategy is striking.
Soccer News: With the goal of growing the beautiful game, North County Battalion has announced its partnership with San Diego Surf Soccer Club. Last month, the NC Battalion left the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) to join the USL’s Premier Development League (PDL) for the 2017 season.
“We are very excited to be aligning ourselves with NC Battalion and the PDL in an exciting new partnership for the upcoming 2017 season,” said Jeremy McDonald, San Diego Surf Club President. “San Diego Surf has stood for championship-level excellence in youth soccer both in Southern California and on the national level. We look to extend that success to professional soccer and the PDL. Jason Barbato has done a great job developing San Diego based players and we look forward to working with the entire NC Battalion staff on the future of the sport in Southern California.”
“Being a part of the growth of the sport in San Diego is exciting,” said Rob Haskell, Chief Operating Officer of Surf Cup Sports.
“Surf Cup Sports continues to look for ways to connect the soccer community through event and facilities management as well as a series of upcoming infrastructure projects. This new partnership with NC Battalion shows Surf’s commitment to amatuer soccer and our support of professional soccer in San Diego,” says Haskell.
The founder and owner of the NC Battalion, Jason Barbato, enthusiastically praises the San Diego Surf SC as the two organizations seek to build a pathway to the next level for top talent. 
“San Diego Surf’s reputation, not only locally but nationally, is outstanding,” said Barbato who will remain the majority owner of the PDL team. “There are a lot of youth clubs that come and go, but Surf SC has consistently stayed strong and continues to develop world class players. The club is going to celebrate 40 years shortly.”
Barbato explains that NC Battalion and SD Surf share the same passions and goals for growing the game of soccer in San Diego.
Working together makes a lot of sense,” said Barbato. “Surf is interested in getting into professional soccer and they have the infrastructure to make this work.”
Barbato notes that former head coach Ryan Guy, who is also a youth soccer coach at San Diego Surf, worked extremely hard to get everyone together to build the partnership.
“There were several groups who approached us after the NPSL season but we wanted to choose the right organization to work with,” said Barbato. “I am very excited to be brought into the Surf family and work with Josh Henderson, Rob Haskell and Jeremy McDonald.”
“Soccer is more than just a game. Our approach incorporates development on and off the field,” said Barbato. “The PDL players will be our future neighbors, employees, bosses, husbands, fathers. Soccer is not all of who they are, it is not what defines them though it has a way of revealing who they will always be and have always been.”
“I believe we are caretakers with a weight of responsibility of our players’ soccer aspirations,” said Barbato.
We are looking for players who are going to invest in their community, who are coachable, who are driven. What they will find in return is an organization and coaching staff that is as committed — and sometimes more committed — to their dreams than they are. This is the core of who we are and will always be,” said Barbato.
As NC Battalion and SD Surf iron out the final details of the partnership, the name and look of the club is set to change in the coming months.
The PDL club will run through the calendar year with the goal of building a program that competes in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
“Perhaps the folks who wonder what the next big evolution in soccer will look like in San Diego can gather around to see and support what we are building,” said Barbato.
The goal is to grow the game and develop a professional soccer organization that could compete in a high level, possibly leading to creating a home for a potential San Diego MLS franchise. With plans to build a stadium on the horizon, anything is possible. The partnership between the two clubs launches the initiative at the ground level rather than waiting from the green light from the top tier league in the United States.
San Diego has approximately 1.4 million people and this southern city has a pulsating soccer heart. Well known around the country as a leading area for developing talented youth soccer players who become top professionals, San Diego’s competitive youth soccer culture is one of the strongest in the USA.
“Instead of waiting for the MLS to put a team in San Diego, I want to rally around a soccer brand that has been around for nearly 40 years,” said Barbato. “San Diego Surf has the longevity, the reputation and the leadership — with a proven track record of winning on and off the field — along with the smart business acumen. This is the right partnership, we share the same passions and visions of growing the game of soccer.
“Being a part of the growth of the sport in San Diego is exciting,” said Rob Haskell, Chief Operating Officer of Surf Cup Sports.
“Surf Cup Sports continues to look for ways to connect the soccer community through event and facilities management as well as a series of upcoming infrastructure projects. This new partnership with NC Battalion shows Surf commitment to amatuer soccer and our support of professional soccer in San Diego,” says Haskell.
