Norcal Athletics

My team has been in this league for about a year and a half and it has definitely been the best one in the Bay Area. Wide range of nights and levels of competition to choose from, and Paul is very helpful with resolving any issues. Keep it up!

Have been playing in this league for 2 years now, and never has there been an issue. They are pretty quick to respond on any emails or questions. The league is competitive and provide great refs.

My team signed up for our first season of CoEd soccer a little less than a year ago, and we had so much fun that we have kept signing up for back-​to-​back seasons since then. It’s been a ton of fun!

Great organization, great fields, great competition.

I have played in this league for over 3yrs. It has had its ups and down, but overall it’s very well managed and the best competitive/​intermediate league in SF.

This is the best soccer league in the berkely/​oakland region. They offer affordable rates, decent refs, but most importantly competitive leagues!

Been playing in their soccer league for 3 years and counting. Needless to say, I would recommend them.
Never had any issues with the refs or the organizer — quite the opposite, I find them all very pleasant to talk to. Prices are comparable with other leagues in the city and the location is perfect for me.

Well, i don’t know where to begin…
Maybe with the game timetables, we played 3 games at 8AM 50 the sunday morning (so meet up at 8AM20, wake up at 7h00… i am not sure you want to wake up at 7AM00 on sunday). Of course it is not mention before you pay something.
Last but not least, the referees!
One is really nice but he is more than 70 years old, therefore it is really hard for him to be close to the action…
and the other one does not even talk to the players to explain anything (maybe he is deaf), and let the game continue when someone is injured on the field (maybe he is deaf and blind) which is lead to some crazy situations…
To sum up, i am really disappointed about pretty much everything, the organizer, the staff and the timetable. If you want to play soccer, just avoid it!

The administration is terrible. On two separate occasions we received a call to say that the normal time/​date of game had been cancelled and that we had to play that evening or the game was forfeited.
FYI — I gave two stars because the referees are nice chaps!

I’ve been playing in their Wednesday co-​ed league for a year now.
The organizer, Paul, doesn’t care much for regulation of games. Just this week he changed the score of one of our games (which we had won) to a tie without consulting anyone from our team. I have seen teams’ points miscalculated more than once in the past. The worst part is that referees have little to no understanding of soccer. They tend to lose control of games by making wrong /​inconsistent calls and not using cards. It’s next to impossible to have a constructive dialogue with the refs during games.
There used to be 7 – 8 teams per season until this one. Now there are only 4 teams. I think this will be our last season in this league. I honestly don’t want to pay for a league from which Paul and the refs earn a single dollar. They simply don’t deserve it.

I just finished a session with NorCal and will never again sign up a team to play in any of their leagues nor join a NorCal team as a player. Their leagues are poorly organized, poorly run, and there is little to no regulation of play in their rec level leagues.
As the captain of my team, I experienced first-​hand the lackadaisical attitude they take in running their league. Full schedules are often not set at the beginning of the season and games times are frequently changed as the season goes on. In addition, the League organizer provides little communication when changes are made — sometimes giving us as little as a day’s notice before an upcoming game. The league even failed to reserve enough field space this last season and apparently used practice permits for games, which has understandable gotten the league in trouble with the SF Rec Department.
In addition, the play is not much better — although we played at a co-​ed rec level, nothing was done to regulate skill level and teams with very skilled players were allowed to run up scores with one or two players sometimes scoring 5+ goals against us. Our female players have often felt physically intimated by male players on opposing teams and the referees do little to stop this from happening. In fact, many of the «referees» seem to be there simply to earn a paycheck and do little but walk around the middle of the field.
I expressed concerns at these issues to the league over multiple seasons and little, if nothing, was done to make any corrections. In short, I urge you to try any of the other many leagues in the city (Sports4Good for example) and avoid NorCal at all costs — I’m speaking from too much experience. (Amanda is right on with her comment about giving zero stars if she could.)

Wow. I’ve played in the NorCal Athletics Monday night coed and Wednesday men’s league, both in the east bay. Monday nights for almost two years. The women in our league are not pushed around by aggro men, the refs manage the games very well. And as far as the assertion that Paul doesn’t care, I’ve seen him at several league games checking in on the teams, the field and the refs. He’s very responsive to email, and proactive about soliciting feedback about refs.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed playing in the league, the East Bay Monday night Coed has gotten more competitive and challenging, and I like that about the league. It makes you a better player.

I played in their men’s basketball league during the recent winter season, and I can definitely say I’ve been in better leagues. Don’t get me wrong, the competition is decent enough and I met some cool guys through it. However, it is the worst-​run league I’ve ever been in for a number of reasons:
1) The league coordinator would change the schedule and not notify us.
2) A game was scheduled on Super Bowl Sunday. The result? Tipsy referees, a number of forfeited games, and drunk/​belligerent players. And the league coordinator didn’t even show up! He made his assistant come.
3) A game that was played at an alternate location had to be canceled b/​c the gym wasn’t unlocked. We waited outside for almost an hour thinking someone was on the way to unlock it, which turned out to be a lie. The league coordinator was just hoping someone would show up.
4) Horrible playoff format. One team in the finals had to play 3 games in one night, including a back-​to-​back for the finals.
It all really is a shame, because the league plays on the best court around (the USF basketball court). They need to get rid of the league coordinator… his name was Paul Heuberger. If not for the great court, this would be a 1-​star rating.
N ot a well-​run league at all.
O nly redeeming value is a great gym to play in.
R elatively decent competition… I knew of a few ex D-​III players in the league.
C onstantly had problems with the league coordinator.
A void the league… there are too many better options in SF.
L eague coordinator acted like he didn’t even care.

Ladies, avoid their co-​ed full, field league. The refs let the aggro men in this league treat the women like punching bags. It’s just not worth it — there are plenty of leagues out there where people are nice, or you at least don’t have to worry about getting punched, kicked, grabbed, etc, etc…
If I could give it zero stars, I would.