The Temecula-based City SC soccer club played the halftime game Sunday, Jan. 15, at Pechanga Arena in San Diego when the Major Arena Soccer League game that evening was between the San Diego Sockers and the Kansas City Comets.
“You can’t believe the excitement,” City SC coach Carlos Basso said.
Basso coaches three City SC futsal teams. Futsal differs from indoor soccer in terms of number of players – five on each team, surface – a harder floor, smaller ball size and out of bounds designation – lines rather than walls or boards. His teams are the girls 10-and-under Pre-Academy, girls 10-and-under Premier and girls 6-and-under squads. Basso, who was born and raised in Brazil, also oversees four Brazilian soccer camps each year.
“I’ve been very happy with City SC,” Basso said.
Last year Basso’s 6-and-under team won the National Premier Leagues’ Discovery League championship, and in December, his 10-and-under Gold Team won the Southern California championship. The 10-and-under Gold team provided the players for the Jan. 15 halftime game.
Basso, who is now 58, came to the United States when he was 20. In 1986, he signed a developmental contract with the Sockers and was on their reserve team, although he didn’t play with the primary team during his first stint with the Sockers. He played for the Milwaukee Wave and the Tulsa Ambush before becoming a member of the Sockers in 1993 when the Sockers were in the Continental Indoor Soccer League. Basso moved from San Diego to Temecula in 2000.
The Temecula-Murrieta Soccer Club added Basso to the organization’s staff in 2000. That club eventually became the Hawks Soccer Club, and Basso coached there for 20 years. In 2020 the Hawks and the Legends Football Club merged to become Legends Temecula Valley. Basso coached one year with the Legends before joining City SC two years ago.
“I wanted a challenge,” he said.
Sockers general manager Sean Bowers, who has lived in Murrieta since 2003, played on the United States national futsal team from 1996 to 2004 and was the team captain for the entire time. He took part in the 1996 and 2004 futsal World Cup tournaments. In 2011, Bowers founded 619 Futsal, which has the goal of helping to develop youth soccer players in the San Diego area. Bowers played on the 1991-1992, 2003-2004, 2004-2005 and 2009-2010 Sockers teams and became the Sockers’ general manager in July 2016.
“We keep in touch,” Basso said of Bowers.
Bowers invited Basso to have his players participate in the halftime game. Although the 10-and-under Gold team had 14 players, only 10 players made the trip to San Diego in that day’s storm. The players were divided into two teams of five players apiece, and the game lasted for approximately eight minutes.
“They really enjoy it. We don’t have indoor soccer here in Temecula, so for them it was kind of something new,” Basso said.
No formal score was kept for the halftime game. The Sockers themselves scored the MASL game’s first four goals and obtained a 7-3 victory over the Comets to improve San Diego’s record to 6-0.
“They’re looking good. They’ve got a good team. Very well balanced,” Basso said.
Joe Naiman can be reached by email at jnaiman@reedermedia.com.
