Club Soccer in Tucson, AZ: A Guide for Parents (2026)

TL;DR: Tucson is a small club soccer market in our data, and right now it is a girls-first one. Three Southern Arizona clubs have a live ClubScout profile, and all three of their confirmed league places are on the girls' side. FC Tucson holds a Girls Academy place. Pima County Surf Soccer Club and RSL-AZ Southern AZ each hold a DPL place. On the boys' side, the one top-tier record in Tucson is still in review, so we cannot link it yet. Phoenix has more choice, but it is 115 miles up I-10. For most Tucson families, the local club wins on cost, sleep, and sanity. This guide lists facts, not rankings.

Are you a club director in Tucson or Southern Arizona? Parents here are searching for program details every tryout season, and no Tucson club in our data publishes a season fee or a tryout date. Claim your free ClubScout profile to verify your details, publish your cost ranges, and respond to parent reviews.

How This Guide Works

We do not rank clubs. For each one we list what our database confirms, what the club says about itself, and where our data runs thin. League affiliations come only from confirmed league records, not from club marketing. Our Tucson data is thinner than our Phoenix data, and we say so wherever it matters rather than fill the gaps with guesses.

If you are new to this, start with how to choose a club, then the coach evaluation guide. For the statewide picture, see Club Soccer in Arizona.

Tucson Clubs at a Glance

Listed from most to least competitive by the league each club holds a place in.

Club	League	Area	Notes
FC Tucson	Girls Academy	Tucson	Founded 2010; pro, amateur, and youth teams under one name
Pima County Surf Soccer Club	DPL	Pima County (per the club name)	No city recorded
RSL-AZ Southern AZ	DPL	Southern Arizona (per the club name)	No city recorded

In review, not yet linked:

Record	League	City	What it means
FC Tucson Youth Soccer Club	MLS NEXT	Tucson	The boys' top-tier record for Tucson
FC Tucson Youth SC	None confirmed	Tucson	No league rows yet

Those two records are probably the same organization as FC Tucson. We have not merged them, so we keep them separate here. See the boys' section below for what that means for a family.

For what the league names mean, see Girls Academy, DPL, and MLS NEXT. For the girls' comparisons that matter most in Tucson, read Girls Academy vs DPL and DPL vs ECNL.

The Clubs

FC Tucson

Location: Tucson, AZ League: Girls Academy Gender: Girls (confirmed league place); boys' and girls' youth programs per the club

Founded in 2010 by a group of Tucsonans who wanted to raise the level of soccer in the city and bring a professional team to it. Per the club, it now runs professional, amateur, and youth levels for men, women, boys, and girls across Southern Arizona. The club lists a men's team in USL League Two, a women's team, a USL Academy, FC Tucson Youth, clinics, and a talent identification program.

The confirmed league place is Girls Academy, which makes FC Tucson the only live national-tier girls' option in Southern Arizona in our data. For a Tucson family with a daughter aiming at Girls Academy, the alternative is a 230-mile round trip to Phoenix, three times a week.

What a parent should know: the pro and amateur teams are what the club is best known for, and they are not the youth program. Ask which coaches work with your player's age group, how the youth teams connect to the senior sides (if at all), and where each age group trains. Our record has no training sites, staff, age groups, fees, or tryout dates.

Pima County Surf Soccer Club

Location: No city recorded; the club name points to Pima County, which includes Tucson League: DPL Gender: Girls (DPL is a girls' league)

One confirmed league place: DPL, the Development Player League. In Arizona, DPL is the widest girls' league in our data, with more records than ECNL Girls and Girls Academy combined. For many Arizona girls it is the realistic top of the local ladder, and it usually costs less than the national tier.

Our record is thin beyond the league place. We have no confirmed city, website, training sites, staff, or fees. We place this club in the Tucson area only because of its name, so confirm where the teams actually train before you plan around it. Then ask what sits below DPL in the club, so a younger sister has somewhere to start.

RSL-AZ Southern AZ

Location: No city recorded; the club name points to Southern Arizona League: DPL Gender: Girls (DPL is a girls' league)

One confirmed league place: DPL. By name, this is part of the RSL-AZ network, which carries the Real Salt Lake name across several Arizona records. Our data has six records with the RSL-AZ name, and we have not confirmed whether they are separate clubs, regions of one club, or duplicates.

As with Pima County Surf, our record has no city, so ask where the Southern Arizona teams train. Also ask how the Southern AZ teams relate to the Phoenix-area RSL-AZ programs. If a player is invited to train or play up in Phoenix, that is a very different week for the family.

The Boys' Side in Tucson

This is the part of the Tucson picture parents should hear plainly. None of the three live Tucson-area profiles holds a confirmed boys' league place.

The one top-tier boys' record in Tucson is FC Tucson Youth Soccer Club, which holds an MLS NEXT place in our data. That record is in review, alongside a second FC Tucson Youth record with no league rows. Both are probably the same organization as FC Tucson. Until they are reviewed and merged, we will not link them or describe them further.

What that means in practice:

The boys' MLS NEXT program probably exists, but confirm it directly. Ask the club which age groups play MLS NEXT in 2026–27, and whether it is MLS NEXT or the MLS NEXT 2 tier below it.
Below the top tier, our data has nothing for Tucson boys yet. Most Arizona boys play in the Arizona Soccer Association's state and regional leagues, which our league records do not track. Those programs exist in Tucson. They are just not in our data.
The confirmed boys' options with live profiles are in Phoenix. That is 115 miles away, and we cover it below.

Is Phoenix Worth the Drive?

Usually not, three nights a week. Tucson to central Phoenix is about 115 miles on I-10, so one practice costs a family close to four hours on the road. A few families do it at the national tier. Most who try it for a season name the drive as the reason they stop.

If you want to compare anyway, these are the Phoenix clubs with live profiles and a national-tier place in our data. Our Phoenix club guide covers each one in depth.

Club	Leagues	City
SC Del Sol	MLS NEXT, Girls Academy, National Academy League	Phoenix
Phoenix Premier FC	MLS NEXT, Girls Academy, DPL	Phoenix
RSL Arizona	MLS NEXT, National Academy League	Phoenix

Phoenix Premier FC holds both a Girls Academy and a DPL place, so a girl can move between those two tiers without changing clubs. That is something no single Tucson club in our data offers yet.

Before you commit to a Phoenix club from Tucson, ask three things. How many practices a week does the team expect in person? Does the club have any Tucson-based training or a reduced schedule for long-distance players? And what does last season's game schedule look like? A conference game in California or Nevada is a hotel weekend either way. The weeknight practices are what change your life.

What Club Soccer Costs in Tucson

No Tucson club in our data publishes a season fee. Only one Arizona club does: SC Del Sol in Phoenix, whose published schedule puts a full season between $1,200 at U7–U8 and $2,450 for an MLS NEXT team, before kit and travel. That is one club's price, not a market rate. Our Arizona cost breakdown shows what to budget at each level.

The ranges below are modeled, not scraped from Tucson clubs. They include kit, gear, and travel, not just the club fee.

Level	Estimated Annual Total	Basis
Girls Academy	$4,500–$10,000	Modeled
DPL	$3,200–$7,500	Modeled
State and regional play	$2,000–$4,500	Modeled
U7–U10 programs	$1,600–$2,300	Modeled from one Arizona club's published fees

The Tucson-specific costs are not the dues. They are conference weekends in California, Nevada, and Utah at the DPL and national tiers, and a summer too hot to train in the late afternoon. Ask each club how summer training works and whether early-morning or indoor sessions cost extra. For a full budget, see the club soccer budget guide. If you have more than one player, read multiple kids in club soccer first.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the top club soccer option for girls in Tucson?

We cannot rank clubs, but we can describe the ladder. One live Tucson profile holds a Girls Academy place: FC Tucson. Two Southern Arizona profiles hold a DPL place: Pima County Surf Soccer Club and RSL-AZ Southern AZ. Girls Academy is the national tier. DPL is the tier where most Arizona girls play competitive club soccer. Read Girls Academy vs DPL and our girls club soccer guide before you decide which fits.

What is the top club soccer option for boys in Tucson?

The top-tier boys' record in Tucson is FC Tucson Youth Soccer Club, which holds an MLS NEXT place but is still in review in our data. Contact the FC Tucson organization directly and ask which boys' age groups play MLS NEXT this season. Below that tier, Tucson boys mostly play in Arizona Soccer Association leagues, which our league data does not track yet.

Should my kid play for a Phoenix club?

Only if the top tier matters a lot to your family and you have done the math. Four hours of driving per practice is the real cost, more than the fee. If your player is at the level where a Phoenix club is an option, ask the Tucson club first whether it can offer the same tier locally. Then read when to switch clubs before you move.

When do Tucson clubs hold tryouts?

We have no confirmed tryout dates for any Tucson club. Nationally, MLS NEXT and the girls' national leagues can start as early as April. Check each club's site directly in early spring, and ask whether any identification sessions run before the public tryout.

My kid isn't ready for a national-league team. What are the options?

For girls, DPL is the step below the national tier, and two Southern Arizona clubs hold DPL places. For boys and for younger players, the Arizona Soccer Association's state and regional leagues are where most Tucson club soccer happens. Starting one tier lower at a club with a ladder is almost always better than starting one tier too high at a club without one. See recreational vs. travel soccer and the age-by-age guide.

Why does this guide list so few clubs?

Because our Tucson data is thin, and we would rather say so than pad the list. Three Southern Arizona clubs have a live profile, two more Tucson records are in review, and several Arizona records have no city recorded at all. This guide undercounts Tucson's community and state-league clubs in particular. If you run a Tucson club that is missing, add it or claim it.

What to Do Next

Ask which league your player's team actually plays in. At FC Tucson, the name covers pro, amateur, and youth teams, and the youth records are still being sorted out in our data. Get the league and the age group in writing.
Confirm where the team trains. Two of the three live profiles here have no city recorded. Ask for the training site before you plan the week around it.
Ask to join a session, not just watch one. Many clubs allow a trial session if you ask. A session your kid actually plays in tells you more than any website.
Get the all-in annual number in writing. No Tucson club publishes a fee. Ask what is excluded: kit, tournament entries, conference travel, and summer training.