PLANO – It's taken nearly three decades for the Andromeda Soccer Club to become an overnight sensation.

The inclusion of the Andromeda '90 boys team in the Super Group of the Dallas Cup, which begins today, and the team's under-17 national championship last summer has significantly increased the visibility of the Plano-based club that formed in 1980.

"It's nice when you produce these kinds of results," club president Stanley Strifler said. "It gets you a lot of press. It's high-profile stuff. When you can put a quality side on the field, college coaches come and look and that creates a buzz."

Qualifying for the Dallas Cup's prestigious Super Group will certainly do that.

"To get there was a big thing for us," said team co-captain D.J. Alexander of Allen. "Because we've been successful, we should get a lot of people coming in, hopefully."

A club's ability to develop college-level talent is the key to producing a successful youth soccer club, Strifler said. In that respect, Andromeda didn't have as much to show until this year. Its 2008 class includes 26 boys and girls heading to the college ranks. The previous club high was 11 in 2006.

"Dallas Texans, Solar, Sting, D'feeters ... they were truly able to talk to parents about college opportunity," Strifler said. "Now there's another club that's helping fulfill that dream, too."

In its February issue, Soccer America magazine ranked the Texans as the No. 1 club for boys and No. 2 for girls. Solar was No. 13 for boys, and Andromeda's boys were No. 20.

Andromeda '90's national championship, the club's first, was considered a huge breakthrough. The team followed by finishing first in the Chamber Classic Soccer Alliance's U-19 Division I fall season, which qualified the team for the Super Group, another club first. Andromeda opens with Sao Paulo FC at 3 p.m. today at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco.

"This is something that our players will never forget," said team co-captain Anthony Gerhart, a senior at Allen. "It's truly a defining point in our careers."

Gerhart certainly has an appreciation for it. More than half of the 17-member team, including Gerhart, have played together since they were 10, the earliest age they could play select soccer. In years past, many of Andromeda's most talented players were recruited to higher-profile clubs like the Texans and Solar. This group has mostly remained intact. The same is true for the club's under-17 group, Andromeda '91, which also won its age division in the fall Classic League. That continuity has led to on-field success and more college scholarship opportunities.

"If we were having this conversation four years ago, once the high-quality kids got into high school, they would get lured away to the clubs that were doing a better job of college placement," Strifler said. He added that all but one of the '90 team members is going to play college soccer.

Andromeda '90 has proved what could happen if a solid group of players stays together, said Oscar Borgarello, the club's boys director of soccer.

"Sometimes we don't get the best players right away," said Borgarello, who coached the '90 team to the national title and has since given way to Mike Powers, the former Sidekicks icon. "But this team has matured."

The club has, too. Its days of scrambling to find open fields in parks are long gone. The club purchased the Golf Center of Plano, on 14th Street on the east of side of town, in 2006 and has converted it into a training facility. In May 2004, the club leased some land – the club's driving range – to form two practice fields. Until Andromeda purchased the club, the land was used as a driving range during the day and as a soccer training grounds at night.

Andromeda has developed 25 of the club's 33 acres for practice fields. The remaining land should be available for use by July. The training center will have 24 practice fields of various sizes when it's completed.

It's symbolic for a club that seems to be putting everything together.

"It's turned into a great place to be," said Powers, who has coached with the club for more than 20 years. "The loyalty is starting to come through."

When: Today through April 23

Where: Pizza Hut Park complex, Frisco, and Richland College, Dallas

Tickets: Games at Richland and on fields outside the Pizza Hut Park stadium are free. For games in the stadium, tickets are $15 for adults, $5 for youths (age 6-18). Daily passes are $10 for adults, $5 for youths. Five-day passes are $40 for adults, $20 for youths.

Parking: $7 a day or $25 for the week at Pizza Hut Park; free at Richland.

Schedule, more information: www.dallascup.com