SANTA BARBARA, California – Alta California SOL has joined the Women’s Premier Soccer League as an expansion club for the upcoming 2020 season, the league announced Wednesday.

Club founder and president d’Alary Dalton will coach the club in its inaugural season. Dalton worked for the New Mexico Youth Soccer Association and was an Olympic Development Program coach for four years before moving to the Central Coast.

Dalton, while attending Holy Names University in Oakland, California as a master’s student, started the women’s soccer program at the university.

“The formation of the Alta California Sol women’s soccer team is a dream come true for me,” Dalton said. “By bridging the gap between the youth and professional ranks, we hope to create more opportunities for women to continue playing and pursue their dreams.”

SOL has added WPSL experience to its coaching staff. The club’s two assistants, Jessie Hernandez (Pateadores) and Karin Nordin (Des Moines Menace) both played in the WPSL in recent seasons.

The club will play its home matches in San Marcos High School in Santa Barbara. It will be in a division featuring five Los Angeles area clubs.

“We are going to build a successful team that is something our community can enthusiastically support,” Dalton said. “We are deeply grateful for the opportunity to become a part of the WPSL.”

For more information about the WPSL, visit wpslsoccer.com.

The WPSL is in its 23rd season and is the largest women’s soccer league in the world with more than 130 clubs from coast-to-coast. WPSL rosters feature elite collegiate, post-collegiate, international and standout prep student-athletes. Many of the United States’ most accomplished women’s players have played in the WPSL, including household names such as Alex Morgan, Abby Wambach, Megan Rapinoe, Julie Foudy and Brandi Chastain.

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