San Diego Sockers and Cardiff Soccer League partner to create Cardiff Sockers

The San Diego Sockers —14-time Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) champions -- and the Cardiff Soccer League (CSL) recently announced a new partnership, in which the Cardiff Mustangs youth soccer club will be re-named the Cardiff Sockers, according to a news release. The partnership looks to create new and exciting opportunities for youth players in San Diego County to elevate their training and competitive level. Currently, the club has almost 650 competitive boys and girls soccer players, mostly from the North County coastal area. The new partnership expects to attract competitive youth players to the competitive tryouts, which begin Jan. 12, from all around San Diego.

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Under the terms of the agreement, the CSL’s competitive clubs will change their name from Cardiff Mustangs to Cardiff Sockers. The club will be re-branded in the Sockers’ blue and yellow team colors, including their kits and apparel. The club’s primary field locations will remain in Encinitas and Cardiff, but players in the Cardiff Sockers program will also have the opportunity to gain access to the Sockers’ professional training and athletic facilities, and future access to the club’s playing field. Players will also receive tickets to future San Diego Sockers home matches in the 2021-22 season.

“This is a partnership that makes sense on so many levels,” said Sockers General Manager Sean Bowers of the announcement, “The Sockers are a brand associated with quality, winning championships, and being an integral part of the San Diego soccer community, and we see those same values in the Cardiff Soccer League.”

Sockers captain Kraig Chiles serves as the executive director for the Cardiff Soccer League, and will be the man at the helm for the Cardiff Sockers program.

“We’re really excited to take this partnership to the next level, and I think it’s unique for San Diego County,” said Chiles of the affiliation, “We want to give the top players in this region a chance to train like the pros, learn from the pros, and take that next step forward in their soccer careers.”

Competitive youth players born in 2007-2014 looking to try out for the Cardiff Sockers have the opportunity to do so beginning Jan. 12. Please find the schedule at www.cardiffsockers.org/tryouts. Tryouts for players born in 2006 and earlier will take place in the spring. —- News release