ECNL RL – NorCal Opening Weekend Event Kicks Off 26/27 Season

After a few months off for summer break, NorCal Premier Soccer’s league season begins this weekend, with fall competitions kicking off all throughout the state.

To celebrate the beginning of each team’s campaign, NorCal is again hosting a series of neutral site matches for its ECNL RL Opening Weekend Event.

“We’re excited to begin the NorCal league season in earnest this weekend, kicking off what should be the best year of youth soccer in Northern California yet,” said NorCal ECNL RL Commissioner Kelcey Chaidez. “With teams all meeting at a central location, it will be a great way to celebrate the beginning of yet another season.”

Overall, more than 300 teams from the U13-U19 age groups in the ECNL RL will participate in the celebrations, with each playing matches Saturday and Sunday at three different venues in three different cities in three different regions.

All girls teams will play their matches at Davis Legacy Soccer Complex, while the boys will be split in between Salinas Regional Sports Complex and Turlock Regional Sports Complex.

This is the second year that NorCal has hosted the Opening Weekend Event, which came about after feedback from club Directors of Coaching indicated that there was more interest in centrally hosted fixtures.

Because of this, whenever possible, NorCal has tried to arrange for teams who are geographically far apart to play this weekend to cut down on travel time as the ECNL RL is a statewide, merit-based league.

This is also the second season that NorCal has administered the ECNL RL in its current format, one that allows for the promotion of clubs to the ECNL proper.

“After the promotion of Folsom Lake Surf on the boys side and Stanislaus United on the girls side last year, we’ve seen two deserving clubs take the next step and earn their spot at a higher level,” Chaidez said. “This weekend marks the first step for more clubs to possibly set their sights on the example provided by Folsom and Stanislaus and also make the leap.”

For more information on the ECNL RL, click here.