Albion SC Expands Into Orange Country
Formerly Tustin Soccer Club
SoccerToday News is pleased to feature Albion Tuesday – the youth soccer news series with San Diego’s Albion Soccer Club. Every Tuesday is Albion Tuesday. This week: The newest change in the landscape of youth soccer in Southern California is San Diego’s Albion Soccer Club’s new affiliate Albion SC – Orange County; formerly Tustin Soccer Club.
San Diego’s Albion Soccer Club has announced the expansion of the Albion SC Program with the addition of Albion SC- Orange County, formerly Tustin Soccer Club. The new relationship will expand the Albion SC youth model and soccer club’s network throughout Southern California and the region, following the partnerships with Maui United (Hawaii) and Eastside SC (Seattle, Washington) in 2012 and the expansion into South Bay-San Diego in 2013 with Albion SC South.
Building on the club’s established national recognition for player development, Albion SC has continued expansion of their youth soccer program in response to market demand.
For the former Tustin Soccer Club, the move connects their coaches and players with one the most prestigious Elite Puma clubs in the nation and provides a strong platform to run the club and gain immediate national recognition.
Noah Gins, Albion SC, Technical Director said, “There are years of equity built into Albion Soccer Club, and we are proud to share this with other youth soccer clubs. It is an honor to be able to assist soccer clubs and have them gain from our experience and well established track record. It is a reward not only to the clubs we partner with, but to our own club as our affiliate program is a testament of our hard work paying off in doing the right things, year-after-year.”
“Tustin Soccer Club was in the perfect alignment for our vision of expansion,” explained Gins. “Tustin SC has been fielding top tier teams each year, attracting some of the best players in the area and placing their players at top colleges to play soccer. Their girls program is especially strong and their GU15 team is among the best in the country.”
Albion SC – Orange County will be based in Tustin and will continue practicing and playing at their turf soccer complex. “We expect growth in the area and to attract players coming from throughout Orange County and the LA Area,” said Gins.
These youth soccer teams compete in the Coast Soccer League during the regular season and participate in elite tournaments around the US throughout the year. Albion SC- Orange County teams will gain opportunities to play within the WCDA, SCNPL, and the U.S. Development Academy. Teams will compete under the Albion SC-Orange County name effective for the 2014-2015 season.
“I have competed against Tustin Director of Coaching Bogdan Draghici’s teams over the last three to four years,” said Gins. “Bogy, as his colleagues call him, is a very strong coach and for several years his teams have been some of our toughest competition. It will be a pleasure working with him to continue building and producing top players and top teams.”
Draghici, the Tustin DOC and now leading the way with the Albion SC – Orange County club, is incredibly excited about the opportunity to represent Albion SC and continue the tradition of excellence.
“For the last few years we have been able to build highly competitive teams and we had a high percentage of kids continue their soccer career at the collegiate level,” said Draghici, who is also Placement Director of Albion SC – Orange County. “We were looking to enhance this and with Albion SC and Noah Gins, we have found a club and partner that shares the same vision.”
“Teaching the right fundamentals, building successful teams and providing the best college exposure for our players are some of the key commitments we share in common,” Draghici continued. “We were not looking to just join a big name club, we wanted to affiliate with an organization that believes in the same things we do. We have found this with Albion SC — they have a great history of success and have done things the ‘right way.'”
“I’m extremely excited to join Albion SC and expand the Albion SC brand in Orange County, California,” said Luis Cruz, Advancement Director for Albion SC – Orange County. Albion SC has a great program with a strong reputation that we will mirror and continue to develop soccer players and top tier teams and above all, help the youth become great people.”
