Aptos Soccer Club and Santa Cruz County Breakers Officially Merge Competitive Soccer Programs Under the Name Santa Cruz United FC

We are excited to formally announce that the Santa Cruz County Breakers and Aptos Soccer Club have mutually agreed to permanently merge our competitive soccer programs. The merger will form Santa Cruz United F.C., the largest competitive soccer program in Santa Cruz County, with over 600 players and 38 teams.

The decision to combine follows two years of the two clubs working together under a temporary strategic alliance agreement signed in 2022. Based on the successes of the past two years, we believe that the new program represents an opportunity for all of our players to stay in the game longer and compete at higher levels. By combining resources we have been able to reduce redundancy in administration, form a larger player pool in each age group, and create a more complete pathway for players.

Santa Cruz United F.C. will be able to offer a pathway for soccer players from the recreational level all the way up to US Club’s National Premier League.  

Players' needs will be better served by forming teams of players with similar ability and commitment levels. The club will be able to form more teams within each age group, allowing players to develop at their own pace.  Having a larger number of players developing in each age group also enables teams to have a longer lifespan as they move through youth soccer. Moreover, players and coaches will benefit from a collegial atmosphere of sharing knowledge, curriculum, and culture within the club. 

Santa Cruz United F.C’s new Board of Directors will be as follows: 

Board Of Directors:

President - Gary Nelson

Vice President - Art Romswinckel

Treasurer - Larry Johnson

Secretary - Christina Hadreas

Board Member at Large - Kelly Palandrani 

Executive Director - Ed Watson

Sporting Director - Ashley Edgar

Operations Director - Harendra Goonetilleke

Santa Cruz United F.C. will host tryouts in May for the 2024/25 competitive soccer season and will compete under the new banner starting in Fall 2024. Meanwhile, Aptos Soccer Club and Santa Cruz County Breakers will continue to operate their community recreational soccer programs independently from the combined competitive club.

We intend to share this information with families and then the community at large, but wanted to let you know first as the leaders within the program. We hope you have enjoyed the last few years of working with one another and see the opportunities in front of us. By bringing the two clubs together we are also bringing our community together. No matter what level of coaching or playing, we are creating friendships and memories.  

We want to take this opportunity to thank you for your trust, patience, and hard work over the past two years.  We hope you share in our excitement for what the future holds for Santa Cruz United, and for the greater Santa Cruz youth soccer community.

We have also created a document with anticipated FAQs with further information that can be found here:

SANTA CRUZ UNITED FAQs

If you have any questions that you think we should consider adding - please let us know.  The FAQs will be kind of a living document.

Looking forward to the future – Go United!!

Ed Watson

Ashley Edgar

Harendra Goonetilleke