Last year, we gave away our sixth Club of the Year Award to Tulsa Athletic. We’ve celebrated six different clubs from across the lower league American soccer scene. Teams from the UPSL, WPSL, NISA, USL W League, and USL League One have all hoisted our silver platter, engraved with Club of the Year. We’re a small organization, but we live in this space. We’ve invested time, energy, and so many dollars into trying to cover these leagues with respect and professionalism. And we always involve our readers and listeners in naming the winner of each year’s award.

This year we have five more clubs for you to consider, two are repeat nominations from earlier years. All have done important work in the lower leagues this year. Winning championships is, of course, an obvious sign of success, and there’s several trophies on this year’s list, but there’s also clubs who made the list because of their impact off the field. That sort of work deserves to be recognized as well. So without further conversation, here’s one of this year’s nominations. Be sure to return to vote beginning 12/23! - DV

I don’t think there is another soccer team in the whole country quite like California Storm - founded in 1995, they have won their respective conference or division 18 times across three different leagues and have finished the season as WPSL Champions an unparalleled five times. There may not be another soccer team in the whole country with the same baseline of success as the team from Davis / Sacramento, California.

Owner, former Head Coach, and now assistant (as she has taken on the duties of growing professional women’s soccer in Northern California) Jamie Levoy is a league legend, herself, and has either played alongside or assisted the careers of players like Alex Morgan, Brandi Chastain, Julie Foudy, and now co-Head Coach, Sissi. Levoy has helped raise the profile of Storm from best in one league to winning division titles in two leagues - California Storm not only won the west and then the playoffs in WPSL, but also topped the NorCal Conference in the USL W League and made it to the Conference Semifinals for the second year running.

The Storm finished the WPSL regular season with 10 wins and three draws and scored a league-high 43 goals while only allowing 10. In the post-season, they outscored some of the league’s top teams 14-2 - earning 3 shutouts along the way. While the organization did miss out on doing the double and were knocked out of the USL W Playoffs (kudos to NC Courage U23s for winning the league and to Colorado Storm for repping the West) Jamie, Sissi, co-Head Coach David Robertson, and goalkeeper coach Jenny Lawrence, and any other coach involved, really, deserve a standing round applause for leading the organization through an immense travel schedule, navigating two league administrations, and coming away with yet another WPSL title.

The California Storm are a shining example of how an amateur soccer team should be run, with partnerships off the pitch, coaching courses, and youth soccer camps. The club is engaged online and responsive to media; no matter how big or small you are, they will find the time to communicate. Successful from stem-to-stern, California Storm are 2024 WPSL Champions and a nominee for Protagonist Soccer’s Club of the Year.

- Joshua Duder