Academica Soccer Club is an amateur soccer club based out of

Turlock, California Turlock is a city in Stanislaus County, California, United States. Its estimated 2019 population of 73,631 made it the second-largest city in Stanislaus County after Modesto. History Founded on December 22, 1871, by prominent grain farmer Jo ...

. The team currently competes in

USL League Two USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syst ...

and the

USL W League The USL W League (USLW) is a pre-professional women's soccer league in the United States which began play in May 2022. It was announced on June 8, 2021 by the United Soccer League with eight founding clubs. It follows the USL W-League, a sim ...

. The club's home stadium is Academica Soccer Field with a capacity of over 600 seated fans.

History

The club was founded in 1972 by members of the Portuguese Cultural Center in Turlock, CA. Academica, or 'AC', began by joining the Central California Soccer League, winning multiple titles in the 80's, 90's, and early 00's. AC also competed in the California State Cup and Amateur Cup as well as yearly Portuguese cultural tournaments. In 2013, the club joined the Liga Norcal, then called the Norcal Premier Adult Premier League. Academica reached the final in its first season, losing to

San Francisco City FC San Francisco City Football Club, commonly abbreviated to SF City, is a supporter-owned soccer club located in San Francisco, California that competes in USL League Two. Founded in 2001, SF City plays its home matches at Kezar Stadium. The club ...

. The team would reach the final again in 2016 and again in 2017, finally winning the championship. On November 14, 2017, it was announced that Academica Soccer Club would join the

National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's soccer league. The NPSL is a semi-professional league, comprising some teams that have paid players and some that are entirely amateur. The league is officially affiliated to the Uni ...

beginning in the 2018 season. In May 2018, it was announced that Academica SC became affiliated with Turlock Youth Soccer Association which rebranded as Turlock Academica Jrs. Academica qualified for the 2019 edition of the

US Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. Op ...

through the Open Division Local Qualifying track. Academica hosted league rivals

El Farolito Soccer Club El Farolito is an amateur soccer club based out of San Francisco, California. It currently plays in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), generally considered the fourth tier of U.S. Soccer, within the Golden Gate Conference. The team is be ...

in the first round where they fell 2–1 to their San Francisco rivals. The 2020 NPSL season was cancelled after only two matches due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, the squad finished the regular season in 2nd place with a 4-1-2 record in the NPSL Return to Play series. AC would continue onto host the conference final, defeating El Farolito 2-0 in front of 600 fans in a match dubbed as the "Festa Final". The 2022 season saw AC finish the regular season in 5th place, good enough to qualify for the conference tournament. After defeating Contra Costa FC in the first round, the Black and Gold fell to regular season champions Sacramento Gold by a score of 3-2 to finish their season. On December 1, 2022, Academica SC joined

for the 2023 season. A women's team was also established that will play in the

Year-by-year

References

Association football clubs established in 1972 Soccer clubs in California National Premier Soccer League teams USL League Two teams USL W League teams Portuguese-American culture in California {{California-footyclub-stub