A league of their own: SC Stockton becomes first West Coast team in United Soccer’s Women’s League
Stockton soccer fans, get on your feet, because the United Soccer League Women’s League is expanding west.
Its newest team, SC Stockton, will become the highest level of outdoor soccer in the city for women when it starts in the 2023 season.
Owner and President Lee Neves put the plans in place to bring the team to his hometown after hearing that USL W was looking to have a strong presence on the West Coast. His goal was to bring soccer to a community looking for an outlet for its talented women and to do so with women empowerment in mind.
“This is going to provide opportunities for young women in Stockton not only on the field, but off the field,” Neves said. “I pride myself with the fact that our team and our head coach are female. Anyone working the office/administrative stuff they're going to be female, and preferably from the Stockton or the Stockton area.”
SC Stockton’s spokesperson Adrienne Sorensen joined the semi-professional team last November, joining Neves in his goal of building a team that would put women first. Sorensen is also the head coach at San Joaquin Delta College women’s soccer team and has first-hand experience with the types of talent coming out of the area.
Her role in getting SCS ready for next year’s season will be reaching out to the top players in the area and creating the future team. So far, the club has been reaching out to local high schools and community members to make sure the team builds its roots in the San Joaquin Valley area. Along with Sorensen, Stockton City Councilmember Kimberly Warmsley is working with the club to ensure those roots are placed with an emphasis on the women and girls of Stockton.
“Typically, these women's teams piggyback on men's teams, they're kind of an afterthought — like, oh, the men's club is already established,” Sorensen said. “Lee's vision is women first. And he wants this club to be for Stockton women and girls who are of that caliber and quality.”
From the ground up: Stockton FC bringing the community together through soccer
Another way the team is trying to ensure a women-first approach is by hosting monthly open days that will invite the community to play soccer and learn about SCS. On the agenda so far, the club will host an open day at the Conway Homes in south Stockton, a women’s only open day and a LGBTQ+ friendly open day.
“We just want to have a day that the community can come out not having to worry about anything,” Neves said. “Just knowing that for two, three, four hours they can just have a good time, enjoy a beautiful game and not have to worry about all the outside noises they have to deal with every day.”
Neves and his front office staff will soon be announcing the official club name, crest and logo, possibly around summertime. The club plans to announce its head coach sometime before then followed by a plethora of signee announcements to come. Soon SC Stockton will be up and running with the women of the area leading the club’s charge.
Record reporter Shannon Belt covers sports. She can be reached at sbelt@recordnet.com or on Twitter @ShannonBelt3. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Soccer in Stockton: USL W expands west to bring SC Stockton into fold
