Side 92 FC wins UPSL Central Conference North Premier Division
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Courtest of WSA.
A version of this story was originally published in the Sand Springs Leader.
The West Side Alliance has long been a staple in the Sand Springs sports community, and since its founding in 1992, it has grown into one of the largest and most competitive organizations in the state. No longer just a youth soccer club, it is now building its brand as a national-caliber adult league as well.
In the fall of 2020 the WSA launched Side FC 92, a semi-pro extension of the league for high school, collegiate, and young adult players. Among the roster you’ll see Division 1 players from the universities of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tulsa, and more. This deep pool of talent has catapulted both the men’s and women’s teams into the national playoffs.
The men’s team got started in the fall and went undefeated 11-2-0 to win the UPSL Central Conference North Division II title, and was promoted to the Premier League. Now they own a 13-1-2 record in their inaugural season, and have already brought home two more championship trophies, winning both their division and the Central Conference Championship.
The Side has the second-highest-scoring offense in a league of over 300 teams with 79 goals this season, and they are now bound for Kansas City to play Des Moines United FC in the national round of 32.
Side FC 92 Head Coach and WSA Technical Director Alexander McLaurin credits that success to both the immensely talented players, as well as to the supportive organization that backs them.
“We’ve got a staff that works really hard to make sure all the training sessions are focused, that there’s a clear message and that they’re very well organized. We’ve got top-quality players that are willing to push forward. They’ve all got ambitions. It makes it easy when you’ve got players that are looking to potentially break into the professional game. Everything is on a professional level from the training to the coaching to the way the players go about things. That makes it easy, as well as having the backing of a good organization as well. Having Roger Bush as club director, making sure that the team is supported in any way that we need, that’s really made it pretty easy on us.”
“That was our biggest motivation behind (forming the Side FC 92) is being able to get younger players inside of the club a pathway - something to look up to,” says McLaurin. “We’re never going to be at the level of an MLS club or anything like that, but we can at least bridge the gap and give the kids inside of the club kind of a realistic view to kind of get that next step. We call our program the “Pathway to Pro,” so we’re kind of that bridge in between that. We’re not getting any financial gain from it or trying to get into the MLS, we’re just there to promote our youth and our academy players.”
McLaurin himself is a 2006 graduate of Charles Page High School in Sand Springs, and several of his players are also former Sandites. The men’s team features Gustavo Saldana of Oklahoma Wesleyan, Fernando Saldana (who just graduated CPHS this year), and Luke Jeffus of the University of Tulsa.
The women’s team, which is 6-3-1 in their inaugural season and headed for the United Women’s Soccer League playoffs, also features two Sandites in Karsen Lynch and Danielle Greminger. Lynch is a soon-to-be senior at Charles Page High School. Greminger competed at Oklahoma Wesleyan and Coffeyville Community College the past two seasons, and will enroll at Casper College this fall.
“Already this year we’ve got 16 and 17 year olds that are featuring in the team and playing in important playoff matches,” says McLaurin. “It’s giving kids something to connect to and really see a clear pathway to potentially make their way towards that professional goal if that’s what they have.”
