The BU14 WUSC Arsenal outscored their opponents 29-8 in capturing their first NWCL title, finishing off the tournament with a 6-5 shootout victory over Crossfire Premier, after the game ended in a 3-3 tie. The won their semi-final match the day before over Washington Premier 3-0. 

On the girls side, U13 THUSC Onyx also had to overcome a Crossfire team in the final to earn their hardware, avenging a tie against the Crossfire team earlier in the season. They also beat a fiesty Washington Premier team in theri semi, 3-1, to hear their trip to the final. 

Both teams now have the option of attending the 2012 Surf Cup as the NWCL Champions in their age group. 

Representatives were selected by the Washington and Oregon leagues, based on availability and acceptance of last year's qualifiers. 

Boys U15-18 Championships-

Portland Oregon December 10-11. 2011

Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District
15707 SW Walker Rd, Beaverton, OR 97006

With over 1,700 Fall League and 350 Director's Cup games contested from September through November, it was a busy couple of months for all the participating clubs. 

Nearly every single Premier Division champion was decided on the final weekend of their season, in very exciting concusion to their Fall Season. New to the Premier Divisions this year is the concept of promotion and relegation - after listing to feedback from the clubs, the overwhelming consensus was for a promotion and relegation system, so the Oregon Premier Council decided to implement the program between the Premier and First Divisions only: the bottom two finishing Premier Division teams will move to the First Division next fall, and the top two finishing First Division teams will move to the Premier Division (the only age group this will not apply to is U11 Girls, which had an eleven team league, so the top 8 teams will be in the U12 Premier Division next fall, with teams 9-11 moving to the First Division). Also decided, in a fight to the finish, were the U12-U15 Northwest Champions League qualifiers. 

The First, Second and Third Divisions also had an eventful Fall Season, concluding with the three-week Director's Cup. Limited to the First, Second and Third Division teams, this tournament had 174 of the 277 Fall teams register across 12 divisions, including U10 Gold and Silver Divisions. Fortunately, the torrential downpours of last year stayed away, but were replaced by freezing temperatures and frosty fields. More than a few propane heaters littered the sidelines of the games, heating both specators and participants. Despite the cold, the games were hotly contested, with many of the semifinal games decided in a shootout, and many of the championships decided by a one-goal margin. Below are pictures of those Champions. 

Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make this entire Fall successful: our partners at Unified Soccer Solutions for their work with referees, and especially our Director of Officials Craig Hill, who listened and listened and listened to ALL the feedback coaches gave and has begun work on more extensive continuing education programs for our match officials. Also, a great deal of thanks to those who work at, and volunteer for, the clubs in our league -- they work so hard to make sure there are fields, lights, goals, nets, and that teams are signed up and ready to go. Many thanks to all the coaches and managers, whose tireless work on the field and behind the scenes should be applauded -- it's not easy motiving young players when it's cold and raining, much less encouraging them to play hard, teaching them the right things, all while trying to keep a level head and not come unhinged at the referees! Last, and most important - thanks to all the parents for shuttling your kids to and from practices, games and pizza parties, for washing all the uniforms and putting up with wet and muddy kids in your cards -- we appreciate your neverending support of your sons and daughters and the support of the Oregon Premier League. 

Happy Holidays!

Director's Cup Champions

BU10 Gold - Eastside United FC Ajax Red

GU10 Gold - VUSA Timbers U10 Reds

BU10 Silver - River Plate SC ORO

GU10 Silver - FC Portland 2001G Red

BU11 - United SA Panthers

GU11 - Sherwood SC Galaxy

BU12 - BSC Portland 99B Black

GU12 - FC Portland 99G White

BU13 - Hillsboro SC Freeze

GU13 - Westside Metros 98 Usonians

BU14 - Santos FC Galaxticos

GU14 - FC Willamette Primetime

“Basically, what we’ve done is purchase club memberships for all our clubs so there’s no barriers of entry and no excuses for our players not to go out and get better away from club trainings,” said John Bain, Executive Director of the Oregon Premier Council, which operates the OPL. “We have a standard we can hold our players to, and now iSoccer makes it extremely easy to give them activities, exercises and opportunities to train and get better on their own.”

iSoccer’s assessment offers the same objective measurement of a player’s ability, from the younger rec players to collegiate level players, making individual areas of improvement clear and concise. With over 500 videos in their library that players can download and take to the field with them, players work on improving their own score, competing against their own assessment. Each club and their DOC will have a customized club access to iSoccer.org and the assessment and development programs; clubs can add as many players and teams as they like within their iSoccer site, and coaches can create tailored custom, individually-tailored training sessions using the videos available on the site.

“The iSoccer platform offers an equal field for assessment, or in other words, the assessment is the same for everyone,” says iSoccer founder, Scott Leber. “Nearly 100,000 soccer players have already completed our assessment, recording over 500,000 results. This information has provided a base for establishing a benchmark for what we call the National Standards Assessment Project. This is the starting point, the benchmark standard for soccer players across America. iSoccer gives responsibility to the player. You can decide, you have the responsibility as the player to improve your performance. Think of iSoccer as tools to take responsibility for you own development.” 

Available to clubs since the beginning of October, many OPL clubs have already started assessing their players. Basic memberships for players are free, and players can contact their clubs for more information to sign up for this program.  iSoccer is offering OPL players a free premium membership through November 1; after that, players can sign up for premium memberships at the OPL rate of $12 per year.

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About iSoccer: iSoccer.org, the popular online training product and motivational tool for recreational and competitive soccer players. Following a series of ball tests on the field, each individual assessment is then entered online by players. The aim of iSoccer’s assessment is to provide a standard by which players can gauge their progress and coaches can pinpoint areas for technical improvement and individual progress.

About the Oregon Premier League: The Oregon Premier League began play as a U11 league in 2008, and expanded to service U10 and U12 in 2009. In the spring of 2010, the OPL announced an expansion to provide U11 – U19 leagues in the State of Oregon, with two local clubs running player development leagues at U10. The Oregon Premier League is operated by the Oregon Premier Council, which was founded in 2006 and consists of the Directors of Coaching from Eastside United FC, FC Portland, Lake Oswego SC, Southside SC, Oregon Soccer Academy, Portland City United SC, Tualatin Hill United SC and Westside Metros.

US Club Soccer recently launched the online home of the organization’s newly-formed NPL, at www.nationalpremierleagues.com, with links and information to all the leagues around the country.

Scheduled to kick off in the fall, the NPL includes many of the nation’s top clubs in geographically-based leagues, with each independently-operated NPL linked with the others under the same technical guidelines, philosophies and structure. Additionally, every NPL will include an integrated Player Development Program within US Club Soccer’s id² Program to provide additional exposure and development opportunities for the top players within the NPL. Most importantly, every NPL is led by a Technical Advisory Committee consisting of the Directors of Coaching from each member club.

Winners of each NPL will advance to the National Premier Leagues Champions Cup, where national champions will be crowned. The inaugural event is scheduled for July 2012.

• Properly-structured youth soccer clubs are the vehicle through which player development does and must occur in the United States.

• Clubs should play in leagues that provide meaningful games, allow establishment of the proper training-to-game ratio, and eliminate calendar congestion.

• National Premier Leagues, as well as the best clubs, should be integrated in US Club Soccer’s id² national identification and development program, include Player Development Programs in select local markets, and work closely with U.S. Soccer staff regarding player identification, and player and coach development. 

A complete presentation on the vision, structure and future of the National Premier Leagues can be found on the NPL website. This presentation also includes an overview of the Player Development Programs created for each National Premier League.

About the Oregon Premier League: 
The Oregon Premier League is a non-profit organization whose mission is to develop competitive soccer in Oregon. Sanctioned by US Club Soccer, the OPL offers a wide range of competitive divisions for U11-U18, and partners with our clubs to offer U10 developmental leagues. The OPL hosts the Oregon Premier League State Cup once per year for U12-U18  teams, and a Director’s Cup twice per year (U11-U14, and U15-U18). The OPL is also a founding partner of the Northwest Champions League and the Pacific Coast Super Cup. 

About US Club Soccer:
US Club Soccer is a non-profit organization whose mission is to develop competitive club soccer in the United States. A member of the United States Soccer Federation since July 2001, US Club Soccer has grown to include member clubs and leagues in all 50 states. In addition to sanctioning and administering tournaments, leagues and other competitions as well as offering a range of programs for its members, US Club Soccer annually conducts the National Cup. US Club Soccer also directs its own player identification and development program – id².

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US Club Soccer will host this id² Program Training Camp Nov. 10-13, 2011, at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas. The camp is exclusively for the ’98 boys, with a camp for the ’99s to be held at a date and time still to be determined next spring. Over the course of the four-day camp, the boys will participate in training sessions and games run by some of the best soccer coaches in the nation, playing and competing with some of the nation’s best players in their age group. Tge US National Team staff will be on hand to observe the sessions and games, evaluating players for future inclusion in Youth National Team camps. The players will also hear a number of presentations and guest lectures from National Team staff and current and former professional players. Participation in the camp is free, as Nike and US Club Soccer pay room and board, as well as providing training gear the players, and the OPL is assisting with plane fares for the boys to travel to Texas. 

About US Club Soccer/id2:

Established in 2004, US Club Soccer’s id² National Identification and Development Program provides an opportunity for the country’s elite youth soccer players to be identified and developed, while also being scouted for inclusion in U.S. Soccer’s National Team programs.

A comprehensive national scouting and recommendation program is used to form a player pool from which top players are invited to attend an id² Program Training Camp.

There is no cost to the player to be scouted or recommended for the id²Program. Additionally, the id² Program is open to all players regardless of U.S. Soccer affiliation, or lack thereof.

The BU15 Westside Metros Galacticos, qualifiers as winners of the OPL State Cup, won the Super Group running away, after a close opening round win over Ironbound SC out of New Jersey. The Galacticos hung on for a 3-2 win that day, going on to win 6-1 and 6-0 in the remaining group play. They were then able to dispatch another OPL club, the ESUFC Pumas, winning the semi-final 4-0, before earning their National Champions medals with a 3-1 victory over Almaden out of Cal North.

FC Portland’s GU13 Navy team, after qualifying via the USCS Regional in Seattle at the end of June, entered the GU13 Premier group and earned a comfortable 2-0 win on the touranment’s opening day over Snohomish United out of the Seattle area. They would go on to earn a 1-1 tie and a 2-1 win to advance to the tournament Finals, where they held on for a 2-1 win over Galacticas FC, the team they had tied 1-1 in group play. 

Wrapping up USCS Nationals, a host of other OPL teams, most qualifiers as OPL State Cup Champions competed well against their counterparts from around the country and represented Oregon well, but came up short against some very talented teams from around the country. 

Day 1 Video

Day 2 Video

Day 3 Video

Day 4 Video

Meanwhile, down in San Diego the GU15 OSSA 95 Blue, GU16 THUSC Ireland, and GU17 OSSA 93 Blue earned berths to the Surf Cup as winners of the Northwest Champions League. Also joining them were the GU15 THUSC Sodium and the GU17 Westside Metros Fury. 

WSM and OSSA both played well enough during the group stages, each reaching the semifinals; OSSA fell 2-3 to Cal Odyssey, while on the next field over WSM had their hands full with a very good Maui United squad, and earned a hard-fought 1-0 win. In the final, the Fury came up just short, losing 1-0 to the Odyssey team. 

The GU16 THUSC squad entered the tournament full of promise, but struggled a bit in group play earning a 1-1-1 record which didn’t advance them. 

With two great OPL teams in the U15 OSSA 95 Blue and THUSC Sodium, the GU16 Gold group was a great series of games indeed. THUSC went 2-1 in pool play, their only loss coming on the last game of group play to Tophat out of Georgia, to advance to the semis; meanwhile OSSA had an average run in pool play with a 1-2 record, advancing to the semifinals based on goal differential. THUSC and OSSA met in the semis, a rematch of the OPL State Cup Championship only two months prior. OSSA bounced back from their poor run of form in group play to beat THUSC 3-0, advancing to the finals against Eastside FC, from Washington. OSSA continued their good form in the championship, earning a 2-0 win over the same Eastside team they lost to in group play.