Community Spotlight: The Story of Folsom Lake Surf’s Rise to National Champions

In most of the world, fans of soccer clubs from even the smallest of cities can dream of their team going on a run that will see them promoted to the highest levels of the game and potentially even win a title against all odds.

Take Leicester City, for example, a club that won the second division in England before enthralling the whole world with their improbable march to the EPL title in 2016.

However, such miracles can be unlikely in the United States due to its closed soccer system. An exception is at NorCal, where the promotion and relegation system allows teams to earn their way into the highest possible league.

A few years ago, one boys team began that journey outside of the NPL, but earned promotion after promotion en route to a national championship in the ECNL RL, NorCal’s new highest level of play.

That team is the Folsom Lake Surf 2011 boys, who began their journey on the outside looking in, but rose to the top in a manner fitting of that legendary Leicester side.

“I don’t think the boys knew how good they were because they were still just young boys,” said Folsom Lake Surf 2011 boys Head Coach and Executive Director Fritz Libby. “As they started to get into a higher level of competition, (they realized) that they were that team. What’s unique about these boys is that they never stop. We’ve won three or four of the biggest games over the last two years on the last kick of the game just because they never stopped.”

Four years ago, Folsom Lake Surf weren’t an NPL Club on the boys side and thus had to earn their own way into what was then NorCal Premier Soccer’s top level of play through their team’s performance.

After claiming multiple promotions, the 2011 boys Surf team were placed in an NPL division that had the chance to qualify for a spot in last year’s ECNL RL, the first time this league would be run by NorCal after the two governing bodies formed a partnership.

And they earned their ECNL RL spot after a spectacular 2023 league season that saw them claim the NPL Capitol division title with a 9-1 record while scoring 50 goals and allowing just four. The next year, they followed their success up by winning the fall NPL 1 East division on tiebreakers after three teams tied for first with 24 points.

This success ensured that they would participate in the year-round ECNL RL, rather than separate fall and spring leagues, which begins at the U14 age group.

“I’m all about setting goals for what they want to do after they leave my team,” Libby said. “I set goals for some of them, saying here’s what I want for you in the next year and here’s how we’re going to get there.”

Whether or not one of those goals involved winning a national title is now a moot point–Surf went onto claim the 2024-25 ECNL RL title in the Golden Gate conference, earning a spot in the playoffs.

Over the course of five days in Norco, California last June, Surf topped a group that included LAFC SoCal, Rebels SC of San Diego, and Seattle United before defeating FC Portland to qualify for the National Finals.

Folsom entered the eight-team national tournament in July where they would face the top teams from all across the country, playing against those who had also won their regionals.

There proved to be no nerves, however, as the club posted a 3-1 victory over Delaware FC in the quarterfinals before taking down Sporting Wichita on penalties after a 1-1 draw to qualify for the final.

In that final, Surf would face Pacesetter SC of Ohio, a team that had allowed only one goal in the competition. But Surf proved the better of the teams despite Pacesetter’s stingy defense–Folsom put the ball in the back of the net six times to take the national title back home to Northern California.

“This team has been on the rise for the last few years and have consistently improved and moved up in their league standing,” said NorCal NPL and ECNL RL Coordinator Kelcey Chaidez. “They’ve gone from outside the NPL to the NPL and finally the ECNL RL, where they’ve performed well against some of the top teams in the state. They are a testament to how the promotion/relegation system helps teams improve and rewards those who work hard to play at a higher level.”

For some teams, a title like this may serve as the pinnacle of their achievements, however Folsom returned back home and haven’t taken their foot off the pedal ever since. At the winter break, the club currently stands on top of the ECNL RL standings with a perfect 27 points from nine games.

This might just be the beginning of a truly dominant run, however, for Libby there are things that are more important than just the results on the field.

“I hope they learn why they were successful, which is because of respecting each other, working together, trusting each other, trusting me, and just that work ethic that this team has,” Libby said. “Hopefully that translates into other parts of their lives later and they can look back and say, ‘I learned this at that moment and coach Fitz was right.’”