United Premier Soccer League Announces Wake Forest (N.C.)-based Del Sol FC as New Expansion Team

LOS ANGELES - April 7, 2018 - PRLog -- The United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) is excited to announce Del Sol Futbol Club as a new member starting with the 2018 Fall Season.

Based in Wake Forest (N.C.), Del Sol FC begins UPSL play in the Southeast Conference Mid-Atlantic Division and will host its inaugural season at WRAL Soccer Complex (7700 Perry Creek Rd., Raleigh, NC 27616) in compliance with UPSL's Minimum Standards.

United Premier Soccer League Commissioner Yan Skwara said, "The UPSL continues to grow with exciting new clubs in North Carolina. We're pleased to welcome Del Sol Futbol Club to the UPSL Southeast Conference. Del Sol FC has garnered respect for its work in the underserved communities of Raleigh and the surrounding areas, and we're excited to see them take the next step. We wish Ramon Gallardo, Taylor Pilkington and Del Sol FC luck as they prepare to for the Fall Season."

Ramon Gallardo is Co-Owner and will serve as Head Coach.

Del Sol was started as a Latino outreach program by Ramon Gallardo but now affiliated with North Carolina FC, Del Sol FC has grown from its origin as a youth club more than a decade ago. Gallardo has a passion for serving the Latino community and giving young players an opportunity to prove themselves against elite competition. He founded the first Del Sol youth outreach league in Raleigh in 2002. The NCFC Del Sol youth program is giving the opportunity for hundreds of kids a week to play with its NCFC La Liga Del Sol.

North Carolina native Taylor Pilkington is Co-Owner, General Manager and Assistant Coach of Del Sol FC. A former Capital Area Soccer League (CASL) and N.C. State University club soccer alumni, Pilkington has been invested in the local soccer community as a player and coach for the past two decades. Beginning in 2010, Pilkington began work as a full-time coach, Co-founding Soccer Genome LLC, a soccer-specific training organization in Raleigh (N.C.), and in 2015 The Genome Foundation Inc., a grass-roots soccer non-profit based in Wake Forest (N.C.).

According to Pilkington, "The soccer market in the Raleigh, Cary, Wake Forest, Durham and Chapel Hill area is booming. We have a massive youth soccer presence and some phenomenal college soccer programs, but after college ball there aren't many places for our guys to play. There's a ton of good players in the area, but if you aren't one of the few guys who get signed out of college to play pro, there are no places to play other than a Sunday league. Our vision is to give players that opportunity to keep playing and training at a competitive level for a few more years. My hope is we inspire others in the RDU community to follow our lead and start teams all over N.C. We want to be one of the leading soccer communities in the southeast. Del Sol FC will be a place where our local home grown players can compete in front of their friends and families and help bridge some of the structural gaps we have in the United States soccer pro model. The UPSL is going to make a big difference for players in the area."

Del Sol FC will have open tryouts May 12 and 19 at WRAL Soccer Complex.

About Del Sol Futbol Club

Del Sol Futbol Club is an American Soccer club currently based in Wake Forest, N.C., and a new member of the United Premier Soccer League. Del Sol FC will begin play in the UPSL Pro Premier.

Founded in 2018, Del Sol FC can participate in the qualifying rounds for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup through their affiliation and membership with the UPSL, the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) and the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA).

Contact:
Taylor Pilkington
Direct: 919-539-8310
Email: Del.Sol.FC@gmail.com

United Premier Soccer League

The UPSL was formed in 2011 and currently includes more than 150 teams in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin. UPSL is the fastest growing Pro Development League in the USA, with 140-plus teams targeted for 2018 Spring Season. Each UPSL team is individually owned and operated and is responsible for maintaining either UPSL Pro Premier Division or Championship Division minimum standards.

UPSL teams are all eligible to participate in the U.S. Open Cup Qualifying Rounds through the leagues affiliation with the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) and the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA).

More information about UPSL can be found at www.upslsoccer.com or by following the league on Facebook (www.facebook.com/upslsoccer) and Twitter (@upslsoccer).

Contact UPSL:
info@upslsoccer.com
Direct: 310-415-5691

Media Relations:
Dennis Pope
dennis@upslsoccer.com
upslcommunications@gmail.com
Direct: 951-675-3963
www.upslsoccer.com
www.facebook.com/unitedpremiersoccerleague
www.twitter.com/unitedpremiersoccerleague