The Skyline Club Soccer League opened play in the Fall of 2005. It is a sanctioned travel league of the Virginia Youth Soccer Association and is a program of the Soccer Organization of the Charlottesville Area.
The original purpose of the league was to form a league of travel soccer clubs in the west-central Virginia region surrounding Charlottesville. Energies were focused on developing the clubs of the area in order to promote the game in a part of the state that had previously been under served. Mergers between competing clubs in rural areas were enacted to create more fully developed institutions that better served their communities.
The original members of the Skyline League were:
SOCA
Lynchburg United
Harrisonburg Soccer Association
Staunton Steam
Fluvanna Youth Soccer Association
Louisa Area Soccer Association
Culpeper Soccer Association
Madison Soccer
Rivanna River Soccer Club
The league has grown consistently since its inception. By the Fall 2008 season clubs had been added in every community within the original scope of the league. Additional clubs that joined by Fall 2008:
Madison Soccer
Lexington Soccer Club
Nelson Express Travel Soccer
Shenandoah County Soccer League
Greene Futbol Club
Orange County Parks & Recreation
Amelia Futbol Club
Furthermore, member clubs have seen significant growth themselves since entering the league. Club mergers in communities such as Augusta, Fluvanna, Farmville and elsewhere have allowed member clubs to field more teams than ever and the standard of play has steadily increased. The Fall 2008 season included nearly 1500 players and 100 teams competing in the league.
The Spring 2009 season saw the league’s first expansion outside of its original boundaries as two clubs from South West Virginia were added to the league.
Roanoke Star Soccer Club
New River United Soccer Association
Both clubs entered the league seeking a high level of play and a focus on player and club development. The league created two tiers of competition, Premier and Classic. This allowed for clubs to find a level of play appropriate to their abilities. Block scheduling was instituted for the Premier Divisions so that an entire slate of teams from one club (U11-U18 boys and girls) would travel to play another club on the same day and place. This allowed for the clubs to build a shared sense of community amongst their teams, utilize talented coaches to work with multiple teams and for club staff to spend a full day with all of their teams. Block scheduling has also been favorably received by families with multiple children competing on a variety of teams that now all travel together. The original six premier clubs were as follows:
SOCA
Augusta FC
Shenandoah Valley United
Central Virginia United
Roanoke Star Soccer Club
New River United Soccer Club
In the Fall of 2010 Valley AFC entered teams in Premier Divisions as part of the Roanoke representation in the league.
In 2013, Valley AFC became a full Premier League member with teams at all age groups, joining SOCA, Augusta FC, SVU, CVU and NRU as the six Premier Clubs.
In 2014 Augusta FC merged with SOCA creating one club with two Skyline regions. SOCA-Augusta and SOCA-Charlottesville both compete in the Skyline Premier League separately, representing two different regions.
The Premier Club Map is as follows:
MISSION
The mission of the Skyline Club Soccer League (SCSL) is three-fold.
1) To develop travel soccer in the communities west and southwest of Richmond, Virginia
2) To strengthen the soccer club structure in the towns, cities and rural communities of central and southwest Virginia.
3) To provide a mechanism for the most advanced and eager players in the area to gather together, through SOCA and compete in the best available league (CCL) in Virginia.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
The Skyline Club Soccer League will adhere to these guiding principles.
1) Provide a travel soccer league dedicated to the towns, cities and rural areas of central and southwest Virginia.
2) Provide competitive opportunities for players aspiring to an advanced level of play beyond Recreational Soccer.
3) Promote club development by sanctioning clubs that represent either the only club from their community or are fully developed community institutions with fully vetted player development programs, multiple teams, professional staffing, appropriate fields and quality teams.
4) The league is not interested in sanctioning splinter groups from existing members. Participants are encouraged to work together in their community to create the best club possible.
5) Maintain reasonable travel distances for member clubs by dividing brackets into geographic regions when possible.
6) Utilize SOCA’s resources to provide professional management of travel soccer for soccer clubs in west-central and southwest Virginia.
7) Foster positive relationships among clubs in the area.
8) Establish standards that raise the level of the game of soccer throughout the league.
9) Provide clear avenues of promotion for premier players in the league to play in the CCL through SOCA’s elite teams.
GOALS
Goals for the Skyline Club Soccer League will be as follows.
1) Provide divisions in age groups U11-U18 boys and girls.
2) Provide efficient, effective and professional management of travel soccer for west-central and southwest Virginia.
3) Develop clubs in the league into stable, well supported organizations with viable, long-term futures.
4) Foster a soccer culture and greater interest in the game throughout the region by developing healthy and friendly competition within the region.
5) Establish mutually supportive relationships between SOCA and other clubs in the area.
6) Provide a successful model for growth for soccer clubs in west-central and southwest Virginia.
7) Facilitate elite playing opportunities for talented players in communities previously without access to the Virginia Club Champions League.
8) Strengthen west-central Virginia representation in the CCL by encouraging elite players to play together on SOCA’s elite teams.
