IRVINE, Calif. (October 1, 2018) – Orange County Soccer Club announced today that it has signed 16 new players to the organization’s new eSports team, in addition to team manager and player Mike Culp who was signed to the club’s FIFA 11v11 squad in September. Of the total 17 players, 7 are local to Southern California (4 from Orange County, and 3 from Los Angeles County), 2 players reside in Georgia, with the roster rounding out with 1 player each from Arizona, Michigan, Kansas, Maryland, Washington DC, Florida, Mexico and Norway. This announcement comes on the heels of last Friday’s wildly anticipated release of FIFA 19 by EA Sports.
“We’ve seen a great response from the FIFA gaming community since announcing Orange County SC’s new eSports team, and there’s been amazing interest in joining the squad,” said OCSC eSports Manager & Player Mike Culp. “After a few weeks of invite-only and open tryouts, streamed live on our Facebook account and Twitch channel, we were truly impressed with the level of experience, talent and character. We’re extremely pleased with these initial signings, and eager to begin training to build what we believe will be a competitive and entertaining team for soccer and gaming fans everywhere.”
IRVINE, Calif. (October 1, 2018) – Orange County Soccer Club announced today that it has signed 16 new players to the organization’s new eSports team, in addition to team manager and player Mike Culp who was signed to the club’s FIFA 11v11 squad in September. Of the total 17 players, 7 are local to Southern California (4 from Orange County, and 3 from Los Angeles County), 2 players reside in Georgia, with the roster rounding out with 1 player each from Arizona, Michigan, Kansas, Maryland, Washington DC, Florida, Mexico and Norway. This announcement comes on the heels of last Friday’s wildly anticipated release of FIFA 19 by EA Sports.
“We’ve seen a great response from the FIFA gaming community since announcing Orange County SC’s new eSports team, and there’s been amazing interest in joining the squad,” said OCSC eSports Manager & Player Mike Culp. “After a few weeks of invite-only and open tryouts, streamed live on our Facebook account and Twitch channel, we were truly impressed with the level of experience, talent and character. We’re extremely pleased with these initial signings, and eager to begin training to build what we believe will be a competitive and entertaining team for soccer and gaming fans everywhere.”
In September, Orange County SC announced the creation of its eSports team which is the first of its kind in US pro soccer and United Soccer League (USL) history—team announcement: https://bit.ly/2CHfSEm. With today’s signings, Orange County continues to build out its eSports team as its physical world team is already making franchise history by breaking wins and points records this USL season as well as clinching the first home post-season match in Orange County pro soccer history.
“It was important for our eSports team roster to have strong representation from Orange County, but similar to our pro soccer squad we value a blend of players from around the country and ultimately the world,” said Orange County SC Owner & President James A. Keston. “One of the great aspects of the gaming and eSports world is that it can bring together players from different backgrounds, geographies and so on that all share a love for competing and being part of the beautiful game. Over time, we intend to provide our eSports team with more and more of the same resources afforded to our physical team.”
To celebrate the formation of the OCSC eSports team, and further reflect the club’s mission to develop a legitimate eSports division, Orange County SC is also proud to announce a partnership with one of the original streetwear and athletic apparel brands focused exclusively on the world of gaming and eSports. Orange County-based Archon Clothing was founded to outfit gamers, creating some of the highest quality apparel in the industry.
"Archon Clothing is proud to work with Orange County SC, a first-class organization in the pro soccer world that is clearly dedicated to creating a world-class eSports club,” said Archon Clothing Founder & CEO Derric Pollard. “We want the OCSC eSports team to look, feel and play at the same level as the club’s pro soccer team."
In addition to working with some of the largest professional eSports programs in the country, Archon has created custom kits for prestigious collegiate eSports programs such as University of California Irvine, University of Oregon, Boise State University and University of Akron to name a few. For more information on Archon Clothing, visit https://www.archonclothing.com/.
“Constructing an eSports team for EA Sports FIFA is in many ways similar to the process of building a pro soccer team from scratch, which we have undergone over the past few years here at OCSC,” said Orange County SC Owner & President James A. Keston. “However, we realize there are differences and we embrace the challenge of being successful at both. On the field as well as in the gaming world, natural talent is fantastic. But beyond that, an athlete is only as good as his or her preparation… and their tools or equipment.”
“In soccer, whether pro soccer or eSports, it really starts with the uniform. It has to both perform and look awesome,” Keston continued. “Archon really checked all of the boxes—we absolutely love the design, which was inspired by our pro soccer jersey but bold and original just for eSports, and Archon truly has the gamer at the core of its materials and processes.”
Orange County SC’s eSports team will play its FIFA 11v11 matches on a regular basis in the Virtual Pro Gaming (VPG) league season, which gets underway later this month. Matches will be streamed live via Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/ocsc_esports), Facebook (@ocscesports) and Twitter (@ocscesports) pages for free. For more details, please visit https://sportsengine-staging.go-vip.net/orangecountysoccer/esports.
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ABOUT ORANGE COUNTY SOCCER CLUB
Orange County Soccer Club is Orange County’s only professional soccer team that is part of the United Soccer League (USL), the fastest growing Division II professional soccer league in the world. The USL is comprised of 34 teams across the United States. The team plays its home games at the Orange County Great Park’s Championship Soccer Stadium, located in Irvine, CA. Nestled in the heart of the Great Park, Championship Soccer Stadium has a capacity of over 5,000 for Orange County SC matches. Orange County SC is also the official affiliate partner of the Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC), a new Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise. Orange County SC was one of 12 founding members of the USL during its inaugural 2011 season. The preceding club, Orange County Blues, won the 2015 Western Conference Regular Season Championship and reached the Western Conference Semi-Finals of the USL Playoffs in back-to-back seasons. Team owner and Chief Investment Officer of LARO Properties, James Keston, purchased and re-branded the team in 2017. Keston, who actively oversees all operations of the team, is dedicated to providing a pathway to professional soccer and a world-class soccer organization that focuses on the fans, players and youth clubs of Orange County.
For more information about Orange County Soccer Club, and to experience professional soccer in the OC, visit: https://sportsengine-staging.go-vip.net/orangecountysoccer. For more information about the United Soccer League, visit: http://www.uslsoccer.com.
In September, Orange County SC announced the creation of its eSports team which is the first of its kind in US pro soccer and United Soccer League (USL) history—team announcement: https://bit.ly/2CHfSEm. With today’s signings, Orange County continues to build out its eSports team as its physical world team is already making franchise history by breaking wins and points records this USL season as well as clinching the first home post-season match in Orange County pro soccer history.
“It was important for our eSports team roster to have strong representation from Orange County, but similar to our pro soccer squad we value a blend of players from around the country and ultimately the world,” said Orange County SC Owner & President James A. Keston. “One of the great aspects of the gaming and eSports world is that it can bring together players from different backgrounds, geographies and so on that all share a love for competing and being part of the beautiful game. Over time, we intend to provide our eSports team with more and more of the same resources afforded to our physical team.”
To celebrate the formation of the OCSC eSports team, and further reflect the club’s mission to develop a legitimate eSports division, Orange County SC is also proud to announce a partnership with one of the original streetwear and athletic apparel brands focused exclusively on the world of gaming and eSports. Orange County-based Archon Clothing was founded to outfit gamers, creating some of the highest quality apparel in the industry.
“Archon Clothing is proud to work with Orange County SC, a first-class organization in the pro soccer world that is clearly dedicated to creating a world-class eSports club,” said Archon Clothing Founder & CEO Derric Pollard. “We want the OCSC eSports team to look, feel and play at the same level as the club’s pro soccer team.”
In addition to working with some of the largest professional eSports programs in the country, Archon has created custom kits for prestigious collegiate eSports programs such as University of California Irvine, University of Oregon, Boise State University and University of Akron to name a few. For more information on Archon Clothing, visit https://www.archonclothing.com/.
“Constructing an eSports team for EA Sports FIFA is in many ways similar to the process of building a pro soccer team from scratch, which we have undergone over the past few years here at OCSC,” said Orange County SC Owner & President James A. Keston. “However, we realize there are differences and we embrace the challenge of being successful at both. On the field as well as in the gaming world, natural talent is fantastic. But beyond that, an athlete is only as good as his or her preparation… and their tools or equipment.”
“In soccer, whether pro soccer or eSports, it really starts with the uniform. It has to both perform and look awesome,” Keston continued. “Archon really checked all of the boxes—we absolutely love the design, which was inspired by our pro soccer jersey but bold and original just for eSports, and Archon truly has the gamer at the core of its materials and processes.”
Orange County SC’s eSports team will play its FIFA 11v11 matches on a regular basis in the Virtual Pro Gaming (VPG) league season, which gets underway later this month. Matches will be streamed live via Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/ocsc_esports), Facebook (@ocscesports) and Twitter (@ocscesports) pages for free. For more details, please visit https://sportsengine-staging.go-vip.net/orangecountysoccer/esports.
# # #
ABOUT ORANGE COUNTY SOCCER CLUB
Orange County Soccer Club is Orange County’s only professional soccer team that is part of the United Soccer League (USL), the fastest growing Division II professional soccer league in the world. The USL is comprised of 34 teams across the United States. The team plays its home games at the Orange County Great Park’s Championship Soccer Stadium, located in Irvine, CA. Nestled in the heart of the Great Park, Championship Soccer Stadium has a capacity of over 5,000 for Orange County SC matches. Orange County SC is also the official affiliate partner of the Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC), a new Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise. Orange County SC was one of 12 founding members of the USL during its inaugural 2011 season. The preceding club, Orange County Blues, won the 2015 Western Conference Regular Season Championship and reached the Western Conference Semi-Finals of the USL Playoffs in back-to-back seasons. Team owner and Chief Investment Officer of LARO Properties, James Keston, purchased and re-branded the team in 2017. Keston, who actively oversees all operations of the team, is dedicated to providing a pathway to professional soccer and a world-class soccer organization that focuses on the fans, players and youth clubs of Orange County.
For more information about Orange County Soccer Club, and to experience professional soccer in the OC, visit: https://sportsengine-staging.go-vip.net/orangecountysoccer. For more information about the United Soccer League, visit: http://www.uslsoccer.com.