With promotion already in hand, the Manteca Futbol Club Rebels ends their inaugural season Saturday in the United Premier Soccer League with the NorCal Conference Division I championship game.

The NorCal South champions (7-0-3) are raiding Chico High, where they’ll clash with NorCal North titlist Butte United Soccer Club (8-1-1). First kick is set for 7 p.m.

Both teams have earned promotions to the more competitive Premier Division starting in the fall 2025 season. They’ll have opportunities to compete for spots in the UPSL national playoffs and the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

“It has been a long season to get to this point, but it has been everything I hoped it would be,” Manteca FC coach James Burns said. “Just thinking back to our first tryout, we had upwards of 60 players wanting to be part of it. We knew then we had a chance for promotion, and to see the boys compete week in and week out, respond to adversity, have highlight moments and finish it off with a trophy has been everything I thought it could be when we started this venture.

“I told our boys tonight (Tuesday) in our first practice back from a break how unbelievably proud I am of them and how they’ve responded to different challenges the UPSL has presented to us. This is one more challenge for us. We can go on the road, take on the No. 1 seed from the North and come back with an even bigger trophy.”

It has been nearly a month since the Rebels played their NorCal South finale, a 6-1 loss to Eclipse Soccer Academy — a team they previously downed 1-0 in the season opener. The conference trophy was already in their possession, however, as they clinched it the week prior with a 2-1 win over Azteca FC on June 7.

Although they’re younger than most of the teams they face, the Rebels have had the advantage of familiarity, with much of them playing for Burns and Manteca FC at the youth level.

Veteran players like captains Hayden Beier and Isaac Nawabi have helped the team navigate through various challenges. Nawabi graduated from Tracy High in 2023 and has since played for Las Positas College and multiple semi-pro clubs before rejoining his old Rebels Red mates. He played for Burns in his younger years and jumped at the opportunity to reconnect.

“Honestly, very proud of the group and what James has built from scratch,” Nawabi said. “Our group is very young, with some older, collegiate-level players such as myself, Eyber (Reynoso), Hayden and Jesus (Rios). I was able to lead a young team, which was a big goal of mine, because I’ve never had this kind of pressure put on my shoulders.”

Nawabi is now looking to transfer to an NCAA Division II school in California.

In registering his MFC Rebels in the UPSL, Burns sought to showcase the talent in the area and help usher players into higher levels of soccer. Both Beier and Nawabi said UPSL is a good stepping stone for young and ambitious players who aim to get noticed by college and pro scouts.

Beier, a 2023 Ripon High grad, played at Delta College the past two years and featured as a guest player for Valencia CF’s North America academy team at the prestigious Gothia Cup in Sweden. With no college offers to his liking, Beier has decided to take a gap year and play overseas in Spain for a lower-division club. His hope is to return next summer with a spot locked up with a four-year university.

“To be honest, the (Central) Valley gets overlooked, talent-wise,” Beier said. “You have some of the best teams and players coming out of the Valley, and more and more areas outside of the area and outside California are starting to take notice, because our players are going places.”

Manteca FC has overcome obstacles, such as scheduling changes and an ever-evolving lineup in its maiden voyage. Depth, camaraderie and the Rebels’ determined coach kept them afloat, and they have arrived at their desired destination.

Now comes their biggest challenge.

Manteca FC is 5-0 at Ripon Christian, where it hosted games for the spring season, but 2-3 on the road. Butte United is also undefeated at home and boasts a whopping plus-32 goal differential for the season, which leads the NorCal Conference by a longshot.

“Their roster is going to be a hodgepodge of Butte College and Chico State players and could have a heavy international flair to their game,” Burns said. “Butte College traditionally has recruited a lot of international players, and both of those programs are accomplished collegiate programs. It’ll be a good test for us.

“I’m excited to see the boys answer the challenge. Do they have the stamina to finish the season, and are they willing to compete on the road for 90 minutes? Those are the things that are exciting to me going into it. They’ve responded to everything that’s put in front of them, so far.”

For some, this could be the last time they wear the Manteca FC shirt as teammates, at least for a while.

“I think it’s going to be a bit of a shell shock when that time comes at the end of this week, whether we win or we lose,” Beier said. “I think it’s definitely going to be a surreal moment for me, because I played with a lot of them coming up through club and at Delta College. It’ll be a sad moment, but for me, it’s exciting to see where I can go from here. I’ll always appreciate them being my teammates, and I’m excited to come back and see where they are and how they’re doing in their careers.”