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BERKLEY — It was a team destined to make history.
Prior to the 2024 season, Detroit City FC South Oakland’s 16 and under travel soccer team had never set foot on the national stage, or the regional stage for that matter.
Everything outside of the state cup, which the team had never won in its history, was unknown territory, but once you grab one, there’s a hunger for all.
When DCFC South Oakland, which is based out of Berkley, became state cup champions for the first time this year, it seemed only right to take everything else with them, winning the national championship in a 2-0 win over Vail Valley SC 2008 Boys-Navy on July 16 at the Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita, Kansas.
“Everything clicked this year,” DCFC South Oakland head coach Dougie MacAulay said. “We came out of the winter just hitting the ground running and playing some good soccer.”
After earning an undefeated season in the Michigan State Premier Soccer Program P1 league, DCFC South Oakland set its sights on the MI State Cup Championship, where a year prior it was eliminated in the quarterfinals.
Going 5-0 and outscoring opponents 20-3 with three clean sheets, DCFC South Oakland brought home history for the club, but the job wasn’t finished just yet.
Regionals, which took place in South Dakota, tested the resilience of the squad as DCFC South Oakland overcame deficits in the regional semifinals and championship match.
Trailing 3-1 with 18 minutes left in the semifinals, a two-and-a-half hour weather delay was the saving grace the club needed as DCFC South Oakland stormed out the gate after the delay, tying up the match and sending it to overtime and eventually winning 5-4 against the 2023 national finalists.
If there wasn’t enough extra time in the semifinals, a scoreless regulation in the regional finals saw Nathan Calio, a junior at Berkley High School, shine in net as his determination between the pipes helped lead his squad to a regional championship win.
DCFC South Oakland kept finding ways to win, and making it through the gauntlet of regionals set the table for a battle-tested team to make a run at nationals.
“I think once they were in the region, they knew that they could compete at that level,” MacAulay said. “It was such a determined and hardworking group.”
A team that had never hoisted a state cup was now the national champion, and DCFC South Oakland Executive Director Marcel Schmid said it stood for more than just being the best team around.
The club itself has over 600 kids on the travel scene (U7-U19) while having another 1,000 on the recreational side, which goes from ages 2-19 and stretches across nearly 32 communities.
A nonprofit, community-based organization, DCFC South Oakland’s national championship win is a statement for all the smaller clubs around.
“That’s why the story is so incredible,” Schmid said. “We as a small, community-based club won a national championship. The journey has been amazing. Getting to that big scale is truly incredible.”
DCFC South Oakland partnered with Detroit City FC in 2021, and since then numbers have skyrocketed for the club. The number on the travel side, 600 kids, has tripled since 2021.
“My mission was to take this club on a bigger scale while still community-based and while still being accessible, because that’s who we are,” Schmid said. “That’s why we partnered with DCFC, because they are literally living what we want to be, and we want to be part of that.”
DCFC South Oakland ended its season 20-0-5 overall.
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