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Club Highlight: Walnut Creek Surf

Surf Nation is comprised of like-minded coaches and administrators dedicated to our Surf mission to provide the best experiences and opportunities for their athletes. Since 2018, Walnut Creek Surf has been a proud partner of Surf Nation, and we have thoroughly enjoyed the partnership, watching their amazing club grow and seeing them take full advantage of being under the Surf brand.

We sat down with Walnut Creek Surf Soccer Club’s General Manager, Steve Chappell, to find out more about how Surf has helped his club, players, coaches, and administrators and their upcoming season goals:

What is the biggest value Surf brings to the Walnut Creek community?

There isn’t just one – Surf Nation offers so much value to our club and the Surf Nation community. The Surf brand by itself stands at the top of the list as it’s a national brand, and we have successfully implemented and leveraged the brand in our club since 2018. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Surf Select program and the experiences it’s provided to our players here in NorCal, the nation, and worldwide. Further, the coaching resources and education are of huge value to our coaching staff!

What are some of the Goals laid out by the Walnut Creek leadership team for this 2022/2023 Season?

Expanded player development – we focus on value add programs and tools to improve the player experience, including performance training, soccer assessments, and video analysis.

Coaching staff education and licensing – we are focused on developing within and externally with professional development on and off the field.  Since we are a youth soccer provider, child development is an area we want to improve our educational services to our coaches, improve communication and development and keep kids safe.

Private/Public partnership with our city for field fundraising.  The turf field project is our major project that will result in additional programming time for our teams to train later in the evening with lights and an all-weather surface.  This is a game changer for our club and community – to have two new turf fields to support our club.

Please share an achievement this Fall Walnut Creek Surf is proud of?

One of our community outreach programs is TOPSoccer ( The Outreach Program for Soccer ), which supports athletes with intellectual, emotional, or physical disabilities.  In our fifth year now, this past Fall season, we hosted 50 athletes, supported by 40+ youth and parent volunteers! 

GIRLS – 2009GB – 1st in NPL and 1st in DPL in 2009 age group have outscored opponents 93-6.

Learn more about Walnut Creek Surf Soccer club at www.wcsc.org

It’s our mission to create the ‘best of the best’ experiences and opportunities for youth soccer players through our clubs, events and facilities. We partner with like-minded clubs and provide them with the tools so they can focus on what they love most, coaching and helping their players achieve their dreams.

Throughout his playing career with Match Fit Academy and Surf Select, Aidan Grund, player born in 2006 from West Windsor Township, had the opportunity to experience ‘best of the best’ developmental opportunity, both locally, domestically and internationally. Aidan has a bright future and will be an asset for any collegiate program.

Read below his full interview, where talked to us about his experience with Match Fit Academy and Surf Select.

Match Fit Academy’s Aidan Grund is clearly a fine player and has become an incredible ambassador for our Surf Select Program.

Q: Aidan, when did you start with MFA and how did MFA support your development as a player on and off the field?
A: I joined Match Fit when I was 10 years old with Coach Rick Le and have had him ever since. Coach Rick demands discipline from his players on and off the field in many ways:

Be early
Be prepared
Put in the work
These messages have been drilled into each of us, which has made me a better person and player. I will never forget the first time I left my warm-up jacket after a practice. Rick made me run suicides at the next session. I learned pretty quickly to be responsible for my stuff.

Q: If we say Surf Select, what does that mean to you ,and how did you get involved with the program?

A: Surf Select means opportunity. Matchfit joined Surf Nation a few years ago, and Surf Select is a group of players selected from all of the Surf teams to compete at a higher level. Coach Rick recommended me for a regional tryout. From there, I was selected to compete on Surf Select national teams in FL and Ireland AND it opened the door to the FC Bayern Youth Cup.

Q: How did you find the talent pool at the national camp last year, and what do you think made you stand out across Surf Nation players?
A: There were a lot of really good players at this national camp. I think I stood out because of my technical ability and my vision on the field.

Q: How was the competition at Super Cup NI and what did you like the most about the experience?
A: The competition was the best I have ever played up to that point. I think my favorite part of that trip had to be playing against Man United. As a United supporter, it was sort of a dream come true.

Q: Tell us more about the FC Bayern Youth Cup. How is it to play at the Allianz Arena?
A: FC Bayern Youth Cup is a tournament with teams from 8 different countries. It is a 7 vs 7 format with 15 min games. Surprisingly, I found the 15 min games more tiring than any 90 min game I’ve ever played. We trained with some FC Bayern staff at the professional facility, including world cup winner Klaus Augenthaler, which was awesome. Everyone there was battling for one thing – to be selected for the FC Bayern World squad. Unfortunately, I did not get selected, but I was thrilled to see Victor from Nigeria get the opportunity. He was a talented player and deserved it. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to play in the Allianz arena because the professional game got moved. But we played in their old stadium, which was just as cool.

Q: What is your best memory with MFA?
A: I have a lot of memories with MFA, but the best one had to be at Nationals in NC, when we came back and won against Solar FC in the last few minutes of the game.

Q: What is your best memory with Surf Select?
A: I think my best memory with Surf Select was playing against Man United. Like I said, it was a dream come true to compare myself to these players. I also made some friends and gained new perspectives from the Surf Coaches.

Q: What is your long term objective as a player and how does MFA support you towards that?
A: My long term objective is to play at the highest possible level. MFA has always been a very competitive club/team. The training sessions are intense, there are a lot of talented players to play/train with and I appreciate the feedback from MFA coaches that improves my play.

Q: You travel the country and the world to play soccer in some great competitions – do you feel this is helping you to reach that objective?
A: Without a doubt. It has given me the opportunity to compare myself to some of the best players/teams in the world. From each experience, I have discovered something new to improve my game.

Q: Do you have any advice for any new Surf Nation players?
A: Give it your all as you never know who’s watching.