Asheville City Soccer Club’s men’s team will jump from the independent NPSL’s Southeast Conference to USL League Two for the upcoming 2020 season.

ACSC had competed in the NPSL since 2017, the same year its men’s team started competing. The Club made the leap to USL2 due to the high turnover the Southeast Conference has been experiencing over the last three years, according to team president Ryan Kelley. Now, the team will form a part of the USL2’s large group of North Carolina-based clubs, which already includes two U-23 squads and independent teams Wake FC and Tobacco Road FC. It figures to begin play in the same division as those sides: the South Atlantic. ACSC joins AFC Ann Arbor as the second team to bounce from the NPSL to USL2 this summer.

“We were really pleased with the transition to USL. League leadership made themselves readily available and never shied away from answering our questions, which were extensive,” Kelley told Protagonist. “We were deliberate with the process to ensure that that league would provide the best fit for us moving forward.”

ACSC was founded in 2016 when Kelley and five of his childhood friends, Allen Bradley, Andrew Hunter, Jordan Vance, Jimmy Wheeler and Josh Yoakum, noticed that Asheville was missing a local soccer club that citizens would be sure to rally around. Starting with a men’s team in 2017 playing in the city’s famous Memorial Stadium, the club has since expanded to field a women’s team, led by Meghann Burke, Stacey Enos, and Lydia Vandenbergh, in the WPSL. The teams enjoy strong support from the South Side Blues, the local supporter’s group, and from the city on a whole.

“Asheville City has been a beacon for how the game can grow in cities with tremendous civic pride,” said Joel Nash, Vice President of USL League Two, in a press release announcing the arrival of ACSC. “We look forward to supporting and celebrating this club as it continues to reach new heights.”

Asheville City also already has a number of former players plying their trade in the USL, including USL League One finalists Greenville Triumph SC’s Dominic Boland and Cameron Saul and former Lansing Ignite forward Elma N’for.

Kelley was largely grateful for the support of the NPSL over the last three years. ACSC leadership specifically noted that the league offered a platform of relationship-building and learning. Many of the concepts that ACSC runs on to this day were formed by examining best practices at other NPSL clubs.

However, it was not all smooth sailing. In the NPSL, member clubs are tasked with making relevant decisions for the league as a whole. According to Kelley, this system was too slow-moving and challenging to move forward on league-wide policy. Furthermore, the league faces a lot of turnover year-to-year, especially in the Southeast. For ACSC, such turnover on the men’s side threatened the club’s stability on a whole, including its women’s team, academy and Just Play initiative.

So far, the Club has enjoyed the resources that the USL has made available to them. As a growing team with limited resources they have utilized the marketing and communications resources that have been made available through the league. In addition, ACSC is looking forward to opportunities to network with other clubs in higher divisions within the same structure that the USL offers to its member sides.

The Blues are fully aware of the challenge that the new league will pose on the field, however.

“As far as challenges, I think it is fair to say that the level of play will be generally higher in League Two and that we will need to elevate our game to compete for a championship, but I’m confident that we have the right people in the right positions to accomplish that goal,” said Kelley with regards to the new opposition.

Overall, the move to USL2 has been met with excitement and positive feedback from community stakeholders, even local media covered the move between competitions. According to Kelley, fans are hyped to higher quality regional rivalries and the players and coaches are relishing the opportunities that come with playing under brighter lights with connections to larger clubs.

- Jose Davila IV