With the show on its latest road trip up to this weekend’s destination in Northern California, here’s a little rundown of what makes Chico’s soccer pulse beat…

The Chico Rooks
Until the team ceased operations for two seasons in 2006 with the promise of a future return (think San Jose Earthquakes going and coming back after a hiatus away from MLS), the organization was the longest-running pro soccer club in California at the time — 14 years. The Rooks were a staple on the West Coast minor league scene, reaching the championship for what is now the National Premier Soccer League five times and also qualifying for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup tournament six times. They won the USASA National Open Cup Championship in 2004.

Rooks homes games at University Soccer Stadium on weekends during the team’s heyday regularly drew 1,500-2,000 fans and were prided as being a microcosm of the mellow Chico summer scene. The team’s current absence because of financial and front-office personnel difficulties has left a major void for the sport of soccer to fill among the local mainstream, non-aficionado crowd.

Chico State’s Success
First and foremost, whether locals here like it or not, Chico is recognizable as a college town. Chico State has fielded one of California’s strongest Division II athletic programs in recent years, thanks in no small part to how the Wildcats’ men’s and women’s soccer programs have performed. Both squads were reignited by the construction of 4,000-seat University Soccer Stadium at the turn of the century. Chico State, led by current Houston Dynamo striker Chris Wondolowski, picked up an NCAA national championship in 2004. The men’s program has struggled a bit to recapture that form, but the women’s program has advanced to the NCAA tournament three of the past four seasons and added its first conference championship in 15 years last season.

Butte College, the local junior college that produced Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and perennial All-Pro lineman Larry Allen, announced in the winter that its athletic department was adding men’s soccer to join the women’s program that picked up a share of the Golden Valley Conference title this season.

An Off The Wall Place
In planning this week’s getaway for the show, we elected to make Off The Wall Soccer Arena our headquarters for the trip. The indoor facility with field turf puts on over 20 leagues for player age ranges from 5 years to adult. There’s also a merchandise store that sells jerseys, an arcade, beer on tap at the food center where European games are also shown on TV and a workout facility, Chico Sport & Fitness.

Youth Play
By giving younger players the opportunity to compete outside the area and foster their skills development, programs like Butte United and the Ridge Youth Soccer Club have proved instrumental in keeping the sport at the forefront of child athletic involvement. Chico High and Pleasant Valley High also regularly two of the more respectable teams in the CIF Northern Section.