A Central Valley Fuego FC player works with the ball during beach soccer action as the club continues to grow the sport locally. Fuego FC photo

Central Valley Fuego FC is expanding beyond the pitch, as the former professional soccer team is positioning itself as a broader sports and community development organization as the club prepares for a major milestone: opening its new field at Blackbeard’s Family Entertainment Center in April.

Club President Brian Easler, who joined the club in March 2025, said the organization has moved quickly over the past year after stepping away from professional soccer and refocusing on youth development and new programs.

“When I arrived here, the club just pulled away from professional soccer and they only had the U23 team and one field,” Easler said. “The focus of the club was to build more infrastructure, build more fields for the Central Valley, because it lacks.”

Prior to Easler joining, the club was mired in controversy surrounding its coach Jermaine Jones, who played in the U.S. Men’s Soccer team and scored a goal in the 2014 World Cup against Portugal.

The Athletic, the New York Times-owned sports publication, reported in 2024 that Jones was suspended by the USL through the end of 2024 after an independent investigation substantiated harassment, retaliation and hostile conduct toward Central Valley Fuego FC players. Players also alleged anti-union intimidation. The club and Jones disputed the findings.

 

Since the turbulent breakup with USL, Central Valley Fuego FC has added women’s soccer, launched a beach soccer initiative and created the Lightning League, a regional competition that now has 14 teams for communities across the Central Valley, while also keeping its U-19 and U-23 clubs. 

The women’s soccer team played its first match this past weekend, winning 6-1.

Easler said the goal is to create year-round opportunities while giving smaller communities a stronger sense of identity through soccer and potentially other sports.

“We’re just one club, and we can’t have everything,” he said. “So we’ve brought out all these communities and helped them grow as small businesses, but also be something for their towns.”

The club has also jumped into basketball, debuting at the summer Pro-Am where the team won the championship. Easler said the goal is to become a program with multiple sports — something similar to clubs in Europe.

“In other countries around the world, it’s multi-sport. It’s not just soccer,” he said. “Why don’t we do Fuego basketball?”

The expansion comes as the club strives to strengthen its long-term business model through facilities and community partnerships. Easler said the Blackbeard’s site will be instrumental in the club’s long term sustainability.

“If you want to be sustainable, you need your venues,” he said. “You can’t rent. It’s impossible to just rent and survive. So owning it is huge for the club.”

The initial field at Blackbeard’s is expected to be ready by the end of April, with additional phases of development planned over time. He also hopes to see added development to the area that would generate wider economic activity nearby, from restaurants to coffee shops and other small businesses.

 

While the club is no longer professional and the City of Fresno has an exclusive development agreement with the USL about bringing a men’s and women’s soccer team to Fresno, Easler said they don’t see that as a negative.

The club has U-19 and U-23 teams and recently transferred one of their players to Deportivo Guadalajara, a professional soccer team in Mexico. Easler said he expects to see more of the club’s players receive interest from professional clubs.

For the club, local partnerships already play a meaningful role. Easler said sponsorships, food support and media relationships all help reduce financial barriers and expand access for athletes in a sports landscape often defined by pay-to-play costs.

They are also working on holding World Cup watch parties this summer at Blackbeard’s.

“We’re really trying our best to limit all that, because that’s one of the biggest problems in this country,” he said.

He added that maintaining visibility in Fresno’s competitive media environment has required a strong emphasis on social media, direct communication and community engagement.

“We have to do everything we can out here to stay relevant,” Easler said. “We got to be our own noise.”

At the center of the strategy is a larger ambition: making Fresno a recognizable sports destination tied to soccer and year-round community activity.