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On Sunday, Inland Empire Football Club won against local side Fontana Legacy 2-1 in the first leg of the Brent Freeman quarterfinals. Pregame This matchup would be the second encounter between both teams in competitive play. In the first matchup during the regular season, Fontana Legacy won 4-3 back in October. Fontana did face theContinue reading “IEFC Reserves Hold Off Fontana Legacy in Brent Freeman Cup Play  “

By Holly Dodd The world of sports has always been a business, but it might surprise you to learn just exactly how profitable soccer has become. In the post-Bosman transfer landscape (when a player can transfer teams without a fee after their contract is up), teams and players have more power than ever when itContinue reading “Behind The Scenes – Things You Might Not Know About the Financial Side Of Soccer”

While the college season started for some in late august, the preseason survey I made only received a small number of responses from the coaches sharing their thoughts for the 2022 season. I sent the 4-question google form to all collegiate social media pages, including 2 and 4-year programs, but three coaches had the timeContinue reading “2022 IE College Preseason Survey”

Kicking off in February, the SoCal premier open division was a small competition consisting of 10 teams fighting for a spot in next season’s SoCal premier regular season. When the open season finishes, the clubs will be filtered to the SoCal premier’s three divisions based on their opening division placement. There were four from theContinue reading “Report: IE Teams in the 2022 SoCal Premier Open Division”

Storm United’s passage to the UPSL Premier division has been a long time coming for the Californian team from the high desert. Since competing in the UPSL lower divisions since 2017, coach Michael Zamora has been there since the beginning with aspirations for the team (back then called High Desert FC) to move up the ranks andContinue reading “Storm United’s Journey to Promotion and Beyond”

The story behind one of the High Deserts adult amateur teams is an interesting look into the soccer culture that transpires north of the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains. Soccer, historically around the world, is more than a sport for fans who follow it. It is a social construct that is a platform ofContinue reading “The Inception behind High Desert Elite with Fidel Gonzalez”

Earlier this year, I reached out to City Legends FC and asked if I could interview the club owner and soon enough he agreed for a phone interview. I wanted to interview the team from Perris because I needed some UPSL content and I was generally curious about them. They had one good year inContinue reading “Big plans for City Legends FC”

For this third installment of a casual conversation, a segment where I freely talk to current or former professional players from the Inland Empire, I reached out to Juan Ocegueda. Back in December, Juan made an Instagram story post hinting his playing time is done. He later clarified that he is only 5 months awayContinue reading “A casual conversation with Juan Ocegueda”

For a simple fluid game like soccer, there are many ways to coach it. Some take a philological approach and break it down into details, while others are less verbal and explain it in universal terms. In contemporary times, anyone in the capacity of the sport from team staff to media, have access to anContinue reading “Coaches Corner: Smart Simple Soccer with AVHS Coach Miguel Alatorre”

So the NPSL Southwestern Conference season is over and the results have been tallied up: On Saturday, June 30th, Orange County FC hosted FC Arizona, in a play-in round for the final playoff spot allocated to the Southwestern Conference. Orange County would end up winning 3-0 against fourth place FC Arizona. Watching the competition playContinue reading “End of season review (Riverside Coras archive 2018)”

Ambition. For players in the game, reaching the highest level is the ultimate dream. It starts in steps, but you continuously improve yourself always striving for the highest level, the ultimate goal. Paths are different for each individual, but if they wish to achieve that desired success they will need ambition. A few Coras haveContinue reading “Where you at! (Riverside Coras archive 2018)”

On December 18th, the Ontario fury held a state of the fury zoom call with team owner Jeff Burum, coach Jimmy Nordberg, staff, and fans about some announcements with the team for the upcoming year. This zoom call, one of the many that the indoor team has held, involved new owner Jeff Burum who gaveContinue reading “Recap: State of the Fury”

Around 2 years ago, I and my other lower league soccer enthusiast friend Steven were volunteering for local NPSL side Riverside Coras (now rebranded as Club Xolos USA) and had the idea of writing this list of pro players born/from the Inland Empire. Here is part 1. Fast forward to now I decided to updateContinue reading “Straight Outta I.E. part 2”

Like many other stories, this one started with a tweet: Well, we indeed missed a few. As the replies started pouring, we quickly realized the depth of soccer talent in the Inland Empire. The I.E. is a hot bed for competitive local sports and with a population of over four million, it’s easy to understandContinue reading “Straight Outta I.E. part 1”

It’s rather not of importance to consider stats and numbers besides assists, goals and clean sheets (for goalkeepers) to determine a player’s competitiveness. However, I decided to do a small number report along with some personal comments on what I observed from these IE pro players during this crazy 2020 season. I have to admit,Continue reading “IE Pro Players Report 2020”

On July 24th, President of the Ontario Fury indoor soccer team, Bernie Lilavois, has announced via twitter that he has resigned from his position. “My time with the Ontario Fury has come to an end today as I have resigned as Team President. This was an extremely difficult and emotional decision to make but it’sContinue reading “Exclusive: President of Ontario Fury Bernie Lilavois resigns after starting and serving for 7 years”

About The Riverside County Cup is a home and away cup competition with local semi-pro teams in Riverside County with the aim to promote inter league competition within the region. Usually played during the early fall months. Rules Home and Away match. The away goals rule is a method of breaking ties in association footballContinue reading “Riverside County Cup History”

Situated in the beautiful San Bernardino mountains, the city of Big Bear and surrounding areas are home to many attractions. From Big Bear Lake to the various ski resorts to the beautiful hiking trails with gorgeous views. One thing, however, that isn’t very situated in the mountains is the game of soccer. Among the manyContinue reading “Climbing The Mountain: Overcoming The Challenge Of Soccer In Big Bear With Coach Diaz Of BBHS Varsity Boys Soccer Team”

The High Desert is home to roughly 400,000 residents that live north of the San Bernardino and San Gabriel mountain ranges. It is the gateway to the Mojave desert on your way to Las Vegas, the last glimpse of civilization before going to the open beautiful arid region of California. For such a unique communityContinue reading “Together As One: Michael Zamora’s Involvement With HDFC And The Team’s Mission In The High Desert”

Soccer in the United States is often looked as a recreational activity, something to do for fun and nothing much more than that. On a professional level on the mens side, the MLS (the professional league of soccer in the US with some Canadian teams) and the national team, known as United States Mens NationalContinue reading “Giving them a chance: a chat with owner of SoCal Union FC”

As a native of the IE, knowing what I know about the soccer culture here, I always pondered the thought having a professional team here. Although in the US there is no promotion and relegation between divisions, getting a pro-team to the area is a matter of what happens outside the pitch rather than inside.Continue reading “Hypothetical: Which Pro League Would Fit Best For The IE?”

The UPSL made a statement in May about a condensed season following the outbreak of COVID-19 that paused the 2020 spring season after one game (at least for SoCal divisions). A deadline has been in place on June 10th for teams to declare to the league their intention to play the shortened season. On JuneContinue reading “Return to soccer! Are IE UPSL teams ready for action?”

California, the home to the entertainment industry in Hollywood, the tech giants of Apple and Google, and the trailblazing pop culture activity known as skateboarding. The state is home to roughly 40 million people (about the same as Iraq), making it a diverse and unique place. With its miles of pure pacific coastlines, to theContinue reading “The Formation of an Idea: A California FA and National Team”

Since 2000, the Inland Empire portion of southern California has not had a team representative in the US Open Cup. That year, Riverside County Elite was placed in the 2nd round of the tournament for being a D-3 pro team but lost to San Diego Flash by a score of 2-1. In the same year,Continue reading “One Hit Wonder: The Short-Lived Story of Moreno Valley FC”

Early this year I met a gentleman by the name of coach Alex. I met coach Alex as part of the Club Xolos USA program as head of youth operations. My first impression of this guy was, he is a charismatic guy who can strike a conversation with anyone. I had limited interactions with himContinue reading “Coaches Corner: A Chat With Coach Alex”

Earlier this year when I was a volunteer for Club Xolos USA, I met a new coach to the staff by the name of coach Lio, who was going to help the program with the teenage and youth players. I had limited small talks with him and his experience with coaching youth in the SanContinue reading “Coaches Corner: A Chat With Coach Lio”

Around 2 years ago, me and my other lower league soccer enthusiast friend Steven were volunteering for local NPSL side Riverside Coras (now rebranded as Club Xolos USA) and had the idea of writing this list of pro players born/from the Inland Empire. Fast forward to now I decided to update the list because thereContinue reading “Straight Outta I.E. part 2”