Strength in Unity – Surf Cup Sports and West Coast FC Form Groundbreaking Partnership
Today Surf announced that one of their competitor clubs has joined the fold, becoming a partner with Surf Cup Sports. As the landscape in youth soccer shifts, mergers and acquisitions in the youth soccer market have become more frequent.
Youth Soccer News: Surf Cup Sports announced today that, starting with the 2018/2019 season, West Coast Futbol Club will rebrand as Orange County Surf Soccer Club and become a partner of the Surf Soccer Club family.
Surf Cup Sports and their new partner West Coast FC agree that the ultimate goal of an elite youth soccer club is to give its players the resources, coaching, and structure necessary to allow them to fulfill their highest potential in soccer, whether that means being a member of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy or SCDSL, a premier local youth soccer league.
According to the statement released today, the leaders at West Coast believe this partnership will allow each player to reach his/her fullest potential in a top quality organization that Southern California has never seen.
West Coast Futbol Club has earned 4 US Youth Soccer National Championships and 1 ECNL Championships.
As the landscape in the youth soccer market becomes increasingly competitive and smaller clubs are often left without the resources to truly help their players reach their highest level of development, more youth soccer clubs have sought the benefits of affiliates, partnerships, and mergers.
This partnership tracks a trend in the past 5 years of clubs and brands coming together to pool resources in order to provide a true development pathway for the best soccer players in a region.
“A partnership with Surf Cup Sports is a natural alliance that will benefit both organizations and all of our members,” said Rick Hough, President of West Coast Futbol Club. “Our Board of Directors’ number one priority is to provide great opportunities for our youth soccer players and take advantage of the changes in the current and future competitive marketplace.”
“At Surf Cup Sports, we believe that competitive youth soccer will continue its trajectory of consolidation and overall professionalization of club services. We look forward to welcoming West Coast Futbol Club to our Surf family and providing access to our extensive coaching education and administrative resources,” said Jeremy McDonald, VP Business Development for Surf Cup Sports.
“As soccer in the United States continues to evolve, we as an organization continue to look to increase our value proposition to our players and families,” said Girls VP Nick Cucuk.
“Through this partnership, we look forward to aligning the top talent in the county and providing a real pathway for all of our players to compete at the college and professional level,” added Mike Lane Boys VP.
Founded in 1997, West Coast Futbol Club has consistently ranked highly among youth soccer clubs in IMG Academy Rankings.
West Coast FC is known for a club culture that values superior technical skills, tactical awareness and a possession style of play that is highly prized by college coaches and U.S. Soccer. Orange County Surf Soccer Club participates in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy (USSDA) for Boys U12 and Girls U14 through U18/19 and in the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL).
U.S. Soccer Development Academy recently announced a multi-year agreement to host its signature end-of-season event, the Development Academy Summer Showcase and Playoffs at SoCal Sports Complex, a facility managed by Surf Cup Sports.
Surf Cup Sports was formed in 2012 to manage the iconic summer Surf Cup and winter College Cup and has since won a long-term lease for the 112-acre soccer complex in Del Mar known as Surf Cup Sports Park and now manages the SoCal Sports Park in Oceanside.
Surf Cup Sports also manages the Surf brand and provides operational support to Surf clubs as well as the benefits of broader relationships with partners that include Nike, Manchester City FC, Soccer.com and many others.
