| Competition: | National Independent Soccer Association |
| Dates: | Oct. 28 – Nov. 11 (playoffs) |
| Winners: | City Union |
| Shieldtitle: | Regular season title |
| Shield: | Chattanooga FC |
| Matches: | 108 |
| Total Goals: | 268 |
| League Topscorer: | Markus Naglestad (15) |
| Prevseason: | 2022 |
| Nextseason: | 2024 |
| Updated: | November 11, 2023 |
The 2023 NISA season is the fifth season of the National Independent Soccer Association's third-division soccer competition. Michigan Stars are the defending champions, after winning the 2022 season.
Of the eight teams that finished the 2022 season, five return for 2023, two (Flower City Union and Syracuse Pulse) merge to form a new team branded City Union, and one, California United Strikers, is on hiatus, with the aim to return in 2024.[1]
The six teams are joined by three expansion clubs: Club de Lyon, Gold Star FC and Savannah Clovers FC.[1]
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albion San Diego | San Diego, CA | Canyon Crest Academy Stadium | 5,000 |
| Chattanooga FC | Chattanooga, TN | Finley Stadium | 20,668 |
| City Union | Rochester, NY Auburn, NY | Marina Auto Stadium Falcon Park | 13,768 2,800 |
| Club de Lyon | Daytona Beach, FL | Daytona Stadium | 9,601 |
| Gold Star FC | Livonia, MI | Gold Star Stadium | 5,000 |
| Los Angeles Force | Irvine, CA | Championship Stadium | 5,000 |
| Maryland Bobcats | Boyds, MD | Maryland SoccerPlex | 4,000 |
| Michigan Stars | Washington, MI | Romeo High School | 4,000 |
| Savannah Clovers | Savannah, GA | Memorial Stadium | 5,000 |
Note: The league has signed a deal with Hummel to be the official kit manufacturer, but it still allows clubs to find their own provider.[2]
| Team | Head coach | Captain(s) | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albion San Diego |  | Capelli | DarkHorse | |
| Chattanooga FC | |  | Hummel | Volkswagen |
| City Union | | Hummel | — | |
| Club de Lyon | |  | Adidas | — |
| Gold Star FC | | | Adidas | — |
| Los Angeles Force | | | Xara | — |
| Maryland Bobcats |  |  | Hummel | Holiday Inn College Park |
| Michigan Stars | Hummel | HTC | ||
| Savannah Clovers | | Umbro | Castro Wood Floors | |
| Albion San Diego | | Signed by Chattanooga Red Wolves SC | December 14, 2022[3] | Preseason |  Diego Gómez | February 23, 2023 | |
| City Union | Colton Bly (interim) | End of interim period | February 10, 2023 | Jordan Sullivan | February 10, 2023[4] | ||
| Maryland Bobcats |  Sylvain Rastello | Resigned | February 21, 2023 | Alex Kao | March 1, 2023[5] | ||
| Los Angeles Force |  Jesus Ochoa (interim) | End of interim period | April 23, 2023 | 5th | Matt Morse | April 23, 2023[6] |
The season started on March 31, with the nine teams playing an unbalanced schedule weighted on regional play.[7]
The playoffs will keep the same format from last year, and feature the top six teams from the regular season. The top two teams receive a bye into the semifinals. Teams finishing third through sixth play in the quarterfinals, with the winners being re-seeded before playing in the next round.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals[8] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Markus Naglestad | Chattanooga FC | 15 |
| 2 |  Leon Maric | Michigan Stars | 14 |
| 3 | Darwin Espinal | Maryland Bobcats | 11 |
| 4 | Francis Avoce | Los Angeles Force | 7 |
 Alioune Diakhate | Flower City Union | ||
 Ignacio Ten López | Club de Lyon | ||
| 7 | Alex McGrath | Chattanooga FC | 6 |
| Hunter Olson | Michigan Stars | ||
| Aldo Quintanilla | Los Angeles Force | ||
| Cyrus Tran | Michigan Stars | ||
| Andrew Wivell | Maryland Bobcats | 3 | |
| 7 | Andrew Barrowman | Savannah Clovers | 2 |
| Alexander Dalou | Gold Star FC | ||
| Zack Hargreaves | Savannah Clovers | ||
| Shinya Kadono | Albion San Diego | ||
| Nebojša Popović | Michigan Stars | ||
| Josselin Possian | Maryland Bobcats | ||
 Anatolie Prepeliță | Chattanooga FC | ||
| Yuki Shibata | Club de Lyon | ||
| 7 | Joel Bunting | Savannah Clovers | 1 |
| Victor Blanco | Club de Lyon | ||
| Iker Bustamante | Maryland Bobcats | ||
| Taylor Gray | Chattanooga FC | ||
| Vladimir Jokic | Gold Star FC | ||
| Lenworth Lopez | Chattanooga FC | ||
| Noah Robinson | Michigan Stars | ||
| Gustavo Villalobos | Los Angeles Force--> |
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jean Antoine | Chattanooga FC | 15 |
| 2 | Benjamin Roach | Albion San Diego | 12 |
| 3 | Tatenda Mkuruva | Michigan Stars | 10 |
| 4 | Brandon Gomez | Los Angeles Force | 8 |
| 5 | Alexander Sutton | Maryland Bobcats | 7 |
| 6 | Michael Mejia | City Union | 5 |
| 7 | Brandon Barnes | Gold Star FC | 3 |
| Jack Crichton | Savannah Clovers | ||
| 9 | Nick Nelson | Club de Lyon | 2 |
| 10 | Josue Mazon | Club de Lyon | 1 |
 Dylan Ramos | Gold Star FC | ||
 Joel Serrano | Los Angeles Force | ||
 Sylvanus Thompson | Maryland Bobcats |
| Rank | Player | Club | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrés Chalbaud | Michigan Stars | 7 |
| Andrew Wivell | Maryland Bobcats | ||
| 3 | Leon Maric | Michigan Stars | 6 |
| Edwin Rivas | Los Angeles Force | ||
| 5 |  Daniel Bedoya | Albion San Diego | 5 |
| Darwin Espinal | Maryland Bobcats | ||
| Luke Ferreira | Flower City Union | ||
| Jimmy Filerman | Maryland Bobcats | ||
 Vladimir Jokic | Gold Star FC | ||
| 10 | Alex McGrath | Chattanooga FC | 4 |
| Matias Pourrain | Club de Lyon | ||
| Victor Rojas | Club de Lyon | ||
| Junior Rosero | Gold Star FC | ||
| 14 | 4 players tied | 3 | |
| 5 | Leonel Alvarenga | Chattanooga FC | 2 |
| Darwin Espinal | Maryland Bobcats | ||
| Luis Garcia Sosa | Chattanooga FC | ||
| Taylor Gray | Chattanooga FC | ||
| Aydan Bowers | Chattanooga FC | ||
| Mikal Greene | Savannah Clovers | ||
| Anatolie Prepeliță | Chattanooga FC | ||
| Noah Robinson | Michigan Stars--> | ||
| Award | Winner | Team | Reason | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Boot | Markus Naglestad | Chattanooga FC | 15 goals in 23 games | [9] | |
| Golden Glove | Jean Antoine | Chattanooga FC | 15 shutouts in 23 matches; 9 goals against | ||
| Coach of the Year | Diego Gomez | Albion San Diego | 11-8-5 record in his debut season | ||
| Golden Ball (Most Valuable Player) | Darwin Espinal | Maryland Bobcats | 11 goals, 5 assists in 22 matches |
| Month | Winner | Team | Reason | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April | Jean Antoine | Chattanooga FC | 4 clean sheets | [10] | |
| May | Ignacio Ten López | Club de Lyon | 4 goals scored | [11] | |
| June | Edwin Rivas | Los Angeles Force | 3 assists in 136 minutes | [12] | |
| July | Ben Roach | Albion San Diego | 3 clean sheets | [13] | |
| August | Aldo Quintanilla | Los Angeles Force | Team went 4-0-0, scored hat-trick | [14] | |
| September | Daniel Bedoya | Albion San Diego | 3 goals scored | [15] |
| Month | Winner | Team | Reason | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April | Alex Kao | Maryland Bobcats FC | 2-0-0 in league play; win in US Open Cup | ||
| May | Diego Gómez | Albion San Diego | 3-1-0 in league play | ||
| June | Rod Underwood | Chattanooga FC | Undefeated in June | ||
| July | Rod Underwood | Chattanooga FC | 3-1-0 in league play | ||
| August | Matt Morse | Los Angeles Force | 2-2-0 in league play | ||
| September | Alex Kao | Maryland Bobcats FC | 2-1-0 in league play |