NISA Nation is an amateur men's soccer league in the United States. The league is below the professional leagues in the United States soccer league system and began play in 2021. NISA Nation is affiliated with the former third tier professional league National Independent Soccer Association.
History
On August 25, 2021, Atlantic City FC was announced as the first club of the newly formed league. Two weeks later, NISA Nation announced they had six teams for their inaugural season and they would play a 10-game schedule in the Northeast Region. This inaugural region included the leagues first promoted team, Steel Pulse FC from the Eastern Premier Soccer League. In October 2021, NISA Nation announced the start of a second region. The Southwest Region was started with four teams, each team playing six games in a round robin format. New Jersey Alliance FC beat New Amsterdam FC II 4–0 to secure the first regional championship for the Northeast Region. In early January 2022, FC Golden State Force claimed the first Southwest Region championship.
On January 6, 2022, it was announced that NISA Nation earned from the United States Adult Soccer Association the USASA provisional national league license, a license that gave recognition to the league and that opens the way to U.S. Open Cup spots directly from the league. The Florida Region was announced in the Spring of 2022, with five teams facing each other three times in the Orlando area. In addition to the Florida Region, NISA Nation announced that the Northeast Region's spring season would consist of eight clubs playing 10 games a piece. The defending champions New Jersey Alliance FC, returned to defend their title during the spring season. In May 2022, the Pacific Region was announced with four teams, playing a 12-game schedule. This brought the league to 23 teams for the Spring of 2022. Each region crowned a champion for the 2022 NISA Nation season. The four champions were Club De Lyon (Florida Region), New Jersey Alliance FC (Northeast Region), Battleborn FC (Pacific Region), and Capo FC (Southwest Region).
NISA Nation announced in early 2023 that the Southwest region would return for play in the spring with six clubs, including three previous clubs and three new clubs: AS Los Angeles, SC Union Maricopa, and Olympiacos CA. In early 2023, NISA Nation announced the addition of the Pacific Division for the spring, with five teams committed and ten teams planned. In July 2023, NISA Nation announced the formation of the Texas Region for fall 2023. For the fall of 2023, NISA Nation ran three regional leagues; Pacific, Southwest, and Texas Regions.
National Championship In October 2023, NISA Nation announced that they would hold their inaugural National Championship, which would have three rounds to determine the national champions. Eligible to participate were the champions of the NISA Nation regions, as well as the champions of its affiliate leagues. The two finalists, Northern Virginia FC and Las Vegas Legends, were both invited to promote to the third-tier NISA. The inaugural Championship represented the first opportunity for merit-based promotion to the professional level in the United States soccer league system.
NISA Independent Cup Teams from NISA Nation participated in the 36 team NISA Independent Cup in 2022.
U.S. Open Cup Clubs in NISA Nation can qualify for the U.S. Open Cup through the local qualifying route. Capo FC and Club de Lyon are the only two teams to qualify for the tournament proper, which they both did in the 2023 U.S. Open Cup. U.S. Open Cup Participation Year Participating Team Final Round Ref.2023 Battleborn FC Fourth qualifying round Capo FC Second round SC Union Maricopa Second qualifying round Club de Lyon First round Deportivo Lake Mary First qualifying round 2024 Battleborn FC (2) First qualifying round Bay Area United FC Second qualifying round Capo FC (2) Second qualifying round JASA RWC First qualifying round Temecula FC Fourth qualifying round 2025 Las Vegas Legends Fourth qualifying round Modesto City FC Second qualifying round Roc City Boom Second qualifying round Soccer Academy Nevada Second qualifying round 2027 Capo FC (3) Problems SC Sin City Football Club
Associations NISA Nation is affiliated and plans to begin a pro-rel system with multiple leagues all over the country: the Cascadia Premier League in Washington and Oregon, the Mountain Premier League in the Rocky Mountains region, and the Southwest Premier League in the southwestern United States, the Gulf Coast Premier League in the deep south, the Pioneer Premier League in Tennessee and Kentucky, the Midwest Premier League in the states of Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin and Missouri. In 2023 reaffirmed their association with Cascadia Premier League, Mountain Premier League, and Southwest Premier League. This aligned all four leagues top division aside NISA Nation. This will continue to provide these leagues with slots in the NISA Independent Cup and began a new initiative that provided a national championship to be competed between NISA Nation Regional champions and league winners. In August 2023, NISA Nation announced the association with Florida Gold Coast League. In October 2023, NISA Nation announced their affiliation with Metroplex Premier League, an amateur league from North Texas. In February 2024, NISA Nation announced the Upstate New York Region as the fourth region for the 2024 Spring season. In January 2025, NISA Nation announced their plans for the 2025 season, which included continued affiliation for Cascadia Premier League, Metroplex Premier League, Mountain Premier League, and Southwest Premier League. In addition, NISA Nation announced that the Michigan Premier Lague would be a new affiliate for 2025.
Level League(s)/division(s) 3 National Independent Soccer Association9 clubs 4 NISA NationCoast Region NISA NationSouthwest Region NISA NationTennessee Arkansas Region NISA NationNorth Texas Region 5 Cascadia Premier League Southwest Premier League Metroplex Premier League Michigan Premier League Mountain Premier League
Cascadia Premier League LevelLeague(s)/division(s) 5 Cascadia Premier League Premier 1Men's Premier League 1 - Baker Division5 clubs Cascadia Premier League Premier 1Men's Premier League 1 - Rainier Division5 clubs 6Cascadia Premier League 2Men's Premier 2 - Cascade Division5 clubsCascadia Premier League 2Men's Premier 2 - Pacific Division4 clubs
Metroplex Premier League LevelLeague(s)/division(s) 5Metroplex Blue League8 clubs 6Metroplex Red League10 clubs
Michigan Premier League LevelLeague(s)/division(s) 5Michigan Premier League6 clubs 6Michigan Open League5 clubs
Mountain Premier League LevelLeague(s)/division(s) 5Mountain Premier League8 clubs
Southwest Premier League LevelLeague(s)/division(s) 5Arizona Premier League Men's Open Arizona5 clubsSan Diego Baja MX Premier League Men's Open San Diego5 clubsEnhancement Premier League Men's OpenNevada Premier League Men's Open Nevada6 clubsPacific Premier League Men's Open Pacific8 clubsSoCal Premier League Men's Open SoCal10 clubs 6 SoCal Premier League Coast Division7 clubsSoCal Premier League LA IE6 clubs
Current teams
Southwest Region Team City Stadium Founded First season Capo FC San Juan Capistrano, California JSerra Catholic High School 2006 2022 LA Force 2 Pomona, California Rio Hondo College 2015 2021 Problems FC Orange County, California Chaparral High School 2018 2024 Sin City FC Las Vegas, Nevada Mater Academy East High School 2025 STG Premier Pro St. George, Utah Pine View High School 2024 Notes
Location map
Former teams Team City Stadium Founded First season Final season Chula Vista FC Chula Vista, California Terra Nova Park 1982 2021 2021 New Amsterdam FC II New York, New York Orlin & Cohen Sports Complex 2020 2021 2021 New Jersey Teamsterz FC Bayonne, New Jersey Don Ahern Veterans Memorial Stadium 2017 2021 2021 Steel Pulse FC Baltimore, Maryland Blandair Regional Park West Playground 2019 2021 2021 Valley United FC U23 Scottsdale, Arizona GCU Stadium 2020 2021 2021 Athletico Orlando FC Orlando, Florida Northeast Regional Park 2017 2022 2022 Club de Lyon Daytona Beach, Florida Daytona Stadium 2022 2023 2021 Deportivo Lake Mary Lake Mary, Florida Lake Mary High School 2017 2022 2021 Inter United FC Davenport, Florida Feltrim Sports Complex 1997 2022 2021 Winter Haven United FC Winter Haven, Florida Feltrim Sports Complex 2016 2022 2021 Alloy Soccer Club Lancaster, Pennsylvania 2022 2022 Aiolikos FC USA Rush Boston, Massachusetts Cawley Memorial Stadium 1975 2022 2022 Albion SC Delaware Middletown, Delaware DE Turf Sports Complex 2020 2021 2022 Allentown United FC Allentown, Pennsylvania Cedar Crest College 2018 2022 2022 Atlantic City FC Atlantic City, New Jersey Rowan University 2017 2021 2022 Boston Athletic SC Boston, Massachusetts Harry Della Russo Stadium 2005 2022 2022 New Jersey Alliance FC Clifton, New Jersey Newark Schools Stadium 2012 2021 2022 New York Braveheart SC New York City, New York Orlin and Cohen Sports Complex 2022 2022 2022 Union SC Union Township, New Jersey Volunteer Field 1984 2022 2022 AC Houston Sur Richmond, Texas Matias Almeyda Training Center 2021 2023 2023 AFC Solano Fairfield, California Armijo High School 2020 2022 2023 AFC South Bay San Jose, California Watson Park Soccer Fields 2021 2022 2023 FC Dallas Dynamo Dallas, Texas 2021 2023 2023 JASA FWC FC Redwood City, California Red Morton Park 1999 2023 2023 Lions United FC Montrose, California Glendale Sports Complex 2021 2023 2023 Lobos FC West Covina, California Hovley Soccer Park 2016 2023 2023 Matias Almeyda FC Houston, Texas Matias Almeyda Training Center 2019 2023 2023 Oaks FC Thousand Oaks, California California Lutheran University 1979 2022 2023 Ocelot FC Colton, California Colton High School Stadium 2021 2023 2023 Ocelot Stockton TLJ FC Stockton, California Edison High School 2021 2023 2023 San Francisco Elite Metro FC San Francisco, California Negoesco Stadium 2017 2022 2023 San Francisco Elite Metro FC San Francisco, California Negoesco Stadium 2017 2022 2023 Sporting ID11 Lake Forest, California Lake Forest Sports Complex 2021 2022 2023 Texas Premier Houston, Texas 2016 2023 2023 Windmill City FC Stockton, California 2022 2023 2023 Craq Intercontinental Salton City, California West Shores High School 2022 2024 2024 Desert FC La Quinta, California Hovley Soccer Park 2020 2023 2024 SC Union Maricopa Phoenix, Arizona Andess High School 2020 2022 2024 Temecula FC Temecula, California Chaparral High School 2013 2023 2025
Champions National Championship +SeasonChampionRunner-up 2023Northern Virginia FC (EPSL)Las Vegas Legends2024New York Greek American (EPSL)Worldwide Problems FC
West Region Finals SeasonChampionRunner-upThirdFourth Fall 2023Las Vegas LegendsFC Golden State ForceFC BrownsvillePeak XI FC (MPL) Fall 2024Worldwide Problems FCLas Vegas LegendsPeak XI FC (MPL)Chula Vista FC (SWPL) Spring 2025LA Force 2Sin City FC
Season Results