Santa Cruz Breakers FC

Breakers FC is an American semi-professional[1][2] soccer club based in Santa Cruz, California, United States founded in 1992. The club is a founding member of the Elite Youth Development Platform with partner Major League Soccer in 2020.[3] The club signed Niša Saveljić to be their director of coaching in June 2020 to ensure the club remained focused on its mission to provide the best platform possible for aspiring student-athletes.[4] In 2018 the club began fielding a team in the Premier Development League,[5][6] now known as USL League Two, playing its home games at Carl Conelly Stadium on the campus of Cabrillo College in Aptos, California. The team's colors are dark blue, sky blue, gold and white.

Breakers FC
Full nameBreakers FC
Nickname(s)Breakers
Founded1992
GroundCarl Conelly Stadium
PresidentLarry Biggham
ChairmanPaolo Carbone
ManagerMichael Runeare
CoachNiša Saveljić
LeagueUSL League Two Elite Youth Development Platform

In 2007 and 2008, Breakers FC fielded teams in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), a national amateur league at the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid.[5]

Leadership
  •  Italy Paolo Carbone (2010–present)

President
  •  USA Larry Biggam (2008–present)

Director Of Coaching

Head coaches
  • USA Michael Runeare (2007–2008; 2018–present)

Stadium

Year-by-year
Year Division League Regular Season Playoffs Open Cup
2007 4 NPSL 3rd, Northwest Did not qualify Did not enter
2008 4 NPSL 2nd, Northwest Did not qualify Did not qualify
2018 4 USL PDL 4th, Northwest Did not qualify Did not qualify
2019 4 USL League Two 5th, Northwest Did not qualify Did not qualify

History

The Early Years

1992: The creation of Santa Cruz County Youth Premier Futbol Club

The Santa Cruz County Youth Premier Futbol Club (SCCYPFC) was established by Gary Masamori, Roland Hedgpeth, David Wright, Bill Davila, Richard Munoz, Sergio Sierra, Tom Vignola, Rich Sanders and several other community leaders in 1992 to establish the only class 1 Elite club in Santa Cruz County so that regional athletes had a place to compete with the talanted clubs in the Bay Area. At the time, Santa Cruz county had five youth soccer clubs: Scotts Valley/San Lorenzo Valley, Santa Cruz City, Mid County, Aptos and Pajaro Valley.

Early 2000

In 2001, the U19 team coached by Sergio Sierra and managed by now President Larry Biggam won the State Cup Championship. The coach, manager, and players on this team represented all areas of Santa Cruz County. Known as the SCC Breakers at the time, the club went on to play in a prestigious international tournament in Italy where they faced AS Roma and future 2006 World Cup Champion Daniele De Rossi and other top clubs in Europe led by players like Lupe Martinez, Patrick Scheufler, Matt Biggam, Kurt Munoz, and Matt McClosky.

SCCYPFC Club leadership decided that in order to be competitive with other clubs in Northern California, the they needed to hire coaching directors that would select and supervise coaches and would develop and promote the club at a higher level. They hired Paul Lester, the UCSC Women's Coach, became the Girls Coaching Director and Paul Holocher who was the UCSC Men's Coach took charge of the boy's side.

Paul Lester stayed with the club for a few years before leaving for Arizona to become a full-time coach in one of the most successful clubs in the nation, Sereno soccer club. In 2003, Paolo Carbone, co-founder of the De Anza Force, one of the top clubs in America, was hired by SCCYPFC club president, Bob Poser, to replace Paul Lester as the Girls Coaching Director.

2002-2003 - Two of the club's teams won the CYSA-North State Cup Championship, and two additional teams played in State Cup finals. The two championship winners went on to represent Northern California in the US Youth Soccer Association (USYSA) Far West Regional Tournament, which took place in Hawaii in the summer of 2003. Its teams were also very impressive during the 2003 fall season playing with the Abronzino league, with four teams ending the season as division champs. The club ranked 9th out of over 100 clubs in CYSA-North.

Breakers Cup - In addition, the club established a very respectable Class I tournament – The Santa Cruz Classic now known as the Breakers Cup, which has further raised its visibility among other competitive clubs. Also, the club has initiated the Positive Coaching Alliance to translate their literature into Spanish to benefit our children and families involved in Class I soccer. Bob Poser, Breakers president was one of the moving forces behind getting the PCA adopted by the SCCYSL and all local clubs.

2004 - The club officially changed its name to Santa Cruz County Breakers and establishes a common logo to reflect its new era. All of the club's teams have donned the Navy Blue and White,

Kits were researched and developed by Bob Poser, Matt McDowell, and Tom Nieto. Together with the board of directors, they initiated a partnership with Adidas America and obtained major donations to outfit the club.

In addition, the club created their first Breakers Soccer Camps for all the teams in the club, and the U18 girl's team coached by Ashley Edgar and assisted by Art Romswinckel won the prestigious Santa Diego Surf Cup. Ashley's team also qualified for three CYSA State Cup semifinals, losing only against the eventual Champions.

2005 –Ascend to # 2 in the Nation

In 2005, Breakers F.C. earned the title of # 2 Elite soccer club for boys and girls in the Nation from the Super Y-League. The club had three boys teams and one girl's team qualify for the Super-Y-League Nationals in Florida. Many players were also selected to participate in the Olympic Development Program (ODP), a process of identification for the US National Team. Jose Gonzales was invited for the first time to a US National training camp. Francisco Gomez and Miguel Silva were players from the county that participated with the US National Team program and Brie Wiles was the only player on the girls side invited to National training camp as well.

2005 - Paul Holocher was hired at Cal Poly as a head men's soccer coach to revamp their program. Paolo Carbone took over his role to become the Breakers Boys and Girls Coaching Director.

2006 - The Breakers 88B coached by Bob Poser and Bob Evans won their fifth CYSA State Cup! At Easter time of the same year, they had the opportunity to participate in the U19 International Tournament of Bellinzona in Switzerland where they played against FC Barcelona (Spain), FC Basel (Switzerland), Aris Salonique (Greece) and Borussia Moenchengladbach (Germany). Following their performance, some players were invited to train in Europe. Martin Monroy went to train with Borussia Moenchengladbach in Germany for 10 days. The club launched the Breakers Junior Academy, a program designed to improve the individual skills of all the U10-U13 Breakers players. Breakers 88 Boys player Jose Gonzales signed a professional contract with the second division team Atlante in Mexico.

2007 - US Soccer recognized the Santa Cruz County Breakers as one of the top clubs in the Nation and granted them the status of Academy club. The Academy was designed to create a better developmental environment for elite players and to promote those players to the national team. The Breakers now had one U16 boys team and one U18 boy's team playing in the US Soccer Development Academy under the guidance of the US Soccer Federation. In that year, the Breakers had the opportunity to play against the LA Galaxy and the Chivas USA in front of a crowd of 1,500 fans at Carl Conelly Stadium. After the weekend, US Soccer Federation scout, Hugo Perez (US National 1994 World Cup), notified the Breakers that Josue Madueno was invited to the U18 National Team Training Camp.

A New Era in Youth Soccer

2010 - The club brand and look evolved thanks to its status as a Nike Premier Club.

Throughout the years, the club has successfully developed many strong players who have moved on to play at the collegiate level. Some recent past players on the girls side are Lauren Curtis (UC Irvine), Lisa Lanham (Santa Clara University), Heidi Romswinckel-Guise(SJSU), Cristin Murphy (Cabrillo College/SJSU), Brittny Bishore (SJSU), Mayra Cruz (SJSU), Amanda Bruce (SFSU), Caitlin Meadows (Long Island University), Chelsea Muir (Ponoma-Pitzer College), Stephanie Dodds (West Chester University), Brieanna Wright (Santa Barbara City College), Tylinda Arthur (Cabrillo College), Lindsey Prentiss (Cabrillo College), Sarah Croskrey (St Josephs College, Rensselaer -Indiana) Ruth Hanks (Birmingham Southern), Esther Neel (Cal Poly), Maria Hare (Cabrillo College/SJSU) Ashley Rodhe (Cabrillo College, CSUMB), Emmi Doniak (Cabrillo College, CSUMB), Jane Shook (USF), Paulina Gonzales (Cabrillo College), Christian Ruiz (Menlo College), Emily Belding (SJSU), ), Lauren Miller (Cal Poly), Kelsey Johnson (Cal Poly), Keiko Kurita (Vassar University), Alex Williams (Cal State LA),

On the boys side, Bernabe Camacho (San Jose State), Josh Converse (UCSD), Jeremy Del Re (Santa Clara), Diego Gonzales (Cabrillo College), Linares Walker (Dartmouth College), Ben Poser (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute), Alberto Mata (Cabrillo College), Manuel Leos (Cabrillo College), Collin Walsh (Brigham Young University Hawaii), Sky Cutler (SJSU), David Estrada (UCLA), Colby Moore (SJSU), Edward Murillo-Jimenez (SJSU), Tony Parenti (CalPoly), Patrick Scheufler (SJSU), Marco Del Real (Cabrillo College), Alberto Mata (Cabrillo College), Jason Kaye (UC San Diego), Kin Lam (UC Davis), Oscar Monjaras (SJSU), Gabriel Cassaro (Bethany University), Jose Tostado (Cabrillo College, Chico State), Kellen Coffis (Cabrillo College, Notre Dame De Namur University), Jonathan Christensen (Cabrillo College), Jeffery Christensen (Cabrillo College), Josue Madueno (UC Santa Barbara), Kevin Halasz (University of Puget Sound), Andre Bernal (Humbold University), Christian Diaz (Vermont University), Anthony Gooch (San Diego State University), Benkay Kajihara (U. of San Francisco), Matt Tunzi (Oberlin College), Daniel Johnson (Westmont College), Sean Sprague (UC Santa Cruz), Keaton Sprague (Long Island University).

The last few years have seen a lot of changes in the landscape of US Soccer. Obviously, the advent of the US Soccer Development Academy is a big step in the right direction to develop players like other countries in the world have been doing for decades. On the girl's side, the ECNL has created its “academy” even though it is not supervised by the US Soccer like for the boys Development Academy. Moreover, ODP used to be the main identification process for selecting players to the National teams. While it still exists, ODP has lost of its prestige and it is no longer the main and only means of selection for the National team. US Club Soccer has created their ID2 program and the US Soccer has developed a program called the US Training Center where players are directly trained and scouted by the US Soccer Federation Coaching Staff.

In Northern California, the landscape has changed as well. The Norcal Premier League has been growing in the last few years, while CYSA created the new Cal Soccer League to respond to the demand of the competitive clubs. Breakers have teams playing in both organizations. The older teams, (Boys and Girls U14 and up) are playing in the Regional Academy League in Norcal and the younger teams (U9 to U13) are playing in the CYSA Cal Soccer League. The Elite U16 and U18 Boys Soccer Teams are playing at the National Level in the US Soccer Development Academy.

The Breakers have also been more involved at the grassroots level with several programs such as 4v4 League, Play Days and Camps. The Breakers have been one of the leading clubs in Northern California and have been distinguished by its professionalism on and off the field. Most of the activities of the Breakers Soccer club take place at Cabrillo College in Aptos in the heart of Santa Cruz County.

On the verge of its 20th anniversary, the Santa Cruz County Breakers has established itself as a leading soccer club in the nation. It is with enthusiasm and excitement that the club continues to guide and develop all of its players to reach their potential in this new, continually changing soccer landscape.

2014 – Refocusing and Realignment

In 2014, the Santa Cruz County Breakers separated in two separate clubs for the boys and the girls to provide both programs autonomy

“We don’t demand that the youth teams win, we demand that they play good soccer”

Jose Ramon Alexanco, FC Barcelona Youth Director  Spain

Breakers Youth System

The club feature a strong youth program[5] which serves as a feeder the USL team as well as many college programs. The "Breakers Blue 88" is the flagship youth team of the club. Led by captain and midfielder Jose Gonzalez, who also played for the US U-18 national team, they have won 5 of 6 Norcal state cup titles in the last 6 years. They also feature many top players from top high school programs such as Watsonville and Bellarmine. The team advanced to the semis at the national west region tournament and well as the far west regional tournament and played against top European professional youth academies at the Belizona tournament in Switzerland. Gonzalez was also named CCS sophomore of the year, and to the ALL Merc-CCS team as well as the All-America high school soccer team.

Besides Gonzalez, other notable standouts include Miguel Silva, who led Watsonville High School's soccer team to a No. 1 national ranking and two CCS championships, and was named an NSCAA All-American. He was a member of the US U-15 boys team. Another notable standout from the SCC breakers is David "Samurai" Estrada. A forward for the Seattle Sounders FC, he was the leading scorer for UCLA his first year as a walk-on, and a member of the U-18 national pool. He was named CCS player of the year after leading Alisal High School to a No. 2 national ranking, and scoring a national record of 66 goals including 11 in one game. His accomplishments in college soccer include being named to the Pac-10 second team, the NCAA tournament first team, Freshmen of the Year award, and leading UCLA to the NCAA finals, where he scored two goals against the University of Virginia in the semi-finals.

References
  1. Guzman, Isaiah; Santa Cruz Sentinel (3 May 2008). "SCC Breakers forward doesn't try to play flashy, he just happens to". Santa Cruz Sentinel. Santa Cruz, California: Digital First Media. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  2. Reyes, Juan (10 May 2019). "Santa Cruz Breakers FC aims to send players to the pros". Register-Pajaronian. Watsonville, California: News Media Corporation. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  3. "Breakers FC partners with Major League Soccer, 64 elite academies to usher in new era | Youth soccer". Santa Cruz Sentinel. 2020-05-17. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
  4. "Breakers FC hires former World Cup talent Niša Saveljić as director of coaching". Santa Cruz Sentinel. 2020-07-07. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
  5. Hodul, Thomas (31 January 2018). "Santa Cruz Breakers Add PDL First Team With an Eye Towards More". Midfield Press. Archived from the original on 1 February 2018. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  6. Nunez, Tony (11 May 2018). "PDL Soccer: Breakers FC keeping dreams alive". Register-Pajaronian. Watsonville, California: News Media Corporation. Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
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