Salinas Valley Samba

Salinas Valley Samba

Full name	Salinas Valley Samba
Nickname	Samba
Founded	2004
Ground	Watsonville High School
Chairman	Cain White
Manager	Mark Cisneros
League	National Premier Soccer League
2009	Regular Season: 6th, Western Playoffs: did not qualify
Home colors Away colors

Salinas Valley Samba was an American soccer team based in Salinas, California, United States. Founded in 2004, the team played in the Western Division of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), a national amateur league at the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid.

The team spent the majority of its history playing on the campus of Salinas High School, though they moved to Watsonville High School in nearby Santa Cruz County, for their final season in 2009. The team's colors were silver, black and white.

History

The Samba joined the Men's Premier Soccer League in 2004, one of five expansion teams for the league's second season. They were the first soccer based in Salinas that played in a national league since the California Jaguars folded in 2000. ^{[1] [2]} They joined along with the Albuquerque Asylum, the Sonoma County Sol, the Sacramento Knights, and the Idaho Wolves. ^[3] During their first season of play, the Samba finished the league in 5th place, five points behind the Utah Salt Ratz, who ultimately finished the season as league champions. ^[4]

The 2005 season saw the development of location-specific conferences as more teams were added to the league, which changed its name to the National Premier Soccer League. This placed Salinas Valley in the Western Conference, with a majority of California teams (with the exception of the Las Vegas Strikers and the Albuquerque Asylum). The Samba finished the 2005 season in 4th place. Also in 2005 the Samba advanced to the second round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup before being defeated by the Seattle Sounders. ^{[5] [6]}

The expansion of the league in 2006 brought further development of the conferences, as the Western Conference split into "Northwestern" and "Southwestern", and a Midwestern conference was added. The Salinas Valley Samba were in the Northwestern Conference of the NPSL from 2006 through 2008. In 2006, they finished the year in 6th place. ^[4]

Players

Last roster

as at June 7, 2009Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF   MEX Jesus Acuña —   USA Efrain Banuelos —   PER Jorge Becerra —   PER Ivan Campos —   PER Mario Castillo —   PER Joaquin Castilo —   PER Israel Cisneros —   PER Cesar Garcia —   PER Arnufo Gomez —   PER Gregory Gonzales —   PER Julio Gonzales —   PER Peter Gonzales —   ARG Ismael Ibarra —   ARG Luis Ibarra —   USA Nick Lackey —   ESP Jaun Marquez —   PER Armando Martinez —   ARG Aldo Meza

No. Pos. Nation Player —   USA Eli Miller —   USA Kyle Millerick —   USA Reed Mills —   PER Pedro Morales —   PER Noe Oliva —   PER Eduardo Ortiz —   PER Said Ortiz —   PER Alex Pacheco —   PER Roberto Perez —   USA Patrick Rickards —   PER Juan Rivas —   PER Jaime Rubio —   USA Kyle Satow —   PER Luis Serrano —   PER Diego Soto —   PER Edwin Soto —   PER Jose Tostado —   PER Nick Vargas —   PER Jose Vega

Notable former players

• David Estrada
• Yuri Morales
• Nate Northup
• Adam Smarte

Year-by-year

Year	Division	League	Reg. Season	Playoffs	Open Cup
2004	4	MPSL	5th	Did not qualify	Did not qualify
2005	4	NPSL	4th, Western	Did not qualify	Second Round
2006	4	NPSL	6th, Northwest	Did not qualify	Did not qualify
2007	4	NPSL	4th, Northwest	Did not qualify	Did not qualify
2008	4	NPSL	4th, Northwest	Did not qualify	Did not qualify
2009	4	NPSL	6th, Western	Did not qualify	Did not enter

Head coaches

• Artie Cairel (2004–2008)
• Mark Cisneros (2009)

Stadia

• "The Pit" at Salinas High School; Salinas, California (2004–2008)
• Stadium at Watsonville High School; Watsonville, California (2009)

References

1. Delgado, Joey (February 2, 2004). "Soccer team to play at The Pit". The Californian. p. 1. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
2. Guzman, Isaiah (June 9, 2005). "The Samba sensation - team loaded with Santa Cruz players". www.santacruzsentinel.com. Archived from the original on August 5, 2006. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
3. "Team plans to involve residents". The Californian. February 2, 2004. p. 3. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
4. Litterer, David (October 30, 2011). "National Premier Soccer League". The American Soccer History Archives. Archived from the original on December 20, 2012. Retrieved January 13, 2026.
5. Gaschk, Matthew (June 29, 2009). "Sounders dance past Samba". seattlepi.com. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
6. "2005 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Bracket". www.usopencup.com. Archived from the original on February 4, 2012. Retrieved January 14, 2026.

External links

• Salinas Valley Samba