Salinas Valley Samba was an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

team based in

Salinas, California Salinas (; Spanish for "Salt Marsh or Salt Flats") is a city in California and the county seat of Monterey County. With a population of 163,542 in the 2020 Census, Salinas is the most populous city in Monterey County. Salinas is an urban area lo ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Founded in 2004, the team played in the Western Division of the

National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, 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 ...

(NPSL), a national amateur league at the fourth tier of the

American Soccer Pyramid The United States soccer league system is a series of professional and amateur soccer leagues based, in whole or in part, in the United States. Sometimes called the American soccer pyramid, teams and leagues are not linked by the system of prom ...

. The team spent the majority of its history playing on the campus of

Salinas High School Salinas High School is a public 9–12 high school in Salinas, California, United States. It is the first of five primary high schools of the Salinas Union High School District. The school was moved to its current central Salinas location in 19 ...

, though they moved to

Watsonville High School Watsonville High School is a high school located in Watsonville, Santa Cruz County, California, and is part of the Pajaro Valley Unified School District. The school mascot is Willy the Wildcat. The school colors are black and gold. Watsonville Hi ...

in nearby Santa Cruz County, for their final season in 2009. The team's colors were silver, black and white.

History

The Samba joined the Men's Premier Soccer League in 2004, one of five expansion teams for the league's second season. They joined along with the

Albuquerque Asylum Albuquerque Asylum was an American soccer team based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 2004, the team was a member of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), a national amateur league at the fourth tier of the American So ...

, the

Sonoma County Sol Sonoma County Sol is an American soccer team based in Santa Rosa, California, United States. Founded in 2004, the team plays in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), a national amateur league at the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyrami ...

, the

Sacramento Knights Sacramento Knights were an indoor soccer team that played from 1993 to 2001 in ARCO Arena and were owned by the NBA's Sacramento Kings. The team played in the Continental Indoor Soccer League from 1993 to 1997. The team then moved to the Wo ...

, and the Idaho Wolves. During their first season of play, the Samba finished the league in 5th place, five points behind the Utah Salt Ratz, who ultimately finished the season as league champions. The 2005 season saw the development of location-specific conferences as more teams were added to the league. This placed Salinas Valley in the Western Conference, with a majority of California teams (with the exception of the

Las Vegas Strikers Las Vegas Strikers were an American soccer team, founded in 2003. The team were a member of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, and play in the Southwest Conference. The Strikers play thei ...

and the Albuquerque Asylum) The expansion of the league in 2006 brought further development of the conferences, as the Western Conference split into "Northwestern" and "Southwestern", and a Midwestern conference was added. The Salinas Valley Samba are currently in the Northwestern Conference. The Samba finished the 2005 season in 4th place. Also in 2005 the Samba advanced to the second round of the

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

before being defeated by the

Seattle Sounders Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club w ...

. In 2006, they finished the year in 6th place.

Players

Last roster

''as at June 7, 2009''

Notable former players

* David Estrada *

Yuri Morales Yuri Morales (born September 30, 1981 in San Juan, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican footballer who plays for the United States national beach soccer team. Morales played previously with the Danish professional football club Viborg FF. He also play ...

* Nate Northup *

Adam Smarte Adam Smarte (born 9 May 1987) is a Liberian former association football, footballer who last played for Ventura County Fusion in the USL Premier Development League. Career College and amateur Smarte grew up in Elk Grove, California, played coll ...

Year-by-year

Head coaches

* Artie Cairel (2004–2008) * Mark Cisneros (2009)

Stadia

* "The Pit" at

; Salinas, California (2004–2008) * Stadium at Watsonville High School; Watsonville, California (2009)

External links

Salinas Valley Samba
* ttp://www.usopencup.com/1995/2005/121872.html USOpenCup.com standings for 2005br>Sounders dance past Samba
Soccer clubs in California National Premier Soccer League teams Sports in Salinas, California Association football clubs established in 2004 2004 establishments in California Sports in Monterey County, California {{California-footyclub-stub