Long before the World Cup, Ukrainian immigrants built a soccer powerhouse in Philly

Oleksandr "Sasha" Ostapchuk (left) heads a ball while playing for a tournament squad of the Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals soccer team in a match against a club with roots in Belarus at Tryzub Ukrainian American Sport Center in North Wales, Pa., on June 21. Rachel Wisniewski for NPR hide caption

NORTH WALES, Pa. — Just before game time, Roman Chuprynyak sat in a locker room bent forward, face intense. He ran his hand through stubbly gray hair while giving his team one more pep talk.

"You win," he shouted in Ukrainian. "There's no other option, damn it!"

The men, wearing the yellow and blue national colors of Ukraine, roared a cheer and jogged out to the pitch in this suburb just outside Philadelphia.

This isn't World Cup play. That's happening in Philadelphia's big stadium 45 minutes away.

Soccer Edition

These are two local, ethnic soccer clubs, players with roots in Belarus scrumming on the home pitch of a Ukrainian club called Tryzub. The club's name is a reference to the trident, Ukraine's national symbol.

"Everybody calls us Ukis," Chuprynyak said, grinning with pride. After immigrating to the U.S. as a teenager in 2001, he found his way to Tryzub, where he now works as a coach and an athletic director. "This club has been proven through time — 75 years it's been here."

Roman Chuprynyak (center) gives a pep talk to his team, made up of Ukrainian immigrants and Ukrainian Americans, before a match against Belarus on June 21. Rachel Wisniewski for NPR hide caption

Tryzub, formally known as the Ukrainian American Sport Center , focuses on amateur league play and is home to the Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals. It's a top-tier amateur team now, but in the 1950s and 1960s, the squad dominated American pro-leagues, during an era when soccer was still largely eclipsed in the U.S. by football, baseball and basketball.

In its heyday, the team, led by Ukrainian refugees from World War II and Stalin's postwar oppression, won a half-dozen national championships in various American professional leagues. It also convinced big European teams like Manchester United to come play exhibition matches.

"Nobody cared about [soccer] in the '60s except the Ukrainians and these other ethnic teams," said Yana Pashaeva, who made a documentary about Philadelphia's deep Ukrainian soccer culture . Her film tracks how members of the club helped lay the foundation of the modern U.S. soccer movement, which began to draw wider popularity in the 1990s .

Through the late 1950s and 1960s, the Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals soccer team was one of the top pro-league soccer teams in the United States. Immigrants fleeing World War II and Stalin's oppression brought their love of the game to Pennsylvania, helping to establish soccer as an American sport. Photo provided by Eugene Luciw, Tryzub Ukrainian American Sport Center, used with permission/Eugene Luciw hide caption

Much of the documentary focuses on a Ukrainian immigrant named Walter Chyzowych, who settled in Philadelphia in 1949. Chyzowych was a star player who helped establish a network of coaching schools and camps around the United States. He later managed the U.S. national team and coached top national squads.

"He had to wash the uniforms for the team himself because they just didn't have enough resources to hire someone," Pashaeva said.

Eugene Luciw, who serves as Tryzub's spokesman and unofficial historian, describes Chyzowych as the "godfather" of American soccer and says immigrants made the current soccer boom possible.

"It became what it is as a result of émigré clubs such as us — and specifically us," Luciw said.

A soccer culture that helped sustain Ukrainian identity

Voloshky Ukrainian Dance Ensemble performs at the heritage festival at Tryzub Ukrainian American Sport Center on June 21. Rachel Wisniewski for NPR hide caption

According to Luciw, Tryzub and the Ukis also grew into something more than a soccer and sports club. They became one of the anchors of Ukrainian life and identity in Philadelphia.

On one recent day, while soccer players competed on the pitch, there was also a cultural festival, with kids singing Ukraine's national anthem and performing traditional dances in bright embroidered shirts.

"Ukraine's culture and national identity cannot be destroyed," Luciw said from the stage, before calling for a moment of silence to honor those lost in the war after Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

Father Taras Naumenko poses for a photo at the heritage festival at Tryzub Ukrainian American Sport Center on June 21. Naumenko is one of the chaplains for the center's soccer club. Rachel Wisniewski for NPR hide caption

Watching from the crowd was Father Taras Naumenko, a Ukrainian Orthodox priest, one of Tryzub's team chaplains and a passionate soccer goalie. "I'm a soccer player, and I still play in a men's league," he said.

According to Naumenko, the club, which helped sustain Ukrainian culture during the Cold War, gained new importance after Russia's invasion.

"It unifies us," he said, gesturing at families picnicking on the grass. "There are many people in this community who've lost relatives, brothers, nephews, fathers, sons."

One of the players on the field was Sasha Ostapchuk, who came to the U.S. a few years ago after the war intensified. He said finding his people and his sport in America made him feel less lonely.

"I was looking for a good team, so I found Ukrainian national team," he said. "It's so far from Ukraine, so good."

Roman Chuprynyak, who played and coached as his team won this local league game five goals to nil, said he's proud his club helped establish soccer in America. He also thinks Tryzub's deep history in America sends a message that his Ukrainian culture can't be erased.

"It's a Uki nation, a Uki family," Chuprynyak said. "There's just no letting that go. That's going to stick here forever."

On that afternoon, Chuprynyak and his Ukrainian side took the win one more time, going four goals to nil in front of their home crowd.

The Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals soccer team celebrates its 4-0 win against Belarus at Tryzub Ukrainian American Sport Center on June 21. Rachel Wisniewski for NPR hide caption