As NorCal Premier Soccer’s spring league season gets underway, there’s much for each team to play for, including earning promotion, fighting off relegation, and, for those in the NPL, earning a spot in this summer’s US Club Soccer NPL Finals.

Scheduled to take place in Denver from July 8-14 for the boys and July 11-15 for the girls, the NPL Finals pit the best teams from US Club’s 17 member leagues against each other in order to determine a true national league champion.

“The NPL Finals are a great way for our teams to test themselves against the best in the country,” said NorCal NPL Commissioner Kelcey Chaidez. “Winning a national title is something that kids will remember forever, but just participating in the event provides each player with a unique experience that will only contribute positively to their development.”

Last year, three NorCal sides took home championships, with San Juan South (U14 Girls), 1974 Newark FC (U14 Boys), and Association Football Club (U15 Boys) all prevailing in their respective divisions.

For this year’s competition, 20 different teams currently playing in NorCal’s top NPL leagues will qualify.

In the U14 age group, the NPL 1 East and West winners will earn a spot, while the top two teams in the U15 NPL 1 also qualify.

For the U16-U19 divisions, because there’s no midseason promotion to the ECNL-RL, both the Fall NPL 1 and Spring NPL 1 champions will receive berths in the competition. Should the same team capture both titles, the runner-up from this Spring’s NPL 1 will qualify.

I’m Because of this, six squads have already punched their tickets to Denver thanks to strong play in the Fall. Those six teams came from six different clubs as Walnut Creek Surf (U19 Boys), Sacramento United (U19 Girls), Palo Alto SC (U17 Boys), West Coast Soccer (U17 Girls), Clovis Crossfire (U16 Boys), and MVLA (U16 Girls) each proved victorious in the fall and are granted the right to represent NorCal nationally this summer.

For more information on the exact qualification process, as well as an overview of NorCal’s NPL and ECNL-RL structure, click here.