For the second time in three years, Legends FC Santa Clarita Valley is sending a girls’ youth team coached by Justin Morton to the national tournament after the 2009 squad qualified for the U.S. club soccer national cup finals, to be held in Denver this July.
Justin Morton, who’s the head coach of the Legends FC SCV 2009 team, said that this year’s roster is comprised of girls who were born from 2009 to 2011 and compete in the U19 division – ages that typically feature with the U17 squad.
“My girls were U17. But we played up this year,” Morton said in an interview with The Signal. “My team’s always been a group of 2010 players with a couple of 2011s. And with the age change coming up, I thought why don’t I just take a couple of 2009s and all play in one age group.”
Morton, who led the Legends FC SCV 2009 team to a SoCal State Cup win in April, punched the team’s ticket for a second trip in three years after making a trip to nationals in 2024.
For many of the girls who were on the 2024 team that made the trip to nationals, a few won the state cup again in 2025 in a higherage level and returned to Morton’s team this year with momentum to secure another state title.
“Two seasons ago, we won the state cup and went to the nationals,” Morton said in an interview with The Signal. “Essentially forsome of these girls, it’s winning the state cup three years in a row. So, it’s pretty impressive with what these girls have accomplished.”
For this year’s national tournament, Morton is looking to raise the standard after the 2024 team went undefeated in group play and drew all three games.
“This is only my second time going to the nationals, and we’re all pretty excited to do it again,” Morton said. “They didn’t advance but they can say they went to the national stage and went undefeated … for these girls it’s kind of like the trip of a lifetime.”
Morton said that there’s also additional pressure to make a deep run in the national cup as he’s set the goal to be the next team to win a national tournament after Adam Waddell secured back-to-back wins in 2022 and 2023 with the 2007 squad.
“Not many teams get to go and play at this tournament,” Morton said. “I always joke with him that I’m chasing him down to see if we can do it again and hopefully we can.”
Morton and Legends FC Santa Clarita are set to participate in the U17 division and will be joined by L.A. Soccer Club’s Santa Clarita Valley 2013 girls’ team, who won their state cup in March and will compete in the U13 category.
The 2026 national cup finals are set to be held at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado, with group play scheduled to begin on July 20.
