As the San Jose Earthquakes have increased their footprint across Northern California with the expansion of their youth academy program, the club has also added a vital link to it professional team with the advent of its U-23 affiliate, the Burlingame Dragons FC.

Located up to the Peninsula from San Jose, Burlingame is a city that is considered a hotbed for soccer in the Bay Area. The Dragons, a business venture between former Zappos.com founder Nick Swinmurn and former Facebook and Genentech CFO David Ebersman, handles all the off-field activities, while the on-field product is the responsibility of the Earthquakes organization. The team is coached by Cal State Stanislaus head coach Dana Taylor, who coached the Quakes' U-23 team when it was located in Turlock last season.

The Dragons played a number of exhibitions during the offseason as a way to identify players for its roster. Leading into the weekend prior to the start of the 2015 PDL season, the team was welcoming in guys that were just finishing up the college year as well. Ahead of its first competitive match, a first-round U.S. Open Cup meeting with the Sonoma County Sol, Taylor had whittled the candidates down to less than 40 players. The Dragons scored first against the Sol, but Sonoma equalized at the end of regulation and won the game in overtime to advance to the next round to face Sacramento Republic FC.

Burlingame opens up its PDL season with a pair of road games -- the first an impressive 1-0 victory over the Fresno Fuego -- before returning to the Bay Area for its home debut on May 23 at Burlingame High School. The Dragons have surpassed 1,500 in season ticket sales for the 8-game 2015 home schedule -- an amazing sales figure for an amateur club, but one that reflects the community's interest in soccer -- and hope a successful season will lead them to the postseason and a berth in next year's U.S. Open Cup.

The 2015 Burlingame Dragons FC player roster