It's Saturday night in Temecula, in far southwestern Riverside County, California. This is not the California you see on New Year’s Day at the Rose Bowl Parade. But it surely is California. Temecula is closer to downtown San Diego than downtown Los Angeles. But it is considered part of the greater Los Angeles area. Southern California is marked by a succession of mountains and valleys. Temecula sits in one of these valleys. The city and the valley share the same name.

Many people are ending their nights at one of the many wineries in the valley. Others are gambling at Pechanga Casino or perusing the local shops and breweries in Old Town. Then, there are some at Chaparral High School. Bundled in layers of blankets as they sit on the frigid bleachers of the high school football stadium. But they aren’t here for a varsity football game. No. They are here for soccer. They are here for their team, Temecula FC.

As the national anthem blares through cheap speakers, the players stare off at a flag that isn’t even on the field, but on the other side of the school building. The ref blows his whistle and sporadic yelling can be heard from the bleachers. The thwack of each ball meeting a heavy cleat can be heard from the farthest corners of the stadium. The ball takes unpredictable bounces on the turf and– Oh, my goodness, is that a bat? Is that a bat flying just over the field?

It's gritty.

It's rugged.

It's semi-professional soccer.

You don’t play for Temecula FC for the Instagram followers, or the chance to play for Manchester United. You don’t own the team to be heralded as one of the great owners in American sports. You don’t watch the games from the bleachers to witness world-class football. You do it because it's a part of you. This game is in your blood. Not sharing it with your city or playing for your city would be a disservice. This team is not just players on a field, but neighbors in your town. Together, you can become greater than oneself and unite a city under one common ground. Temecula FC.

Brandon Jantz is an optimist. Truth is, you’d have to be an optimist to believe in his 2013 plan: build a semi-professional soccer club in Temecula that would include the community through young athletes playing for and the public supporting their local team. Besides a few rival youth soccer clubs, who are known more for the overbearing parents than the talent on the field, soccer has never been looked at as anything beyond a kids’ participation sport in Temecula. But Jantz had a vision. It came from his career as a low-level soccer player in England.

“Living [in England] was a big difference in seeing the football culture and what a football club meant to a community,” Jantz said. “How it could change people's lives. Not just the players but the supporters and the businesses in the area.” Jantz played and coached for several years in England. Playing in clinics as a young kid over in England, he always knew that was where he wanted to be. But, as a kid from Temecula it was not as simple as flying to England and lacing up his cleats. He needed the proper paperwork, which he didn’t have.

So, Jantz stayed in England and instead of professional soccer, played non-league soccer in small towns where his love for the game and coaching deepened. When he returned to Temecula in 2003, Jantz was hoping to find a community that had the same passion for soccer that he was consumed by overseas. But it did not exist. “When I came back I was searching for that, and there was none of it,” he said. After years of coaching at the youth level, and seeing little progress in the talent, Jantz knew it was time for a change. In 2013, along with business partner Vince Paccione, Jantz founded Temecula FC.

Semi-professional teams can be found all across the country. Most of the time in smaller towns outside of the bigger cities where professional teams may reside. While professional players make a living off their sport, semi-professional players usually have a separate job for their main source of income. There are minimal trainers, no private facilities or for some clubs large fan bases. The single commonality between professional and semi-professional soccer is the game itself. Like many semi-professional clubs, Temecula FC does not play in soccer-specific stadiums or even stadiums for other professional sports.

To build a team that fits Jantz’ vision, you need people who see the game just like he does. Like Ambrose Lisowe, the team’s current captain. Born in Wisconsin, Lisowe hunted every opportunity within the soccer vacant state he could find. As a high schooler, he would drive himself to bigger cities like Green Bay and Milwaukee just to play. After stints at Patrick Henry Community College in Virginia and Upper Iowa University, Lisowe transferred to Cal Baptist University in Riverside, California, where he was introduced to Temecula FC. In 2015, Lisowe became a part of the team and, after a brief hiatus in 2018, rejoined the team in 2021. “I’ve been away from the club and back again,” Lisowe said. “It has been amazing.” Wherever Lisowe has gone, from Wisconsin to California, the game has come with him. “It really is my path,” he said. “I have learned about the world with a ball at my feet.”

Much like Lisowe, Isais Cruz’s love for soccer brought him to Temecula FC. Cruz has been on the team since the beginning. After an injury sidelined him from the Palomar College soccer season, he found Temecula FC and knew it was the perfect destination. From San Diego, it was the style of play and the culture that lured Cruz to the club. “Growing up out here, I am used to a lot of American- or Mexican-style soccer and it is very generic and simple,” Cruz said. “To establish the kind of soccer that I wanted to play, watching a lot of soccer from across the sea, showed me there is a different aspect to the game and I believe that Temecula FC had the foundation to be able to do that.”

At one point, both Lisowe and Cruz were interested in earning professional contracts, something Temecula FC offers their players. Since its establishment, the club has had seven players sign professional contracts, both domestic and international. “It didn’t occur to me what I was getting myself into,” Cruz said. “Brandon has done a great job with bringing in players and bringing in opportunities for players to branch out into different things.” While many players still attain the dream of professional soccer, those dreams have passed for Lisowe and Cruz. Both have full-time jobs besides their weekly training and games.

Lisowe, a kinesiologist, works to prepare his body so he can perform at his highest during work and on the field. According to Lisowe, “The semi-professional mindset is: I got to show up for my job, still can’t neglect anything there. I got to take care of my body. Can’t neglect anything there. If I get hurt, I can’t work.” Cruz, who works in landscaping, starts his days at 3 every morning and works until 5:30 p.m. most days. While many might go home or rest after a long day of work, he does the opposite. He challenges himself even more by attending training almost immediately after work.

Is this crazy? To Cruz, it would be crazy not to play the game he loves. “Soccer brings me such joy,” he said. “It is like my heartbeat. It has to keep going.”

Beyond the culture and mission which makes Temecula FC stand out from other semi-professional clubs, it is the gameday atmosphere. The team plays at local high schools and parks across Southern California. “Clubs love to come play us at home,” Jantz said. “They know they are going to get an atmosphere.” The Temecula fans are constantly engaged with the game, something not always seen in the semi-professional game. “When the ref is making calls that you don’t agree with, you might not have to speak up because they will speak up,” Lisowe said.

While road games can be difficult because not all players are able to attend far games, the club pays for expenses. Paying for transportation to games, meals and hotels if needed. “Everything has been really amazing from that front,” Lisowe said. “As a semi-professional club we aren't getting paid but we aren't having to dip into our pockets.”

The energy of road games can be hostile for the club, which Cruz loves. Facing teams on the road is when he plays his best. “Those big games that are far away and you see other people's crowds that are insanely big, those games hype me up,” Cruz said. Like against High Desert FC, in Adelanto, California. Cruz started after a late scratch in the lineup and remembers having one of the best games in his career. How did he know he was doing well? The home crowd was booing him.

Even on the road, Temecula FC always brings a crowd. But, one of the voices you might hear most during games is not in the bleachers but on the sideline. You only need to hear him scream once to know he understands the game. Why? Well, head coach Austin Levins is Irish. OK, that and he coached for 19 years in Ireland, including a coaching stint with the top soccer club in the country, the South Dublin-based Shamrock Rovers. A former amateur goalkeeper in Ireland, Levins moved to Southern California in 2017 and immediately looked for clubs within the area to coach. Quickly, it became clear that Temecula FC was the club for him. “Meeting Brandon, I knew in 10 or 15 minutes it was a good fit,” Levins said. “His belief in how the game should be grown was tied into an Irish or UK concept.”

According to Jantz and Levins, youth soccer is run extremely differently overseas compared to the United States. To them, it ran much better internationally than here. In Europe, most youth clubs are fed into adult clubs. Teams work together to compliment the players as best as possible. Here, with several different clubs in most cities, they are fighting against each other for players instead of working together to benefit the players.

To Levins, this makes soccer more of a business than a sport. The opposite of Temecula FC and its values. Head coach since 2018, he loves the opportunities the club gives players. “We have overseas contacts that if we see a player with potential, they could end up on trial over in Europe,” Levins said. “We offer a full pathway from grassroots to professional soccer.” As coach, Levin's goals for the club are to have players understand what it takes to be a successful player and how to make it beyond the semi-professional league. Beyond that, he wants to see his team win its league.

The club recently joined a new league, playing their first season in the Southwest Premier League. After seven years in the National Premier Soccer League, Jantz wanted to take the club in a new direction. He felt the club was limited in that league. With aspirations of climbing the professional ladder, the NPSL would not allow their teams to become professional clubs. The league, he felt, was complacent. Jantz is anything but. SW Premier allows for promotion to the third tier of the American soccer pyramid, National Independent Soccer Association.

Building a successful professional soccer club in his hometown was always Jantz's goal. One where the community gathered around the club that represented their city. Levins is right alongside Jantz: “My hope would be you would see a much more united football community.” Players like Lisowe and Cruz believe in his mission. “The overall value of this club is just family to me,” Cruz said. “It is a group of people I can identify with and they can identify with me,” Lisowe said.

Entering a new league, growth is more important now than ever as Jantz hopes to have more fans in the stands and maintain the quality of play on the field. Currently, Temecula FC is looking for a new set of investors to continue making improvements within the club. To do this, the club is using the WeFunder platform, made popular by clubs like Detroit City FC, Chattanooga FC, and PDX FC. Those clubs used the funds raised to leapfrog into new leagues. Temecula’s fundraising drive, at 43 investors, has raised $36,000 of a base goal of $50,000. That drive is currently open and welcoming new investors.

As Temecula FC continues to bring out more fans, Jantz’ goal of a united soccer city is not far off. Some might think the idea of a professional soccer club in Temecula is just as absurd. But as Isais Cruz puts it – crazy not to do it.

Right?

- Joey Balleweg