September 10, 2008

It has been an incredible first eight months in the history of Diablo FC. Our newly-merged organization is the only California club to qualify teams for all three major 2008 national youth soccer championship finals after five Diablo FC teams earned places in the 10th anniversary Super Y-League North American Championships Nov. 21-25 in Tampa, FL.

The Super Y-League finals in Tampa will feature 140 teams from the United States and Canada in U13 through U17 boys and girls divisions. Diablo FC has earned five of those berths!

Diablo FC 94 won the Pacific Northern California Super Y-League U13 boys championship, U17 boys Diablo FC 90 also were undefeated in winning their SYL title while the U13 Diablo FC 94 girls lost just once while wrapping up the third NorCal title this summer for the club. Diablo FC 92 U15 girls and U15 boys each took second place and earned a North American finals berths to compete the club’s teams qualifying for the Tampa championships right before Thanksgiving. There will be 16 boys teams and 12 girls teams in each of the five age groups at the North American finals.

Earlier this year Diablo FC 90 won the USYSA Regionals in Hawaii and advanced to the
USYSA National Final Four in Little Rock, Arkansas. At the US Club Soccer Regionals in Boise over the 4th of July weekend, Diablo FC 94 and 95 boys won regional championships with the 94 boys qualifying for US Club Soccer National Cup VII in Virginia. The team did not participate in the Virginia tournament due to a lack of time to fund raise for the trip and the knowledge that they would be qualifying for the Florida tournament. The five Super Y-League teams complete the triple crown of 2008 national championship qualifiers for the club. Diablo FC is the only club in California and one of only a few in the entire USA to accomplish the fete this year.

Coach Marquis White’s Diablo FC 94 boys won five and drew three games to capture the U13 Super Y-League Northern California championship. They outscored their final two opponents 13-0 to secure first place by a single point over Juventus Sport Club, whom they defeated 3-1 and drew 0-0 in head-to-head meetings. They gave up only two goals all year while scoring 24 in their eight league games while following up their US Club Soccer Regional Championship with the SYL title.

The Diablo FC U13 girls coached by Sissi had seven wins, one draw and just a single loss. They were only one point ahead going into the final game of the season when they defeated Bayside Academy 3-0 to clinch the title. They surrendered only three goals all year while scoring 18 in nine games.

John Badger’s Diablo FC 90 boys had a busy schedule at the end of the SYL season due to their commitments for USYSA Nationals. Coming back from Little Rock in late July they had to play four SYL games in a short period of time to secure the title. They outscored those four opponents 15-4 down the stretch as they completed a 7-0-1 record while tallying 19 more goals than they gave up.

Several Pacific Northern California divisions qualified the first- and second-place teams for the North American finals. That worked to the advantage of the U15 boys where coach Jon Bernal’s Diablo FC 92 tied with Bayside Academy for second place but won the tiebreaker to make it to Florida with a 6-3-1 mark in 10 league games. In the final match of the season Diablo FC and Bayside drew 1-1 and Bernal’s team owned the second-place tiebreaker. In their first meeting earlier in the season Diablo FC won 1-0. Juventus captured the U15 boys league title.

The U15 Diablo FC 92 Girls coached by Richard Weiszmann lost only one of 12 games yet finished second to Bayside and were awarded a finals berth even though Northern California was originally slated for only one team. The 92 girls’ only loss of the season came in the next-to-last game when Bayside edged Diablo FC 3-2 by scoring two late goals and earning the critical three points that determined the championship. The two teams drew their earlier game 1-1. The Diablo FC 92 girls won eight SYL games, more than any other team from our club, while drawing three and losing that one match to Bayside. They also had a league best +24 goal difference for the 12-game season.

Diablo FC Super Y-League Director Weiszmann says all five teams are in the midst of doing fund raising to finance their trips to Tampa.

Subscribe to ESPN the Magazine and support Diablo FC 94 boys going to Super Y-League North American Championships in Florida this Nov. Great deal: 2 years (52 issues) for $40 and the team earns $30! Read all about it or call Maria Padilla at (925) 212-1603 for more details.