The NPSL has announced a Winter Season in order to provide year around play for teams.  Their goal is to allow teams to get off to a faster start in the Spring.  Only four teams, all in Texas, were signed up at the time of the announcement which was made August 16th.

 

According to the NPSL Commissioner, Dan Trainor, "With the addition of the winter league we now offer our teams an opportunity to play year round and keep their teams together and better prepared for the Premier Summer season."

 

The NPSL winter league is open to any team in the United States.  Obviously there needs to be enough teams to make play viable.  Many of the summer league teams are comprised of college players who are not available for play in the winter. They are typically not available until around the first of May each year.  The PDL (Premier Development League of the United Soccer Leagues) is founded primarily to provide the top college players with continued high level of training and competition throughout the summer months prior to returning to school.

 

In contrast to the PDL, the NPSL provides a much less restrictive approach to the formation and operation of it's teams.  Entrance fee's are lower, and each team has a voice on the Executive Committee.  The NPSL incorporates the college player into it's overall business model, but considers a broader inclusion for it's player base. 

 

As noted in their press release, Director of New Team Development Christopher Keem states; “This (the winter league) positions us to get more teams in our league and to make it more attractive to business owners looking to establish clubs. Having established groups come in with this change will continue to demonstrate why our league is considered the best rising National League with the best business model in all of minor league soccer."

 

Teams in the Bay Area who played this past summer season include; Bay Area Ambassadors (Hayward), Sonoma Sol (Santa Rosa), and Real San Jose (San Jose).  Additional teams in the league include the Sacramento Gold, San Diego Boca FC, and the Southern Oregon Fuego (Medford, Oregon).

 

Any persons or teams interested in learning more about the NPSL should contact Chris Keem, Director of New Team Membership at ckeem@npsl.info.

 

Read the full NPSL press release here . . . 

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