Ewing, NJ - Real Central NJ Soccer (RCNJ) announced today its formal affiliation with two elite youth soccer clubs - Match Fit Academy and Next Level Soccer Academy. Real Central NJ will field a women’s and men’s team in the highest level pre-professional national soccer leagues in the country, the Women’s Premier Soccer League and USL League Two.
“We’re excited to have these two great local clubs be the first clubs in our network,” said RCNJ Men’s General Manager Ira Jersey. “Our youth affiliates will be key in identifying upcoming players to join the ranks for our first teams either before or as they begin their collegiate careers. Our aim is to further develop soccer in Central New Jersey and early identification is a key to our approach.”
Additionally, RCNJ will be participating in the USL Academy Cup program, a premier national youth showcase tournament attended by professional and college scouts. NLSA and Match Fit have each submitted a team to participate in the USL Academy Cup. If accepted, the Match Fit and NLSA teams will travel to Tampa, Florida in May 2021 for the tournament. RCNJ is also fielding a U17 "select" team with players from seven different youth clubs in central NJ and eastern Pennsylvania.
“We’re thrilled to be among the first clubs to help promote the newest post-high school soccer club in the area,” Chris Leahey, Executive Director of Match Fit Academy said. “This is a great opportunity for some of our top players to move into these great platforms while in college and be scouted by professional teams.”
“NLSA is ecstatic to have the opportunity to become one of the first two affiliate clubs for Real Central NJ” said Rob Marino, the Co-Founder and Administrative Director of Next Level Soccer Academy based in Pennington. “Our main goal is to provide the best youth soccer experience to players in Mercer County and beyond. With this affiliation, we can finalize our player pathway program to include USL2 and WPSL opportunities and give all NLSA players something to strive for throughout their soccer journeys. The ability to be a part of and support the RCNJ voyage along with providing our players the opportunity to see and potentially play at the USL2 and WPSL levels is going to be a game-changer for our club and Mercer County!”
Real Central NJ Soccer’s season kicks off May 2021 at TCNJ’s Lion’s Stadium in Ewing. Season tickets are on sale now and individual match tickets will be available in February. More information can be found on the club website at www.realcentralnj.soccer.