When the LA Waves take the field this month at the 2026 US Youth Soccer National Championships in Smyrna, Tennessee, they’ll be competing against some of the best youth soccer teams in the country. But for this group of girls, many of whom have been playing together since they were eight years old, the journey to Nationals is about much more than winning.
It’s about friendship. Trust. Community. And proving that elite youth sports don’t have to come with elite price tags.
The LA Waves, part of the AYSO Section 1 Alliance Club, recently earned the honor of representing the California State Soccer Association–South (Cal South) at Nationals, becoming the first AYSO Alliance team to reach this level, a milestone that is turning heads in Southern California youth soccer. Their accomplishment marks not only a major achievement for the players, but also a validation of a different kind of soccer philosophy, one centered on player development, equal opportunity, and long-term relationships.
For coach Nick Pisca, who has been with the team since its earliest days, that philosophy has always come first.
“The team’s been together since U9, and I took over coaching at U10,” Pisca says. “What makes them special isn’t that they win. Winning has never been my priority. With the help of my assistant coach Marshall LeMoine, my priority has always been keeping the relationships together, helping them enjoy the sport, and challenging them to grow.”
That mindset, he says, is what built a winning team.
Unlike many club programs where players compete for limited playing time and families often pay thousands of dollars a year, the Waves operate under a nonprofit, volunteer-driven model. Pisca, who serves as both coach and club president, says that affordability is central to what they do.
“I really dislike the pay-to-play system,” he says. “If you have the talent and the drive, you should be able to play at a high level without paying five, six, or 10 thousand dollars.”
That approach has resonated with families across the Westside, drawing players from Westchester, Playa del Rey, Marina del Rey, El Segundo, and Inglewood. And for many parents, it’s the community that keeps them coming back.
For Tina Howell, whose daughter Heather has been with the team for seven years, the LA Waves became something much bigger than an extracurricular activity.
“Our families are overseas, so building community here has been really important for us,” Howell says. “Sports, especially soccer, became a way for us to connect with other families and kind of raise our kids together.”
“We’ve watched these kids grow up together,” Howell says. “It’s not just about games anymore. It’s friendships, trust and helping each other.”
That family atmosphere is something other parents say makes the Waves stand out.
Liisa Bishop, whose daughter Kira rejoined the team after COVID, has another child in high-level club soccer and says the difference is striking.
“It’s not a machine to make money,” Bishop says. “It’s not a business. There’s so much more here.”
She points to the team’s holistic training methods as an example. One assistant coach is a physical therapist, and injury prevention is built into the team culture, which is something she says she’s never seen prioritized at this level.
“They do weight training, stretching, recovery work,” she says. “And they also do game film review. They’ll watch old games, break down plays, and talk about what they could have done differently. It’s mental as much as physical.”
Pisca’s background may help explain some of that unusual attention to detail.
An architect by training who worked for legendary architect Frank Gehry for 10 years, Pisca approaches soccer with a designer’s eye by building systems, tracking patterns, and paying attention to the small things others might miss.
He tracks player statistics meticulously, like defensive saves, steals, assists, and connected passes. He uses the numbers to motivate players in ways that go beyond the scoreboard.
“When kids are young, they might think only the goal scorers matter,” Pisca says. “But if a defender made three critical stops, I want them to know I saw that. It matters.”
That system, he says, gives every player ownership of their growth. Parents say it works.
At the end of each season, Pisca presents players with detailed breakdowns of their performance, often surprising them with just how much they contributed.
“It makes them realize how good they really are,” Bishop says.
But the Waves’ development extends beyond the field.
The team regularly participates in community service, from park cleanups to food kitchen volunteer work, reinforcing the idea that being part of a team also means being part of something bigger.
“We want them to be healthy, strong, contributing members of the community,” Bishop says. “Not just soccer players.”
That bigger-picture mindset has also translated into stronger bonds between teammates.
For players like Valerie Pisca and Kira Bishop, Nationals is as much about spending time together as it is about the competition itself.
Valerie, who has been with the team since U9, says one of the best parts of being on the Waves is that her teammates have become lifelong friends.
“A lot of my friends have been with me this whole time,” she says. “It’s nice because on some teams people are competing against each other. Here it feels like a support group.”
Kira agrees.
“I feel like we’ve really come together as a team over a long time,” she says.
She points to last year’s regional tournament in Idaho as a favorite memory because of the time spent together afterward, playing games, hanging out in shared rental homes, and building trust off the field.
That trust shows up in competition.
Parents describe a team culture where players cheer for each other after mistakes instead of tearing each other down.
“They’re really supportive,” Bishop says. “If someone misses a shot or messes up, you hear the girls building each other up immediately.”
That resilience has shaped the girls beyond soccer.
Valerie says the sport has taught her how to recover from setbacks.
“I used to stress a lot after missing penalty kicks,” she says. “But now, I’ve learned to move on and focus on the next one. That helps me in regular life, too.”
For Kira, the lesson has been about effort.
“It’s helped me push myself to work harder for the good of the team,” she says.
Now, as the Waves prepare for Tennessee, the team faces another challenge: funding the trip.
The cost is estimated at about $1,000 per player, with additional expenses for family members traveling to support them. The team has been fundraising through community events, including bake sales, watch parties, and ice skating nights, while also applying for grants to help offset costs.
For Pisca, keeping the trip accessible is non-negotiable.
“We put every penny back into the team,” he says. “There’s no profit. We’re doing everything we can to make sure every player can go.”
That mission feels bigger now.
By making it to Nationals, the Waves have become proof that affordable, community-based club soccer can compete at the highest level.
“They’re blazing a trail,” Pisca says. “And hopefully it creates a path for other teams to follow.”
No matter what happens in Tennessee, the LA Waves have already accomplished something rare in youth sports: they’ve built a team that stayed together, grew together, and made each other better along the way.
For this group of girls and the families behind them, that may be the biggest win of all.
If you’d like to support the team and donate to their tournament, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/empowering-girls-and-bettering-la-through-youth-soccer.
By Shanee Edwards. Photos by Zsuzsi Steiner.