SoCal Dutch Lions FC LLC is the eighth (of ten) Dutch Lions FC club in the USA.
About SoCal Dutch Lions FC
The club was originally founded in January 2021 as Oceanside Dutch Lions FC by Dutch Lions Capital Group USA LLC, Nikhil Erlebach and Mario Fernandez. In April 2022 they changed their name to SoCal Dutch Lions FC to have a more regional approach. The club has a Women's team competing in the Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL), the second tier in US Soccer for Women.
Nikhil Erlebach is the SoCal Dutch Lions FC CEO & General Manager. He was born and raised in Hamburg, Germany and grew up playing soccer for the youth academy of Bundesliga club FC St. Pauli. Erlebach has strong ties to California, where he moved in 2004 to play college soccer in the Big West Conference for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He worked as a youth soccer coach and in club administration for FC United in Chicago as well as Eagles Soccer Club in Camarillo, California. He worked as an agent and player intermediary in Germany before moving back to the USA in 2021.
Mario Fernandez has been assigned as the Director of Soccer Operations. He grew up playing soccer all over San Diego and especially North County. Then he continued his playing career at Cal Poly SLO where he also got introduced to Nikhil Erlebach. After playing soccer abroad in Spain and Italy, Fernandez returned to the USA to coach in the MLS academy of the San Jose Earthquakes. He holds UEFA B and USSF B Coaching Licenses as well as a US Soccer Grassroots Instructor License and is also an active member of the United Soccer Coaches Latino Advocacy Group.
In the inaugural 2021 season the Women's team finished 3rd in the Plymouth Division with a 2-0-4 record (6 points). The club won the 2021 WPSL Best Franchise of the Year Award and Addison Steiner won the WPSL Best Offensive Player of the Year Award for the Plymouth Division.
Dutch Lions Capital Group USA LLC (www.dutchlionsfc.com) has started and has ownership in ten Dutch Lions FC clubs in the USA: Dayton Dutch Lions FC (2010, Men's and Women's team - 4th and 2nd level), Houston Dutch Lions FC (2011, Youth Academy), Cincinnati Dutch Lions FC (2013, Men's team - 4th level), Florida Gulf Coast Dutch Lions FC (2015, Women's team - 2nd level - and Youth Academy), New York Dutch Lions FC (2017, Men's team, exhibition games, Women's team - 2nd level), Miami Dutch Lions FC (2019, Men's team - 4th level), Chicago Dutch Lions FC (2020, Men's team, 4th level, 2xWomen's team - 2nd level), SoCal Dutch Lions FC (2020, Women's team - 2nd level) and Washington Dutch Lions FC (2021, Women's team, 2nd level) and East Atlanta Dutch Lions FC (2023, Men's team, 4th level, Rec Academy). They also co-founded and co-owned FC Cincinnati (MLS).