Every year, when we lay out our nominees for Club of the Year, I’m always amazed at the hard work and determination of so many soccer clubs over the years. The necessary sacrifices that so rarely get recognized and appreciated boggle my mind. There are heroes at every club and they usually aren’t the men and women scoring the goals or hoisting trophies.

Sometimes it’s the manager that gets up early on a Saturday morning to mow the pitch and stripe the lines. Sometimes it’s the volunteer/fan that runs the concession stand or takes tickets at the gate. Sometimes it’s a player’s family member that helps drive the van to an away match. Those are the heroes that make amateur soccer flourish in a harsh environment that rarely offers much help from the outside. Without the sacrifices of those people, the games would never be played. And while the team may get a ton of credit in earning Club of the Year on the field, this award is also for all those people who work tirelessly behind the scenes to make things happen. They deserve part of the credit as well.

Having said all that, the Club of the Year typifies everything we love about lower league soccer. Sponsored by a local restaurant, made a name for itself with grit and determination, continued to function over decades regardless of the challenges, and upholds a standard of excellence that is the envy of its peers. This is El Farolito.

Our own Dennis Pope wrote their nomination for the award, a California-native who knows the work that it takes to succeed in one of the most crowded soccer states in the country. He laid out the extended track record of success of El Faro and its a lengthy one (for even more detail, check out this piece from TheCup.us). His argument was convincing and this club had a year to remember.

The fact is, El Farolito is one of the greatest amateur teams in the country. 2024 was just another year of sterling performance. The team won just about everything it could, topping the NPSL and beating Motown in the final (an amateur powerhouse on its own right), while also having the longest run of any amateur team in the Open Cup, beating multiple professional teams along its way.

Hard to argue there was a more deserving winner in the American lower leagues, so we won’t. El Farolito is your 2024 Protagonist Soccer Club of the Year.

- Dan Vaughn