Starting Saturday, the new wave of adult amateur soccer in Northern California is set to begin, with LIGA Premier kicking off its new-look, fall-to-spring, European-style calendar this weekend.

With more than $5,000 in prize money, teams will kick off their league season before the Copa NorCal begins in December.

“The teams are excited to begin the fall-spring schedule on a European calendar system with a Cup,” said NorCal Premier Soccer Director of Adult Soccer Cris Gilmore. “They’re excited that there’s a competition for the first part of the season and they are excited to play in a Cup with prize money in each.”

Split into two halves of the season, the champion of the fall slate of games will earn $1,000, while second place will be rewarded with $500 in a contest that continues until November 10th.

Beginning in December, the Copa NorCal is a knockout-style tournament that includes all of the LIGA Premier squads and has room for three more teams who might want to participate.

For a tournament that awards $1,500 to the winner and $750 to the runner-up, applications are still open. Contact Gilmore at cgilmore@norcalpremier.com for more information.

Meanwhile, the winners of LIGA Premier will be awarded $2,000, with second-place garnering $1,000, and third-place earning $500.

But the goal of this adult soccer initiative is to foster a love for the game for those who have graduated on from playing in the youth ranks and are just attempting to look for a place to ply their trade.

With this initiative, NorCal is looking to begin a regional system that will ultimately provide promotion and relegation for the best sides in Northern California, with Peninsula Soccer League becoming the first regional league to participate.

“At LIGA NorCal we feel that this structure facilitates good-quality competition and a consistent professional environment,” Gilmore said. “As our LIGA Regional continues to grow across the Bay Area, we look forward to promoting the top teams to LIGA Premier in the future.”

“We at NorCal feel to ensure a healthy soccer ecosystem that our youth clubs should work hard to develop a first team so that their youth players will always have a place to play when they become adults,” he said. “This structure and these competitions will continue and now it’s up to our youth clubs to form first teams.”

Clubs can find more information on our website at liganoral.com.