San Ramon Futbol Club Joins the NPSL

The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is proud to announce that San Ramon Futbol Club (San Ramon, CA) has joined the league as an expansion team. The club will begin competition in the West Region’s Golden Gate Conference in 2019.

“It’s great to see the NPSL brand continue to grow in California,” NPSL Managing Director Cindy Spera said. “We are thrilled to add a prestigious organization like San Ramon FC and expect great things from them in 2019 and beyond.”

The leadership of San Ramon FC includes Kevin Montler, Dan Chamberlain, and Mani Salimpour.

Montler, the owner of San Ramon FC’s NPSL team, is the Legal Director of Global Music at Google, working as the head lawyer for worldwide music licensing, product advising, and legal strategy for music across all Google products. He is a native of Washington state, currently residing in Pleasanton, California. He received his Bachelor’s Degree from Harvard College, his Master’s Degree from Trinity College Dublin, and his Juris Doctorate with honors from Harvard Law School. Montler is a lifelong soccer player and fan.

“Joining the NPSL gives our club an opportunity to compete at a high level of men’s soccer,” Montler added. “Our NPSL team adds an important level of play to our organization. Teenage and adult players will be able to further develop their skills and gain valuable playing experience. Our NPSL team will complete SRFC’s organization, which includes a Women’s Premier Soccer League team, providing the community with a men’s team, as well as a women’s team to champion, giving youth players a local team to support, admire, and aspire to join as they mature into young men and women.”

Chamberlain, who serves as San Ramon FC’s Executive Director, recently returned to the club after serving as the Director of Soccer Operations for the San Jose Earthquakes Academy, and prior to that, the Director of Operations for NorCal Premier. He has also coached and played at the college level, including as head coach and player at UC Santa Cruz and assistant coach at Stanford University and the University of San Francisco.

“In our first season in the NPSL, we would like to provide high-quality soccer to our community with the goal of inspiring a grassroots fan base,” Chamberlain commented. “We live in a soccer- focused area, which we think will respond well to our team and our games as both sporting events and community icons.”

Salimpour, who acts as San Ramon FC’s Boys Technical Director, has coached at the youth, high school, and senior team level. Most recently, he has been the coach of the SRFC senior team, leading the men’s team to the top of the Liga NorCal Standings. His international experience includes playing for the U17 National Team in Iran. Since then, Salimpour has been an integral part of soccer in the San Francisco Bay Area as a leader at NorCal Soccer, an IDP and PDP coach, and a DOC at North Bay Elite prior to becoming the Boys Technical Director at SRFC.

Founded in 1973, San Ramon FC is a non-profit soccer club existing to provide residents of their region with soccer opportunities in the areas of both player and human development. For over 40 years the club has produced athletes at the NCAA Division I, III, III, and NAIA levels along with Olympic Development Program players (ODP) at the district, state, regional, and national team levels. Some club alumni have gone on to play professionally, including an Olympic gold medalist and World Cup champion. Many former SRFC players have returned to the club as coaches, volunteers, adult league players, staff members, administrators, and referees. Their collective effort is to guide a new generation of kids in their community while strengthening and growing the largest youth sports club in San Ramon.

More information about expansion opportunities in the NPSL can be found at http://www.npsl.com/expansion-application.

Photo Credit: Daniel Mick