The Folsom Lake Earthquakes will become the Folsom Lake Surf next May, the newest affiliate club of San Diego’s Surf Soccer organization. Surf Soccer has nearly 20 affiliate clubs from New York to Los Angeles, including its flagship San Diego Surf Soccer Club. The Surf Soccer organization is world-renowned for its clubs’ results, showcase tournaments, player development, and university placement program for high school students.
Its tournaments alone attract 200,000 youth soccer players and 2,000 university coaches and scouts, annually. They bring the “best of the best” players nationwide. Through the Surf Soccer ecosystem, our community’s players will be part of a nationwide culture of success, building on the strong foundation established through the Folsom Lake Earthquakes.
In just a few years since Ethos Soccer Club merged with Folsom Soccer Club to establish the Folsom Lake Earthquakes, its players and teams have realized tremendous success.
No only have the Folsom Lake Earthquakes teams won several league championships, State Cup titles, and tournaments, but many of its current teams have gained in national and regional rankings by topsoccer.com. Most notably, last year’s 2001 and 2000 boys premier team reached 1st and 2nd in the nation, respectively. The current 2004 girls premier team is ranked 10th in the nation, and regionally ranked 1st. The 2002 boys are ranked 3rd in Northern California, while the 2009 girls are ranked 15th. These are outstanding team achievements – and again, in only a few years. These are not to mention the individual successes.
In addition to team success, there have also been several individual achievements.
The Earthquakes have placed players in the Olympic Development Programs (ODP) and Northern California’s Player Development Program (PDP). Earthquakes 2006 goalkeeper Riley Johnson made the regional Olympic Development Program representing Northern California, while five other girls on her team made the state’s Northern California Player Development Program.
Internationally, current and former players have played in youth development academies abroad. Centerback Milo Libby took a year off of high school to play in Argentinos Junior Youth Academy in Argentina. Defender Ben Mehl is in Argentina now playing for the Argentina Youth Academy. Cole Hontoulas recently joined Spain’s Velencia Youth Academy.
Two former Earthquakes players are playing US Soccer Development Academies (USSDA). Following Milo Libby’s time in Argentina, he was recruited to play for Shattuck St. Mary’s USSDA in Minnesota and finish his high school career there. Goalkeeper Jerry Godfryd, of the Earthquake’s Premier National team was invited to try out for the Houston Dynamo USSDA and is awaiting an offer. Several other players have been accepted to Division I, II, and III universities.
These are just of a few of the Folsom Lake Earthquakes successes on which the Folsom Lake Surf will build. Through the Folsom Lake Surf, programs will be in place to serve the development needs of players ages 3 to age 18. Players will have access to several different development paths. Players who wish to develop up through the competitive levels can start training through the Folsom Lake Surf’s Academy program as young as six years old. These are players seeking to make the U11 Premier or Elite teams. For recreational players, through the Folsom Lake Soccer League, they have access to the Folsom Soccer Club, Orangevale Soccer Club, and Rancho Cordova Soccer Club.
The Folsom Lake Surf also seeks to establish a strong platform for recreational players who aspire to make the Premier or Elite teams. To do so, the Surf are taking over operations of the10 Soccer School and rebranding it Surf. Through the school, recreational players will have access to “rec-to-comp” technical skills development classes aimed to prepare students to make the comp team.
The Hub, as its being renamed, will be the center of the Folsom Lake Surf community. In addition to the “rec-to-comp” programs, Surf teams will have access to the facility for indoor team training, chalk talks, small-sided games and tournaments, team parties, and many more club activities. The facility has a 7,000 square foot pitch and an adjoining classroom that will house the club’s college preparation program.
Through the Surf, players will already have access to showcase tournaments and college ID camps for university recruitment. The Surf will also have a dedicated program at The Hub to usher players through the university recruitment and admissions processes to assure that they are positioned to make the right decisions for university and beyond. High schoolers will become familiar and comfortable with the process, hear from college coaches, and have access to the Scouting Zone application – a platform for players to load digital portfolios and scouts to gain visibility of them in a more targeted, efficient manner.
Regardless of the stage of player development, the Folsom Lake Surf Soccer Club seeks to meet players where they are and usher them to the next levels. The club will adopt a flexible approach to traditional age-group training, offering players the opportunities to “play up” when appropriate for their development. Players will have access also to combined age-group training and opportunities to play in “all-star” situations, locally and with players from other Surf affiliate programs nationwide.
The Folsom Lake Surf transition is happening now and will continue through comp tryouts in May 2020. During this period the Surf will be hiring coaches, holding outdoor events and programs at The Hub indoor facility. To stay apprised of these developments and tryout information, click here to join the Folsom Lake Surf community.
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As the Folsom Lake Surf transitions into the 2020/2021 season, email any questions to info@folsomlakesurf.org.
