Yuma City FC begins first training ahead of inaugural season

Yuma City FC held its first training session Sunday, opening the club’s inaugural United Premier Soccer League campaign and its first real test as a revived local sports brand. Formerly known as Yuma United FC, the side is bringing semiprofessional soccer back to Yuma for the first time in more than a decade.

The club laid out its 2026 plans at a press conference on Friday, May 1, 2026, when Blas Gasca, the club’s president and owner, said the organization would compete in the UPSL and push for promotion to the league’s Premier Division. Tryouts were opened to players 16 and older, a move that tied the project to local talent and gave area players a path to stay in Yuma County while competing at a higher level.

The schedule now gives Yuma City FC a short runway before league play begins in September. The club has two preseason matches in August against professional clubs from Mexico, a stretch that will serve as both a tune-up and an early public test of whether the team can build chemistry quickly enough to compete. Those matches will also be the first chance for local fans to see how the roster comes together after training begins.

The broader setting matters as much as the first practice. The United Premier Soccer League describes itself as the largest and most competitive pro-development league in North America, with nearly 400 clubs nationwide, and its Division 1 site already lists the Yuma club as Yuma City FC in Yuma, Arizona, with a 2026 Spring record of 0-0-0. That places the team inside a much larger soccer network while also giving Yuma a new homegrown sports property to follow.

For the club, year one will be measured by more than wins and losses. The real test is whether home matches can attract paying fans, build local sponsorships, and create repeat traffic for restaurants and shops near the venue on game days. It will also show whether Yuma’s youth soccer pipeline gains a higher-profile local outlet, with families and young players able to see a semipro team in their own city rather than looking elsewhere in Arizona or across the border.