We are proud and excited to announce that Eclipse has accepted membership to NorCal Premier effective immediately and will begin participating in NorCal Premier competitions this Fall 2023!
We began the intense application process back in the fall and have been completing various steps throughout the past six months. NorCal Premier evaluated all aspects of Eclipse, including our club organization, player and team success, coaching staff talent and education, and long-term stability. Following this process, our Executive Director Shane Carney and Director of Coaching John Nakanishi attended the NorCal Premier AGM to present to directors of other clubs in the region about our club. Shane, John, and our Director of Operations Jose Diaz Mercado participated in an interview process with NorCal Premier as well. We’d like to thank the NorCal Premier Board of Directors and the directors of the other clubs in our region for their support along the way and eventual welcoming of Eclipse into NorCal Premier.
What Does This Mean?:
Eclipse teams will participate in NorCal Premier’s competitive leagues starting this fall (instead of Cal North’s CCSL). Eclipse teams will also be eligible to participate in other NorCal Premier events, including NorCal’s State Cup competition.
What are the Benefits?:
1. More competitively balanced league play – NorCal Premier is a much larger organization with many more clubs/teams participating. As such, age groups have many different competitive levels, which will make it easier to find proper placement for each of our teams to have more consistently competitive games at their level.
2. Less travel – NorCal Premier leagues are formed based on the region teams are from, so our league will feel much more local. We will be in leagues for Region 3/4 – East Bay. Some of our more local league opponents will include Cal Magic, Walnut Creek Surf, Diablo Valley Wolves, and Mustang.
3. Opportunities for our most competitive players/teams – NorCal Premier provides higher and higher levels of play for our teams who reach those competitive levels over years of growth. They also have development opportunities for top individual players from clubs.
4. Coach education – The door opens to some of the NorCal-exclusive coach education opportunities for our staff to participate in. As a club who has always valued coach education as a pillar of our foundation, we’re excited for additional opportunities in this area.
Why Now?:
When the club was formed, our initial vision was to create a schedule focused on growth and not on results/standings as often becomes the case in youth sports. As the club continued to grow and our mission and philosophy continued to strengthen, it became clear we could maintain this vision while participating in traditional league formats. Cal North had been actively inviting us to join them for several years when we decided to accept membership with Cal North several years ago. After many long discussions, our Board of Directors and staff decided it was time to apply to NorCal Premier to solidify our club’s short-term and long-term competitive options and overall club experience. The stability of the club, our fantastic staff, and the amazing players and families of Eclipse has us excited about this next step in ensuring Eclipse will continue to be a positive environment for kids to grow in for years to come!
What to Expect?:
Our calendar will shift a little bit, which was already in action with our extended spring, later tryouts, and a later summer start date (projected for June 12 at this time). League opponents and locations will improve. Mostly everything else will look and feel the same, as we want to ensure we’re always the same great Eclipse sticking to our mission and philosophy! This change in league affiliation will simply allow us to enhance the competitive experience our teams enjoy.
More to Come:
We’ll continue to communicate any updates on how this change may impact our soccer year as each step approaches. Thank you!
Posted in Competition