Regional Overview

This may be the most wide open Region in the entire competition. The amateur sides are all new or expansion sides and have little track record to predict off. Who emerges from this amateur round will be a surprise to anyone. The NISA pro side is Valley United FC who was gutted after the immigration fraud allegations, and have been a much-weakened NISA side since. It would be easy to say that VUFC is an easy target, but it’s impossible to predict what we’ll see from the amateurs. We’ve also tried to include photos of all teams involved, but these teams don’t do much on social media. Sorry.

East Valley United

In October of 2021, East Valley United came onto the scene for NISA fans when Bryan Medina signed a contract with western-powerhouse California United Strikers. If Strikers were signing Medina, he was good and he proved that early on in his time with CUSFC. East Valley United played (or plays?) in Division 1 of the UPSL. The last record we have for the club is the Fall 2021 campaign, where East Valley Elite finished 5th in the Arizona Conference, with a 6-0-4 record. The club’s second team East Valley United Elite finished 9th with a 2-0-8 record. Since that season, it’s difficult to locate more information on the club. Socials haven’t been updated since late last year and the club’s website is no longer in service.

Real Phoenix FC

Real Phoenix is an expansion side for the SWPL, set to start play in the 2022/2023 season. In the expansion announcement from the SWPL, Club President Rosario Lopez expressed his feelings about the move. “We are very excited about this opportunity to participate in the SWPL. The timing is perfect for Real Phoenix FC to make its way back into the soccer landscape.”

Real Phoenix was originally an NPSL side, founded in 2011 before closing operations in 2014. While the team has some promise, hard to expect much in this year’s Independent Cup

Valley FC Raiders/SC Saguaros

This Phoenix side currently plays in NISA Nation and two divisions in the UPSL. The UPSL Premier side plays under the name AC Sahuaros and struggled in the Spring season, finishing 6th with a 2-3-5 record. The division 1 side, Valley FC Raiders finished 1-2-7, dead last in their division. In NISA Nation play, Valley FC Raiders went winless and never scored more than 2 goals all season. It would seem that the club’s appearance in the Independent Cup is an opportunity to test their players against talented clubs, but with little chance of advancing past the other amateur clubs.

This team is split because the NISA Independent Cup schedule lists both. So we’re not sure which we’ll get.

Valley United FC

Hard to even comprehend the season that Valley United FC has experienced so far. An expansion side in NISA pro this season, VUFC came out strong and grabbed points from every match for the two months. The club was near the top of our power rankings for their aggressive pressing style and ability to score early and control matches. That was until the big story broke. The fallout was massive, including almost half the roster being cut, coaches exiting, and all points vacated. It was a massive blow for a bright club (so far anyway).

Since all that happened, Valley United has proven to be resilient in NISA play, earning points and even one win, so far. The team has a very limited roster and certainly isn’t as potent in attack as before. Should be interesting to see how the amateur side challenges them.