Highly Acclaimed Youth Soccer Club Albion SC Kicks Off Albion Pros
Well known for earning national championships, a strong partnership with one of England’s top EPL clubs Arsenal FC and for developing youth players who go on to play soccer in top colleges and universities, Albion SC now launches a semi-pro team in the NPSL.
The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) announced today that San Diego’s Albion SC Pros have joined the league as an expansion team. The club will compete in the West Region’s Southwest Conference. Albion SC Pros is an extension of the nationally recognized youth club based in San Diego and will serve as a Senior Team.
“We are thrilled to have Albion SC Pros as part of our league,” NPSL Chairman Joe Barone said. “The Albion SC youth program is among the best in the country and the soccer club is well known for player development. We expect great things of them in our 2016 season, which kicks off next April. Our fans and supporters in the West should be very excited about this new addition.”
Albion SC Pros is led by Executive Director/General Manager Noah Gins, Director of Operations and Marketing Nick Surface, Director of Soccer Wayne Crowe, and Head Coach Ziggy Korytoski.
Albion Pros will hold two open tryouts:
December 19th, 10-2pm
January 23rd, 2-4pm
Training begins in February, 2016 with Exhibition Matches in March.
“We chose the NPSL for the ability to gain access to a highly professional level league that offers good support to the teams,” said Gins. “Our professional staff will help us be very competitive and successful right out of the gate. We want to attract the right type of players to play the right type of soccer. We will strive to provide a great game-day experience for the soccer fans that show up to support the team.”
“Amateur soccer — at the highest level — is starting to get more attention than ever before,” said Barone. “San Diego is a hot bed of American soccer and Noah Gins is very innovative. He has timed this very well and I am expecting Albion Pro to field players who will make an impact on a national level and who will move on to the pro level and make a living playing soccer.”
“This is an unbelievable opportunity for soccer in San Diego. It has all the alignment from the ground up and it is the next step of soccer in our country,” said Korytoski. The transition for our younger players going into semi-professional level is fantastic.The ALBION PROS is not just for Albion, this is no different than Manchester United putting a youth club in San Diego and having a senior team. There are three states in our country that are producing high quality players and it doesn’t get any better than Southern California.”
“Albion SC has stepped into the NPSL with the ALBION PROS to provide the San Diego soccer community with a high quality and entertaining soccer team for youth and soccer fans,” said Surface. “We want our fans to know coming to a game will be a great experience for the entire family. ALBION PROS will play at the Serra High School stadium for the 2016 Season. We can have close to 5,000 soccer fans watching our games and we promise an incredible game day atmosphere and activities for the spectators.”
“I am looking forward to competing in the U.S. Open Cup and against other teams in the NPSL league,” said Korytoski. “I do not have a preferred format but the philosophy always to control the ball and have a lot of energy on the field.”
“While playing for Albion SC will increase a players chance of playing for ALBION PROS this team is for the soccer community of San Diego,” said Gins. “There is no outlet for families and players to watch a good outdoor match and there is also a need within Albion to retain and progress talented players. There are future goals to move up into the professional level as well.”
“We will field the best possible team and will open doors to any top player that has the talent to be able to play at this level. We anticipate having some current and former Albion SC youth players that have gone on to play college soccer and will be returning to San Diego to represent ALBION PROS,” said Crowe.
“We want to provide our players with an opportunity to play high level soccer when they return home from college,” said Gins. “Albion Pros allows our players from the youngest ages to be able to see themselves playing professionally on a Senior Team inside our own system. ”
“For some soccer players, this may be the highest level of soccer they achieve, for other players, this may be a platform to get on an MLS team,” said Gins. “We have players who are training in our Arsenal FC program who may never make it to play in the EPL but if they stay on track, they may be able to play for the Albion Pros. Ultimately, right now, this fits in very well with our development program.”
Through the Puma Elite Program, Albion has gained a professional partnership with Arsenal FC of the English Premier League (EPL) and is committed to developing youth soccer players in the Arsenal way. Both Barone’s NPSL team, the Brooklyn Italians and Albion SC work with Puma Clubs.
“The goal is to provide a very entertaining brand of soccer and we look forward to seeing the soccer community in San Diego coming out to our games,” said Surface.
Gins, is also the Executive Director of Albion SC leading the way for the last 19 years. He played at UNLV and the University of New Mexico before joining the San Diego Flash as a professional player from 1998-2003. While playing for the Flash, Gins took over Albion SC and transformed it into a Southern California and national powerhouse of over 110 teams with model clubs in South Florida and Orange County. Gins earned the recognition of US Youth Soccer’s Cal South in 2010 as Coach of Year.
Crowe, a Northampton, England native, played professionally for both Leyton Orient and Aston Villa. He would go on to earn his UEFA “B” license and has worked for the likes of Leyton Orient, Rushden & Diamonds, and the New York/New Jersey MetroStars. Crowe has been focused on building and developing the club’s U8-U10 teams for almost a decade. He was the 2013 Cal South Coach of the Year.
Surface graduated from Post University (CT) with a degree in Sports Management. A San Diego native, he previously lived in England for nine years where he developed his passion for the game. During his time in the UK, he worked with a number of professional clubs and was a 2011 Business Person of the Year Finalist for the West Midlands Region. In addition to his work at Albion SC, Surface also serves as the Director of Camps and Academy for Pro Select Soccer.
Korytoski brings a host of experience and credentials including a UEFA “A” license, USSF “A” license, NSCAA Premier Diploma, and a KNVB coaching certificate. Along with currently coaching at San Diego State and previously at the University of Hawaii, he has had two stints as head coach for professional clubs in Guatemala’s top league with Deportivo Coatepeque and Antigua GCF.
“Noah has done such a tremendous job for player development in our community and has quite the vision,” said Korytoski. “The last two months have been phenomenal. Everything has been first class and I am honored to join him.
Who might make the roster? “One of our most profiled Albion youth players was U17 National Team player Oscar Ortega. Oscar played at Albion SC from U11-U19 and was part of the U17 National Team and was moved to Florida for the full time US National Team residency program,” said Gins. “He had several professional soccer opportunities in Mexico and many college scholarship offers and we are very proud he is now part of the Albion SC coaching staff. Ortega will return to play for the ALBION PROS in the 2016 Season.”
Along with having the U.S. Developmental Academy, the Albion SC youth club has won countless state championships, over ten regional championships, been in seven national championships, and developed many players for the U.S. national team and professional ranks. The organization, professionalism, and excellence on the field led Albion SC to be named one of the top 30 clubs in the U.S. by Soccer America in 2011.
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The NPSL is a national league that operates in the 4th Division of the U.S. Soccer pyramid. NPSL teams are eligible to participate in the U.S. Open Cup through their affiliation with the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) and the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA). The NPSL remains one of the largest national leagues in North America.
