1. Why doesn't USC have a DI team already?  Is it a Title IX issue?

First, to answer this question, please check out a great article from USA Today here. An excerpt is included below:

"Schools have three ways to comply with Title IX: Match the proportion of female athletes to the proportion of women on campus; show a history of increasing sports for women; or prove the school has met the interest and ability of women to participate in athletics."

Secondly, to hear straight from the source, there are two brochures about Title IX from the NCAA here and here.

We’ve always believed that there was room within this definition to establish a DI men’s soccer team at USC, and given the soccer culture in Southern California we saw an opportunity to build an ambitious, modern alternative to NCAA soccer.

2. So is this like a club team? 

Instead of joining the National Intramural and Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA), the league which oversees collegiate club sports across the United States, we are blazing a different trail. Trojans FC competes against elite adult teams in Southern California instead of other colleges as it minimizes travel and maximizes our potential in the evolving American soccer landscape.

Our team is a member of the United Premier Soccer League (UPSL). The UPSL is considered the fourth division of the American soccer pyramid, under MLS, the USL Championship and USL League One. The UPSL is one of only two nationally sanctioned leagues in the United States by the United States Adult Soccer Association. It’s the fastest growing league in the US and the only national league in the country with promotion and relegation. As a member of the UPSL, we are eligible to compete in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. The US Open Cup is the cup competition of US Soccer—the equivalent of the FA Cup in England—and the oldest ongoing national tournament in the country. It’s an amazing opportunity for amateur teams like us—if and when we advance far enough—to face the pros! We dream of the Open Cup run where we will meet the LA Galaxy or LAFC.

3. Who plays For You?

While we’re technically not a USC Athletics team or club sport, all of our players are currently students at the school. As a registered student organization, we also have the independence to recruit players from the community. We aim to identify, include, and develop young Angeleno players. We have an incredibly diverse squad and admin team in every sense of the word—backgrounds, majors, and interests—which is a testament to the welcoming environment we’ve created.

4. Where do you guys play? 

We train on campus at USC but we don’t play home games at Cromwell Field because its dimensions do not satisfy the requirements of our league. Our home games have been at high school fields or soccer specific complexes in the area to date.

5. How are you paying for all this? 

We have been fully funded by donations from local businesses, USC alumni, parents, and membership dues from our players. 

But based on the careful market research we believe that Trojans FC can become self-sustaining in the future and actually be one of the few net-positive sports at USC. Soccer is about to be the third most popular sport in this country due to demographics, being propelled by Hispanics and young people. Soccer is synonymous with Southern California, and being based in the heart of LA, we are perfectly positioned and resourced to promote its growth within the region.