“Play The Right Way” are the words for which World Class Premier was born from and lives by. We all know the story of how the club was formed; if you don’t, make sure you check out the Spotlight on the club that ran on April 29, 2019. But this story is less about where there club has been but instead on where the club is going.

On September 26, World Class Premier announced that the club would be joining the National Premier Soccer League for the 2020 season. This is a huge step in the club’s journey, especially if you consider that they only just joined United Premier Soccer League earlier this year. After a full Spring and Fall Season in the UPSL, World Class Premier considers their club ready for the next step and I, for one, applaud the move.

Conversation with World Class Premier

I got a chance to speak with Babajide (Jide) Saba, one of the owners of World Class Premier, and he had a lot to share about this move. Let’s start with the basics: he was super excited with what the future holds for the Club.

What inspired the move to the NPSL?

“The NPSL has always been a goal of ours. The move opens many doors for the club and shows just how much we have grown. To most people this is just a move, but to us and the communities that support us, this is 10 years in the making. But not only that, this always has been for the players, this provides the players with top level competition and more exposure for their playing career.”

Does that mean you will be playing the spring and fall or just the summer?

“For the 2020 year we will only be playing summer, but with the goal to eventually play all year round. Now, if this will be for the year 2021 or later, we will have to see.”

How has the reaction from the community been? How do you plan to engage them to grow support?

“As you know, we have close ties to the Montgomery County Community College. Both first team’s coaches are coach soccer there. We also have established close ties with our community, especially the minorities here in our area. Being that most of our team and staff are from Africa or of African decent so these groups in our community truly hits home. But as far as how we are engaging them, we plan to host more community events and camps for our youth teams. Strengthen ties and grow future players.”

Those are all great ways to strengthen ties. Speaking of ties, what will happen with the leagues WCP have played in, will you still be playing in the Maryland Major Soccer League and the UPSL?

“The UPSL, definitely this is where the second team will be playing. This will give us a chance and a place to have some of the younger guys a chance to play and be exposed to top level competition. As far as MMSL, the only downside to this move is that this will be the last season (Fall 2019) we will be in.”

What does this mean for the leagues they are in or will be in?

First, it’s important to point out that fact that the NPSL Mid-Atlantic Conference will now feature three teams from Maryland. We have yet to hear how much this will affect the season, however, on pure assumption, it will only add two games to everyone’s schedule. We will keep an eye out for schedules to see what actually happens. But what does this mean for the other two leagues, MMSL and UPSL?

The partnership with All Star United should pay off for both clubs.

As I mentioned in the conversation with Jide, UPSL will be the platform World Class Premier will use to grow future players. As far as the Majors, in the same conversation with Jide, he wanted us to be the first to announce that they will be partnering with another Maryland Major team, All Star United. WCP will step away from the Majors but will still put all their resources into helping their grassroot soccer side. The goal is to move players from regional leagues to the competitive stage of a national league. And they got their chance.

There is a lot of changing to come for the club, but the future is bright. The leadership at World Class Premier should be extremely proud of what they have done. This is a huge step for the club, now they have the eyes of the NPSL, UPSL, MMSL, and Maryland watching.

-Geovanny Monterroso