AFC South Bay

Founded just last year in San Jose, CA, AFC South Bay is the freshest face in this group. AFCSB was founded on two core principles: “Build a championship culture on and off the field and strive to be the platform for athletes to continue their development process.”

Playing the SWPL’s Pacific Premier League - West, AFC South Bay had a great 2021-2022 season. The club finished first in their division, with a 7-2-1 record, 8 points clear of the second place side. Goal scoring was the club’s strongest point, with 33 goals scored in 10 matches. This is a high-scoring team and it should be fun to see them go against the other amateur sides in this region!

Capo FC

On the Capo FC website, there’s an extensive interview with the club’s founder Peter Carey. Carey highlights the reason he founded the club in 2006 and why he rapidly expanded the club across age levels and leagues. “He knew they had local talent; however, a lot of that talent was being wasted due to the “pay to play” system that runs the vast majority of clubs in California.” That growth is focused on eventually going pro in NISA. “Our growth as a club in this community has been tremendous to be a part of; all of our work is finally paying off as we are set to have a Pro Team enrolled in NISA for the 2023 Season.”

Capo FC kicked off their Independent Cup run with a massive win over Soul2Sole FC, winning the match 5-1. Peter Scalzo opened the scoring off in the 9th minute and got his brace in the second half, while Jose Rivera, Eder Oiva, and Gustavo Chavez all added goals of their own. That high-powered attack should be a great asset as CFC hopes to advance out of the amateur round.

Soul2SoleFC

Featuring one of the more interesting names in SoCal soccer, Soul2Sole has proven to be more than a name, with a winning track record in both the UPSL and SWPL. Just before the Raul Briones Cup final against Pateadores Academy in May of this year, Soul2Sole FC Academy Director Steven Arroway spoke about his club’s goal of playing in the Independent Cup. “Our team has worked extremely hard throughout the year to get to this point. Before the season started, our squad focused on this Cup run, as it provided us the best route to participate at the professional levels.”

When asked to describe the club’s style, Arroway hit the adjectives: “Fast, Aggressive and Expansive.” The goal of the club is to “build on each phase of the game. Soul2Sole prides itself in having fluidity throughout the teams tactical formation and movements, and move freely within their roles.” In its most recent season, S2S struggled a bit, finishing 4-2-10 and in last place on the table. It will hope to shake that form in this year’s Independent Cup. The first match finished 5-1 for Capo FC, but hope springs eternal.

Albion San Diego

When 1904 FC closed out the 2021, it was with a whimper. The club somehow managed only 2 points from the last 10 matches of the 2021 NISA season. It was a brutal run and the final matched served as a headstone for the organization as a whole. The San Diego club lost 4-0 to now ex-NISA side New Amsterdam FC, with Mayele Malango scoring the opening and closing goal of the match. ‘04 was done and Malango had hammered the final nail in the coffin. In the offseason, the club was taken over by youth soccer mega-club Albion, who revamped the club from top to bottom, including the roster. Only two players returned from ‘21, so there were plenty of roster spots to be filled before matches kicked off. One of the players that took a spot was Mayele Malango, recently cut from New Amsterdam as they went through their own restructuring. The finish line of one book was the opening paragraph in the next.

Malango and fellow attacker Alioune Diakhate are absolute forces of nature for Albion and the revamped roster has played well in the Western Conference. Currently sitting third on the table behind Cal United and Bay Cities, Albion has shown flashes of brilliance in attack. The one negative for Albion so far has been a struggle to be consistent from week to week. The club oscillates between brilliance and mediocrity in a way that is almost impossible to predict. There’s plenty of talent in the roster for sure, but there’s still work to be done on the final product. Interestingly, Albion is most yellow-carded team in NISA so far.