Neighborhood Sports Club (NSC) will soon be the best new hangout for the Bay Area soccer community. The Oakland organization aims to intersect soccer culture and their local community by creating a multi-use space where folks can come together over their love for the game.
NSC was founded by Oakland locals Dylan Autran, Jordan Jesolva, and Max Ornstil. Autran and Ornstil played for Oakland’s first pro soccer team, the Oakland Roots, in which they’ve built strong relationships within the Bay Area soccer community.
Despite community’s continued growth, the team realized a lack of space when it comes to locations to play soccer, at least in the Oakland area. NSC came together with the intention of building a place where their community can come together on and off the pitch.
Their plans entail a 22,000-square foot development that will include small-sided indoor and outdoor soccer fields, a gym, retail space, plus a cafe and bar. The retail space will carry NSC-branded merchandise, Oakland Roots team apparel and more, while the cafe and bar will be a space to enjoy a coffee or grab a beer with teammates after a game.
NSC is currently in search of the perfect space for their project. “That’s been the biggest challenge as we’re quite a unique business and warehouse space is limited,” Autran told What Now San Francisco this week via email.
That said, it will likely be quite a few months before we see this project come to fruition. To build awareness around the organization, NSC will host their second pop-up event on July 17th at the Tribune building parking lot in downtown Oakland.
There will be a street soccer field for local youth and adult players along with a merch booth, food and drink vendors, plus music. Follow @neighborhoodsportsclub on Instagram for more information.
