Santa Ana Winds FC Announces Return to Historic Santa Ana Stadium in 2017

SANTA ANA, Calif. - Dec. 8, 2016 - PRLog -- Santa Ana Winds FC is excited to announce it's returning to its ancestral home.

Winds FC will return to play in historic Santa Ana Stadium as the club ascends to the United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) Pro Premier Division in 2017.

Santa Ana Winds FC General Manager Jose Lopez said, "We've been in the community for a long time and we're going to stay committed to the community for the long haul. We're very excited about 2017 as a year of action. The community wants a great team, and we we'll give them a great team."

Santa Ana Winds FC can be traced back to 2006 when the club had stints playing in both the SoCal Premier League and NPSL.

Now in its fifth season in United Premier Soccer League, Winds FC played all of their 2016 Winter/Spring Season games at Lake Forest Sports Complex, but began scheduling UPSL regular season games at 9,000-seat Santa Ana Stadium in July 2016.

Santa Ana Stadium was recently retrofitted, with construction completed in August 2016.

Previously, Winds FC hosted games at Santa Ana Stadium vs. Chivas USA Under-18s in January 2011, vs. Club Atlas Under-20s in March 2011 and vs. Chivas De Guadalajara Under-20s in November 2011.

Jose Lopez was hired in November 2016 as General Manager, taking over decision-making duties on player personnel and day-to-day activities for the club, which jumps into UPSL's Pro Premier Division next season.

Winds FC (6-8-3 overall) is currently seventh in UPSL's Southeast Division after defeating OC Crew SC, 4-2, on Saturday, Dec. 4, in a critical match in the push for the playoffs.

Jose Lopez, 33, comes to his new job with Winds FC after having been on the club's coaching staff when it won the 2013 UPSL Championship, and now has more than 10 years of coaching, administration and team management experience.

Santa Ana Winds FC General Manager Jose Lopez said, "We're hoping to do bigger and better things so we're starting to take the correct positions inside the organization. I've been helping with the coaching staff but I've been taking care of most of the work of the general manager and I'm going to be focusing more on other things I need to do. The City of Santa Ana has been excited by the Winds FC project and we want to take over the city. The main goal is to bring it to the city, get the people excited, bring professional soccer here and keep it going."

Jose Lopez is a native of Michoacán, Mexico but grew up in Orange County, attending Santa Ana High School and Santa Ana College.

He began playing in the club system in Orange County and was a member of the Santa Ana College Men's Soccer Team from 2001-'03. He is founder and president of OC Stars FC, a competitive amateur club.
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We Are Santa Ana Winds FC

Santa Ana Winds FC™ are a Pro Soccer Club based in Santa Ana, California. Winds FC are a member of the United Premier Soccer League and compete in the UPSL's Southeast Conference. The club strives to give players the opportunity to showcase their skills to play at the highest competitive levels locally, nationally and internationally. Currently, Winds FC has a First Team, a Second Team and a Reserve Side that competes regularly. In 2017, we move into UPSL's Pro Premier Division. We'll also participate in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, North America's oldest cup competition, for the second time.

Contact:
Jose Lopez
http://www.windsfc.com
Direct: (714) 603-9113
http://www.facebook.com/SantaAnaWindsFC
#OfficialWIndsFC on Twitter

United Premier Soccer League

The UPSL was formed in 2011 and currently includes more than 40 teams in California, Nevada, Arizona, Idaho and Colorado. UPSL is the fastest growing Pro Development League in the USA, with 50-plus teams targeted for 2017 Winter/Spring Season. Each UPSL team is individually owned and operated, and is responsible for maintaining UPSL 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 (@UnitedPremierSoccerLeague) and Twitter (@upslsoccer).

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

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