League News

The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is proud to announce that World Class Premier Elite (Derwood, MD) have joined the league as an expansion team. The club will begin competition in the Northeast Region’s Mid-Atlantic Conference in 2020.

“As a league we are delighted to welcome World Class Premier Elite to our Mid-Atlantic Conference,” NPSL Managing Director Cindy Spera said. “They will be a strong addition to one of our league’s most competitive conferences.”

Growing from a private training academy and two men’s amateur teams playing in separate areas of the metro Washington D.C. and Baltimore areas, the club now features 11 youth teams from U-10 to U-19 and one of the most successful men’s teams on the East Coast. WCPE were the 2018 spring season champions in both the Washington Premier League (USASA) and Maryland Majors Soccer League (USASA).

The club is led by Kokou Assigbe, Babajide Saba, Idrissa Sesay, and Daniel Ankrah.

Assigbe currently serves as the club’s president and was previously the head coach from 2016- 2019. A native of Togo, Assigbe, 31, played collegiately at University Maryland-Baltimore County and helped lead the team to the American East Conference title in 2010.

Saba serves as assistant manager for WCPE. A native of Nigeria, Saba is the CEO of Committed to Change FC, a healthcare company based in Western Maryland.

Sesay is the club’s manager and co-captain. A native of Sierra Leone, Sesay earned Rookie of the Year and Best Midfielder honors at Washington Adventist University before transferring to Howard University on an athletic and academic scholarship.

Ankrah is the co-captain of WCPE and a former D.C. United U-23 player. A former collegiate standout at Loyola University, Ankrah helped the program win two conference titles and was named First Team All-MAAC.

“We will strive to win it all, we always aim high,” Sesay said. “We will involve our youth club, World Class Premier, by providing a professional environment they can aspire to. And we will connect the DMV (DC, MD, VA) community through the game of soccer and give back to the area that supports us.”

Home matches will be played at Montgomery College in Rockville, MD. The facility will feature a new synthetic turf soccer field and pre-fabricated grandstands as part of a renovation project to be completed in December 2019. There will be seating for 1000 along with locker rooms, an athletic trainer’s room, concessions building, press box, and PA system.

More information about the club can be found at https://www.worldclasspremier.net/mensteam or by following the club on Facebook (@WorldClassPremierElite), Instagram (@worldclasspremierelite), and Twitter (@WorldClassPrem).

“The NPSL is pleased to have World Class Premier join the NPSL,” NPSL Director of Membership Development Dina Case said. “We know they will be a great addition for the Mid-Atlantic Conference. World Class Premier is based in a key market for the Mid-Atlantic Conference, an area of focused growth for the NPSL. This group brings enthusiasm and a commitment to building their brand as a new member of the NPSL and we look forward to being a part of their future successes.”

More information about expansion opportunities in the NPSL can be found at http://www.npsl.com/expansion-application