Pro soccer comes to Carson City area

LOS ANGELES — United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) has announced the Western Nevada Football Club has joined the league and will participate in the Pro Premier Division.

Western Nevada FC will begin play in UPSL’s Northwest Conference beginning in the spring.

“Western Nevada FC opens up a whole new market for the UPSL, and for soccer as a whole, so we’re extremely proud to be a part of bringing the game to Nevada’s state capitol,” league commisioner Yan Skwara said in a press release. “Western Nevada FC is growing the game, and that fits right in with what we want. We’re Connecting American Soccer, and now UPSL is in a place that hasn’t had anything close to Western Nevada FC. There’s a lot of excitement with their ownership group, and we wish them a prosperous 2017.”

Western Nevada FC was created in 2016 and brought public by Dr. Fred Simon Jr., Ian Hill and Art Castanares. Simon is a trauma & critical-care surgeon, owner of Khristopher’s Ristorante & Bar in Carson City. Hill recently returned to his soccer roots as a coach and investor in Western Nevada FC. He’s owner of The Changing Point, a consulting firm he leads on community-changing projects across North America and beyond. Castanares is founder and CEO of Manzana Energy Inc., and publisher of La Prensa San Diego, a Spanish-language newspaper.

“Western Nevada has a strong soccer community, so it only makes sense for a professional development team to emerge, and when scanning the horizon for the best league to take advantage of a professional development opportunity we felt that the UPSL was the leading edge of that opportunity,” Hill said. “Western Nevada FC was a convergence of ideas. When I learned about the UPSL opportunity, the ownership group came together and decided this was the best vehicle to help our players reach their dreams, so what initially was a 36-month plan became a five-month plan.”

Western Nevada FC will play its home dates at Dayton High School, and intends to broadcast all of its games on ESPN Radio 94.5 FM and on the team’s website.